Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed January 7, 2026 has been entered. Claims 1, 2, 4, 6-16, and 18-30 remain pending in the application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on January 7, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
On p. 12 of Applicant’s response, Applicant argues that the cited references fail to teach “receive a configuration indicating a set of applicable channel types that indicates which of at least one of a . . .” of claim 1 and similarly recited limitations in claims 15, 29, and 30. (Emphasis added). Examiner disagrees.
ZTE teaches receiving PDSCH (i.e., channel type) MAC CE (i.e., configuration). See ZTE, p. 1, lines 9 and 10. Since the MAC CE is for PDSCH (a channel type), it is, at the very least, indicating a channel type that is applicable. Additionally, ZTE also teaches including a Ti field in MAC CE which is mapped to a codepoint in DCI used to decode corresponding PDSCH, where indicating a “1” in the Ti field can indicate that the corresponding PDSCH should be decoded with the mapped codepoint. See id. at p. 1, line 26 - p. 2, lines 1-3, and p. 4, lines 10-13. Therefore, the MAC CE (configuration) is indicating a PDSCH (channel type) for the activated DL TCI state. Thus, ZTE does teach “receive a configuration indicating a set of applicable channel types that indicates which of at least one of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), channel state information (CSI) reference signals (RS) (CSI-RS), or positioning RS (PRS) for DL that is scheduled by a CORESET associated with the CORESET pool ID is applicable to each of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states or the activated DL TCI states . . . ” of claim 1 and similarly recited limitations in claims 15, 29, and 30.
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, 2, 4, 6-14 and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ZTE et al. (“Consideration on TCI state MAC CE for mTRP mPDCCH transmissios,” 3GPP TSG-RAN WG2 #108, R2-2001465 (February 14, 2020)) in view of Park et al. (U.S. Publication No. 2020/0128578 A1) and further in view of Samsung (“Multi-beam enhancements,” 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #102-e, R1-2006128 (August 7, 2020)).
Regarding claim 1, ZTE teaches “[a]n apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to: receive, from a transmission reception point (TRP), a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) (MAC-CE) activating a subset of . . . configured DL TCI states, . . . each of the activated DL TCI states indicating a beam for communication in DL, . . . the MAC-CE indicating a control resource set (CORESET) pool identifier (ID) associated with a set of CORESETs” (see p. 2, lines 9, 10, 14–18, and 29–30; TCI state activation/deactivation MAC CE can be received by UE from any TRP; MAC CE activating TCI states can be used for mPDCCH mTRP case for scheduling DL transmission. Therefore, MAC CE activated TCI states can be the configured DL TCI states, and since these TCI states are for scheduling DL transmission, they indicate a beam for communication in DL; CORESET pool ID is indicated via the R bit in the MAC CE for the multiple CORESETs allocated for TRP transmission);
ZTE further teaches “receive a configuration indicating a set of applicable channel types that indicates which of at least one of a which of at least one of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), channel state information (CSI) reference signals (RS) (CSI-RS), or positioning RS (PRS) for DL that is scheduled by a CORESET associated with the CORESET pool ID is applicable to each of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states or the activated DL TCI states” (p. 1, lines 9 and 10, p. 1, line 26 - p. 2, lines 1-3, p. 2, lines 9, 10, 14–18, and 29–30, and p. 4, lines 10-13 and lines 19-22; UE receives UE-specific PDSCH (i.e., channel type) MAC CE (i.e., configuration). Since the MAC CE is for PDSCH (a channel type), it is, at the very least, indicating a channel type that is applicable. Additionally, ZTE also teaches including a Ti field in MAC CE which is mapped to a codepoint in DCI used to decode corresponding PDSCH, where indicating a “1” in the Ti field can indicate that the corresponding PDSCH should be decoded with the mapped codepoint; and since a set can include a single element, the disclosed configuration is indicating a set of channel types for the activated DL TCI state; also the MAC CE activating TCI states can be used for mPDCCH mTRP case for scheduling DL transmission; the received MAC CE (configuration) is for PDSCH for DL scheduled by CORESET, and the field set to 1 indicates that the MAC CE shall be applied for the DL transmission scheduled by the CORESET with the CORESET pool ID = 1; therefore, at least one of the PDCCH, PDSCH, CSI-RS, or PRS for activated DL TCI state is indicated for DL that is scheduled by a CORESET associated with the CORESET pool ID); and
ZTE also teaches “communicate with the TRP through DL . . . scheduled through one or more CORESETs of the set of CORESETs associated with the CORESET pool ID based on . . . the activated DL TCI states and based on the configuration” (see p. 4, lines 19-22; CORESET Pool ID indicates the ID of the CORESET scheduling the DL transmission; the field set to 1 indicates that the MAC CE shall be applied for the DL transmission scheduled by the CORESET with the CORESET pool ID = 1. As discussed above, the MAC CE activated TCI states can be DL TCI states for DL transmission and they indicate a beam for DL communication. Therefore, the UE can communicate with the TRP through DL scheduled through the CORESET via the beam indicated by (based on) the activated DL TCI states and based on the received configuration).
ZTE does not appear to explicitly teach the limitations of “indicating which of at least one of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), sounding reference signals (SRS), or a physical random access channel (PRACH) for UL that is scheduled by a CORESET associated with the CORESET pool ID is applicable to each of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states or the activated UL TCI states,” “UL scheduled through one or more CORESETs” as recited in claim 1, and also does not appear to explicitly teach the following limitations recited in the alternative in claim 1 “configured joint downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states, . . . or configured UL TCI states, each of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states indicating a common beam for communication in DL and UL, . . . each of the activated UL TCI states indicating a beam for communication in UL” and “the activated joint DL and UL TCI states, . . . or the activated UL TCI states.”
Regarding limitations of UL scheduling through CORESETs, it was well known in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention. For example, Park teaches “UL scheduled through one or more CORESETs” (see ¶¶ [0062] and [0067]; base station can set one or more transmission time intervals (TTI) types, which can be indicated by CORESET(s) for PUSCH assigned through scheduling control information through the CORESET including UL grant; additionally, the UE can determine timing relationship for HARQ ACK/NACK response to a DL data reception; therefore, UL is scheduled through one or more CORESETs). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention of ZTE to incorporate the teachings of Park to indicate UL scheduling via the CORESETs. The suggestion to do so would have been to overcome timing ambiguity between a UE and base station/TRP for DL data reception and corresponding HARQ ACK/NACK feedback timing (see ¶ [0061] of Park).
Regarding the abovementioned limitation of “configuration indicating a set of applicable channel types that indicates which of at least one of. . .,” and the limitation recited in the alternative, the combination of ZTE and Park does not explicitly teach them. However, Samsung teaches the limitations of “indicating which of at least one of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), sounding reference signals (SRS), or a physical random access channel (PRACH) for UL,” “configured joint downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states, . . . or configured UL TCI states, each of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states indicating a common beam for communication in DL and UL, . . . each of the activated UL TCI states indicating a beam for communication in UL” and “the activated joint DL and UL TCI states, . . . or the activated UL TCI states” (see p. 1, lines 24–26, and p. 2, lines 17–22; for UL, the spatialRelationInfo framework is used for beam indication for PUCCH and SRS, which is updated through RRC and MAC CE signaling; for PUSCH, the SRI (SRS Resource Indicator), in an UL DCI with UL grants, can be used for beam indication; a joint TCI state can be used for DL reception and UL transmission when beam correspondence between DL and UL is assumed (i.e., common beam for DL and UL); therefore, when joint TCI state is used it indicates a common beam for communication in DL and UL. Separate TCI states can be used for DL and UL (i.e., UL TCI states can be used for UL) if beam correspondence is not assumed; thus, if UL TCI states is used, it indicates a beam for communication in UL). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention as taught by the combination of ZTE in view of Park to incorporate the teachings of Samsung to activate joint DL and UL TCI states or UL TCI states, where the joint TCI states indicate a common beam or UL beam and to receive configuration indicating at least by PUSCH for UL scheduled by CORESET associated with the CORESET pool ID that is applicable to the activated UL TCI states. The suggestion to do so would have been to use the same spatial filter / beam when receiving and transmitting data and UE-dedicated control information or separate beams as needed (see p. 2, lines 13 and 14 of Samsung).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of ZTE, Park, and Samsung teaches the apparatus of claim 1, and further teaches “wherein the MAC-CE comprises a bitmap indicating the CORESET pool ID and which of the configured joint DL and UL TCI states, the configured DL TCI states, or the configured UL TCI states are activated in association with the CORESET pool ID” (see p. 4, lines 19-22 and FIG. 6.1.3.14-1 of ZTE, and p. 2, lines 17–22 of Samsung; ZTE teaches MAC CE indicating bits (i.e., via a bitmap) corresponding to CORESET pool id and the associated activated TCI state, such as the DL TCI state, and as discussed above, Samsung teaches joint DL and UL TCI state and UL TCI state). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention as taught by the combination of ZTE in view of Park to incorporate the teachings of Samsung to indicate the via a bitmap the CORESET pool ID and which of the joint DL and UL TCI state, DL TCI state, or UL TCI state is activated. The suggestion to do so would have been to efficiently indicate a CORESET pool ID and the activated TCI state.
Regarding claim 4, the combination of ZTE, Park, and Samsung teaches the apparatus of claim 1, and further teaches “wherein each of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states, the activated DL TCI states, or the activated UL TCI states is associated with the at least one of the PDCCH, the PDSCH, the CSI-RS, or the PRS for DL that is scheduled by a CORESET associated with the CORESET pool ID, and is associated with the at least one of the PUCCH, the PUSCH, the SRS, or the PRACH for UL that is scheduled by a CORESET associated with the CORESET pool ID” (see p. 2, lines 9, 10, 14–18, and 29–30 and p. 4, lines 19-22 of ZTE, ¶¶ [0062] and [0067] of Park, and p. 2, lines 17–22 of Samsung; ZTE teaches the activated DL TCI state is associated with the PDCCH; ZTE and Park teach scheduling of DL and UL by CORESET; and Samsung teaches the UL TCI state is associated with PUSCH). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention as taught by the combination of ZTE in view of Park to incorporate the teachings of Samsung to allow for joint TCI states, DL TCI states, or the UL TCI states to be associated with PDCCH or PUSCH for DL and UL scheduled by CORESET. The suggestion to do so would have been to allow for receiving and transmitting data and UE-dedicated control information as needed (see p. 2, lines 25–28).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of ZTE, Park, and Samsung teaches the apparatus of claim 1, and further teaches “wherein the configuration is received through at least one of radio resource control (RRC) signaling, the MAC-CE, or downlink control information (DCI)” (see p. 2, lines 9, 10, 14–18, and 29–30 and p. 4, lines 19-22 of ZTE and p. 1, lines 24–26, and p. 2, lines 17–22 of Samsung; UE receiving the configuration via MAC CE and/or RRC). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention as taught by the combination of ZTE in view of Park to incorporate the teachings of Samsung to receive the configuration via RRC and/or MAC CE. The suggestion to do so would have been to allow for receiving and transmitting data and UE-dedicated control information as needed (see p. 2, lines 25–28).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of ZTE, Park, and Samsung teaches the apparatus of claim 1, and further teaches “receive downlink control information (DCI) in a CORESET associated with the CORESET pool ID, the DCI indicating an index of a TCI codepoint, the index corresponding to one of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states, the activated DL TCI states, or the activated UL TCI states associated with the CORESET pool ID” (see p. 2, 14–18, 29–30, and p. 4, lines 3–22 of ZTE; DCI is scheduled for DL transmission via CORESET associated with the CORESET pool ID; MAC CE is DL BWP ID in MAC CE indicates a DL BWP to apply to the codepoint of the DCI (i.e., index of TCI codepoint), and activated TC-State ID i are mapped to the codepoint of the DCI (i.e., index of TCI codepoint). Therefore, UE receives DCI in a CORESET, where the DCI indicates an index of a TCI codepoint, and activated TCI state corresponds to the index of the codepoint).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of ZTE, Park, and Samsung teaches the apparatus of claim 7, and further teaches “wherein the joint DL and UL TCI states, the DL TCI states, or the UL TCI states activated in the MAC-CE are mapped with sequential indexes to the TCI codepoint, the TCI codepoint being associated with the CORESET pool ID” (see p. 4, lines 3-22 and FIG. 6.1.3.14-1 of ZTE; activated TC-State ID i are mapped to the codepoint of the DCI (i.e., index of TCI codepoint); the TCI state ID i can be sequential indexes as shown in FIG. 6.1.3.14-1; and the CORESET pool ID and TCI state ID i are indicated in the same MAC CE, thus TCI codepoint is associated with CORESET pool ID).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of ZTE, Park, and Samsung teaches the apparatus of claim 7, and further teaches “wherein the received DCI schedules the communication through DL or UL, and the communication through DL or UL scheduled through the DCI is based on the one of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states, the activated DL TCI states, or the activated UL TCI states corresponding to the index of the TCI codepoint indicated through the DCI” (see p. 2, 14–18, 29–30, and p. 4, lines 3–22 of ZTE; UE receives DCI scheduled for DL transmission, the activated TCI state ID i are mapped to the codepoint of the DCI (i.e., index of TCI codepoint), and the MAC CE that indicates the TCI state ID i is applied for DL transmission; therefore, communication through DL is based on the activated TCI states corresponding to the index of the TCI codepoint).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of ZTE, Park, and Samsung teaches the apparatus of claim 7, and further teaches “determine DL resources and UL resources for the communication to which the one of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states, the activated DL TCI states, or the activated UL TCI states corresponding to the index of the TCI codepoint indicated through the DCI applies, the determined DL resources and UL resources being scheduled by the one or more CORESETs associated with the CORESET pool ID” (see p. 2, 14–18, 29–30, and p. 4, lines 3–22 of ZTE, and ¶¶ [0062] – [0067] of Park; ZTE teaches scheduling of DL transmission, indicating the CORESET associated with the CORESET pool ID and the activated TCI states corresponding to the index of the TCI codepoint of the DCI; Park teaches configuring CORESET for DL and UL, and allocating resources for DL and UL). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention as taught by ZTE to incorporate the teachings of Park to determine / indicate DL and UL resources allocated by a CORESET associated with indicated CORESET pool ID. The suggestion to do so would have been to overcome timing ambiguity between a UE and base station/TRP (see ¶ [0061] of Park).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of ZTE, Park, and Samsung teaches the apparatus of claim 10, and further teaches “wherein the DL resources and UL resources for the communication are preconfigured or predetermined” (see p. 4, lines 3–22 of ZTE, and ¶¶ [0064] and [0065] of Park; ZTE teaches DL BWP (resources) indicated in the MAC CE via BWP ID, which maps to the BWPs of the DCI; since the BWP ID is indicated in the MAC CE, it is determined prior to transmission of MAC CE, thus, preconfigured or predetermined; Park teaches base station sets one or more TTIs (DL and UL resources) for DL/UL data channel for the UE, and TTI types can be defined as set of subcarrier spacing; since these resources can be defined prior to communication with the UE, they are preconfigured or predetermined). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention as taught by ZTE to incorporate the teachings of Park for the DL and UL resources to be preconfigured or predetermined. The suggestion to do so would have been to overcome timing ambiguity between a UE and base station/TRP (see ¶ [0061] of Park).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of ZTE, Park, and Samsung teaches the apparatus of claim 10, and further teaches “receive an indication of the DL resources and the UL resources for the communication scheduled by the one or more CORESETs associated with the CORESET pool ID, wherein the DL resources and the UL resources for the communication scheduled by the one or more CORESETs associated with the CORESET pool ID are determined based on the received indication” (see p. 4, lines 3–22 of ZTE, and ¶¶ [0064], [0065], [0099], [0100], [0132], [0133], and [0135] of Park; ZTE teaches MAC CE indicating DL BWP (resources) for DCI, and the MAC CE indicating the CORESET pool ID associated with the CORESET to be applied for the DL transmission. Thus, the DL BWP (resources) are determined based on the received MAC CE (i.e., based on received indication); Park teaches base station setting one or more TTIs (DL and UL resources) for DL/UL data channel for the UE, and indicated via DCI, which is indicated through UE-specific RRC signaling). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention as taught by ZTE to incorporate the teachings of Park to receive indication of the DL and UL resources. The suggestion to do so would have been to overcome timing ambiguity between a UE and base station/TRP (see ¶ [0061] of Park).
Regarding claim 13, the combination of ZTE, Park, and Samsung teaches the apparatus of claim 12, and further teaches “wherein the indication is received through one of radio resource control (RRC) signaling, the MAC-CE, or the DCI” (see p. 4, lines 3–22 of ZTE, and ¶¶ [0064], [0065], [0099], [0100], [0132], [0133], and [0135] of Park; ZTE teaches receiving the indication of DL BWP (resources) via MAC CE and Park teaches receiving one or more TTIs (DL and UL resources) via DCI, which is indicated through UE-specific RRC signaling). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention as taught by ZTE to incorporate the teachings of Park to receive indication of the DL and UL resources via RRC, MAC CE, or DCI. The suggestion to do so would have been to overcome timing ambiguity between a UE and base station/TRP (see ¶ [0061] of Park).
Regarding claim 14, the combination of ZTE, Park, and Samsung teaches the apparatus of claim 1, and further teaches “further comprising a transceiver coupled to the at least one processor” (see ¶¶ [0062] and [0069] of Park; UE is configured to receive DL data and transmit HARQ ACK/NACK feedback; it is also well known in the art that UEs are configured transceiver, thus, the UE can be configured with a transceiver). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention as taught by ZTE to incorporate the teachings of Park to include a transceiver. The suggestion to do so would have been to allow receive DL and transmit feedback in response (see ¶ [0005] of Park).
Regarding claim 29, ZTE teaches “an apparatus for wireless communication at a transmission reception point (TRP), comprising: a memory and at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to: transmit, to a user equipment (UE), a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) (MAC-CE) activating a subset of . . . configured DL TCI states, . . . each of the activated DL TCI states indicating a beam for communication in DL, . . . the MAC-CE indicating a control resource set (CORESET) pool identifier (ID) associated with a set of CORESETs” (see p. 2, lines 9, 10, 14–18, and 29–30; TCI state activation/deactivation MAC CE can be sent to UE from any TRP; MAC CE activating TCI states can be used for mPDCCH mTRP case for scheduling DL transmission. Therefore, MAC CE activated TCI states can be the configured DL TCI states, and since these TCI states are for scheduling DL transmission, they indicate a beam for communication in DL; CORESET pool ID is indicated via the R bit in the MAC CE for the multiple CORESETs allocated for TRP transmission);
ZTE further teaches “transmit a configuration indicating a set of applicable channel types that indicates which of at least one of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), channel state information (CSI) reference signals (RS) (CSI-RS), or positioning RS (PRS) for DL that is scheduled by a CORESET associated with the CORESET pool ID is applicable to each of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states or the activated DL TCI states” (p. 1, lines 9 and 10, p. 1, line 26 - p. 2, lines 1-3, p. 2, lines 9, 10, 14–18, and 29–30, and p. 4, lines 10-13 and lines 19-22; UE receives UE-specific PDSCH (i.e., channel type) MAC CE (i.e., configuration). Since the MAC CE is for PDSCH (a channel type), it is, at the very least, indicating a channel type that is applicable. Additionally, ZTE also teaches including a Ti field in MAC CE which is mapped to a codepoint in DCI used to decode corresponding PDSCH, where indicating a “1” in the Ti field can indicate that the corresponding PDSCH should be decoded with the mapped codepoint; and since a set can include a single element, the disclosed configuration is indicating a set of channel types for the activated DL TCI state; also the MAC CE activating TCI states can be used for mPDCCH mTRP case for scheduling DL transmission; the received MAC CE (configuration) is for specific PDSCH for DL scheduled by CORESET, and the field set to 1 indicates that the MAC CE shall be applied for the DL transmission scheduled by the CORESET with the CORESET pool ID = 1; therefore, at least one of the PDCCH, PDSCH, CSI-RS, or PRS for activated DL TCI state is indicated for DL that is scheduled by a CORESET associated with the CORESET pool ID); and
ZTE also teaches “communicate with the UE through DL . . . scheduled through one or more CORESETs of the set of CORESETs associated with the CORESET pool ID based on . . . the activated DL TCI states” (see p. 4, lines 19-22; CORESET Pool ID indicates the ID of the CORESET scheduling the DL transmission; the field set to 1 indicates that the MAC CE shall be applied for the DL transmission scheduled by the CORESET with the CORESET pool ID = 1. As discussed above, the MAC CE activated TCI states can be DL TCI states for DL transmission and they indicate a beam for DL communication. Therefore, the UE can communicate with the TRP through DL scheduled through the CORESET via the beam indicated by (based on) the activated DL TCI states).
ZTE does not appear to explicitly teach the limitation of “indicating which of at least one of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), sounding reference signals (SRS), or a physical random access channel (PRACH) for UL that is scheduled by a CORESET associated with the CORESET pool ID is applicable to each of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states or the activated UL TCI states,” “UL scheduled through one or more CORESETs” as recited in claim 1, and also does not appear to explicitly teach the following limitations recited in the alternative in claim 1 “configured joint downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states, . . . or configured UL TCI states, each of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states indicating a common beam for communication in DL and UL, . . . each of the activated UL TCI states indicating a beam for communication in UL” and “the activated joint DL and UL TCI states, . . . or the activated UL TCI states.”
Regarding limitations of UL scheduling through CORESETs was well known in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention. For example, Park teaches “UL scheduled through one or more CORESETs” (see ¶¶ [0062] and [0067]; base station can set one or more transmission time intervals (TTI) types, which can be indicated by CORESET(s) for PUSCH assigned through scheduling control information through the CORESET including UL grant; additionally, the UE can determine timing relationship for HARQ ACK/NACK response to a DL data reception; therefore, UL is scheduled through one or more CORESETs). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention of ZTE to incorporate the teachings of Park to indicate UL scheduling via the CORESETs. The suggestion to do so would have been to overcome timing ambiguity between a UE and base station/TRP for DL data reception and corresponding HARQ ACK/NACK feedback timing (see ¶ [0061] of Park).
Regarding the abovementioned limitations recited in the alternative, the combination of ZTE and Park does not explicitly teach them. However, Samsung teaches the limitations of “indicating which of at least one of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), sounding reference signals (SRS), or a physical random access channel (PRACH) for UL,” “configured joint downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states, . . . or configured UL TCI states, each of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states indicating a common beam for communication in DL and UL, . . . each of the activated UL TCI states indicating a beam for communication in UL” and “the activated joint DL and UL TCI states, . . . or the activated UL TCI states” (see p. 1, lines 24–26, and p. 2, lines 17–22; for UL, the spatialRelationInfo framework is used for beam indication for PUCCH and SRS, which is updated through RRC and MAC CE signaling; for PUSCH, the SRI (SRS Resource Indicator), in an UL DCI with UL grants, can be used for beam indication; a joint TCI state can be used for DL reception and UL transmission when beam correspondence between DL and UL is assumed (i.e., common beam for DL and UL); therefore, when joint TCI state is used it indicates a common beam for communication in DL and UL. Separate TCI states can be used for DL and UL (i.e., UL TCI states can be used for UL) if beam correspondence is not assumed; thus, if UL TCI states is used, it indicates a beam for communication in UL). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention as taught by the combination of ZTE in view of Park to incorporate the teachings of Samsung to activate joint DL and UL TCI states or UL TCI states, where the joint TCI states indicate a common beam or UL beam and to transmit configuration indicating at least by PUSCH for UL scheduled by CORESET associated with the CORESET pool ID that is applicable to the activated UL TCI states. The suggestion to do so would have been to use the same spatial filter / beam when receiving and transmitting data and UE-dedicated control information or separate beams as needed (see p. 2, lines 13 and 14 of Samsung).
Claims 15, 16, 19 – 28, and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu et al. (WO 2020/143909 A1) in view of ZTE and further view of Samsung.
Regarding claim 15, Hu teaches “[a]n apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to: receive, from a transmission reception point (TRP), a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) (MAC-CE) activating at least one set of . . . DL TCI states . . . for a plurality of TRPs . . . each of the activated DL TCI states indicating a beam for communication in DL” (see p. 10, lines 30–33, p. 11, lines 28 and 29, p. 12, lines 24 and 25, p. 13, lines 6–10, 17, 18, and 20– 23, p. 14, lines 22–24 and lines 29-31, and FIGS. 1, 6B, and 7; FIG. 1 shows client device 100 (UE), which comprises a processor 102, a transceiver 104, and a memory 106, and the processor 102 is coupled to the transceiver 10-4 and the memory 106. The client device 100 (UE) obtains TCI configuration for UL or DL data transmission in data channels, such as PDSCH and PUSCH. The client device 100 (UE) is configured with one or more TCI state set groups or sequences, where each TCI state set comprises one or more TCI states. A beam rank is the number of TCI states in one TCI state set; in step II of FIG. 7, the client device 100 (UE) receives a MAC CE to activate a specific beam rank and subset of TCI states, i.e., T0, T1, T(N-1), and the activated TCI states are mapped to codepoints of the DCI (i.e., the activated TCI states can be DL TCI states); in step III of Fig. 7, the client device 100 (UE) derives TCI information for the set of data channels based on the codepoint, in this example the client device 100 knows there are two QCL information which are Beam #3 and Beam #5 for the associated set of data channels, and in FIG. 7, each activated TCI state set shows corresponding beams for the TCI states; thus, each activated DL TCI state indicates a beam for DL communication. The network access node 300 can comprise one or more TRPs (i.e., plurality of TRPs) for communication with client devices (UE); the client device 100 (UE) can obtain the subset of TCI states based on an activation status vector in bitmap form, which can be in a MAC CE from the network access node 300 (i.e., MAC CE received from the TRP); FIG. 6B shows the client device 100 (UE) in communication with TRP1 and TRP2 (i.e., plurality of TRPs) and furthermore, two PDSCHs, PDSCH1 and PDSCH2 are transmitted from two respective TRPs, i.e., TRP1 and TRP2. Thus, the MAC CE received from the TRP activates at least DL TCI states for a plurality of TRPs and the beam rank indicated in the MAC CE indicate the beams); and
Hu also teaches “communicate through DL and UL with the plurality of TRPs based on . . . the activated DL TCI states” (see p. 12, lines 24 – 25, p. 14, lines 29 – 31, and FIGs. 6B and 7; the client device 100 (UE) obtains TCI configuration for UL or DL data transmission in data channels, such as PDSCH and PUSCH (i.e., UL and DL communication between the UE and at least the TRP); in step III of Fig. 7, the client device 100 (UE) derives TCI information for the set of data channels based on the codepoint, in this example the client device 100 knows there are two QCL information which are Beam #3 and Beam #5 for the associated set of data channels; therefore, the client device (UE) determines the beams based on the activated TCI state information it received. Thus, the client device 100 (UE) communicates with the plurality of TRPs based on the activated TCI states; FIG. 6B shows client device 100 (UE) in communication with TRP1 and TRP2 (plurality of TRPs), and in FIG. 7, each activated TCI state set shows corresponding beams for the TCI states. Thus, the UE communicates through DL and UL with the plurality of TRPs based on the activated DL TCI states).
Hu does not appear to explicitly teach the following limitations recited in claim 1: “receive a first configuration indicating a set of applicable channel types that indicates which of at least one of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), channel state information (CSI) reference signals (RS) (CSI-RS), or positioning RS (PRS) for DL that is scheduled by a CORESET associated with the CORESET pool ID is applicable to each of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states or the activated DL TCI states, and indicating which of at least one of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), sounding reference signals (SRS), or a physical random access channel (PRACH) for UL that is scheduled by a CORESET associated with the CORESET pool ID is applicable to each of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states or the activated UL TCI states,” and the following limitations recited in the alternative, in claim 1 “joint downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states . . . UL TCI states . . . each of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states indicating a common beam for communication in DL and UL . . . each of the activated UL TCI states indicating a beam for communication in UL” and “communicate through DL and UL with the plurality of TRPs based on the activated joint DL and UL TCI states based on the activated joint DL and UL TCI states . . . or the activated UL TCI states.” However, the foregoing limitations are known in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
For example ZTE teaches “receive a first configuration indicating a set of applicable channel types that indicates which of at least one of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), channel state information (CSI) reference signals (RS) (CSI-RS), or positioning RS (PRS) for DL that is scheduled by a CORESET associated with the CORESET pool ID is applicable to each of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states or the activated DL TCI states” (p. 1, lines 9 and 10, p. 1, line 26 - p. 2, lines 1-3, p. 2, lines 9, 10, 14–18, and 29–30, and p. 4, lines 10-13 and lines 19-22; UE receives UE-specific PDSCH (i.e., channel type) MAC CE (i.e., configuration). Since the MAC CE is for PDSCH (a channel type), it is, at the very least, indicating a channel type that is applicable. Additionally, ZTE also teaches including a Ti field in MAC CE which is mapped to a codepoint in DCI used to decode corresponding PDSCH, where indicating a “1” in the Ti field can indicate that the corresponding PDSCH should be decoded with the mapped codepoint; and since a set can include a single element, the disclosed configuration is indicating a set of channel types for the activated DL TCI state; also the MAC CE activating TCI states can be used for mPDCCH mTRP case for scheduling DL transmission; the received MAC CE (configuration) is for specific PDSCH for DL scheduled by CORESET, and the field set to 1 indicates that the MAC CE shall be applied for the DL transmission scheduled by the CORESET with the CORESET pool ID = 1; therefore, at least one of the PDCCH, PDSCH, CSI-RS, or PRS for activated DL TCI state is indicated for DL that is scheduled by a CORESET associated with the CORESET pool ID). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention as taught by Hu to incorporate the teachings of ZTE receive a configuration indicating at least one of PDSCH for DL that is scheduled by a CORESET associated with the CORESET pool ID is applicable to each of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states or the activated DL TCI states. The suggestion to do so would have been to improve enhanced TCI state activation/deactivation (see p. 1, line 9 of ZTE).
The combination of Hu and ZTE do not explicitly disclose “indicating which of at least one of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), sounding reference signals (SRS), or a physical random access channel (PRACH) for UL that is scheduled by a CORESET associated with the CORESET pool ID is applicable to each of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states or the activated UL TCI states,” and the following limitations recited in the alternative, in claim 1 “joint downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states . . . UL TCI states . . . each of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states indicating a common beam for communication in DL and UL . . . each of the activated UL TCI states indicating a beam for communication in UL” and “communicate through DL and UL with the plurality of TRPs based on the activated joint DL and UL TCI states based on the activated joint DL and UL TCI states . . . or the activated UL TCI states based on the first configuration.” However, the foregoing limitations are known in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
For example, Samsung teaches the foregoing limitations (see p. 1, lines 24–26, and p. 2, lines 17–22; for UL, the spatialRelationInfo framework is used for beam indication for PUCCH and SRS, which is updated through RRC and MAC CE signaling; for PUSCH, the SRI (SRS Resource Indicator), in an UL DCI with UL grants, can be used for beam indication; a joint TCI state can be used for DL reception and UL transmission when beam correspondence between DL and UL is assumed (i.e., common beam for DL and UL); therefore, when joint TCI state is used it indicates a common beam for communication in DL and UL. Separate TCI states can be used for DL and UL (i.e., UL TCI states can be used for UL) if beam correspondence is not assumed; thus, if UL TCI states is used, it indicates a beam for communication in UL). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention as taught by Hu to incorporate the teachings of Samsung to activate joint DL and UL TCI states or UL TCI states, where the joint TCI states indicate a common beam or UL beam and to receive configuration indicating at least by PUSCH for UL scheduled by CORESET associated with the CORESET pool ID that is applicable to the activated UL TCI states. The suggestion to do so would have been to use the same spatial filter / beam when receiving and transmitting data and UE-dedicated control information or separate beams as needed (see p. 2, lines 13 and 14 of Samsung).
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Hu, ZTE, and Samsung teaches the apparatus of claim 15, and further teaches “receive, from the TRP, downlink control information (DCI) scheduling the communication through the DL and the UL with the plurality of TRPs” (see p. 12, lines 31 – 35, p. 13, lines 32 – 35, p. 14, lines 9 – 11, and FIG. 7 of Hu; Generally, the client device 100 (UE) receives a DCI associated with a set of data channels or alternatively a set of layers of a data channel (e.g. PDSCH and PUSCH) and addressed to the client device 100 (UE). The TCI field of the received DCI is decoded so that the client device 100 obtains a codepoint which is used for deriving TCI state set information for the set of data channels or the set of layers of the data channel; for a specific beam rank, a MAC activation command (e.g. MAC CE) is used to map a number of TCI state sets to codepoints of the DCI field “Transmission Configuration Indication.” Thus, the received DCI is used to determine the codepoint of the DCI to which the TCI states should be mapped, and based in part on the codepoint of the DCI, the client device 100 (UE) determines TCI information for the scheduled UL and DL data channels, through which the client device 100 (UE) communicates with the plurality of TRPs).
Regarding claim 19, the combination of Hu, ZTE, and Samsung teaches the apparatus of claim 16, and further teaches “wherein the at least one set of activated joint DL and UL TCI states comprises one set of activated joint DL and UL TCI states, and the activated one set of joint DL and UL TCI states are applied sequentially to the scheduled communication through the DL and the UL with the plurality of TRPs” (see p. 14, lines 22 – 25 of Hu; the client device 100 (UE) receives a MAC CE used to activate a specific beam rank and a subset of the set of TCI state sets, i.e. TO, T1. T(N-1 ) (i.e., sequential TCI state IDs)).
Regarding claim 20, the combination of Hu, ZTE, and Samsung teaches the apparatus of claim 16, and further teaches “wherein the activated at least one set of joint DL and UL TCI states are applied to the scheduled communication through the DL and the UL with the plurality of TRPs based on a preconfiguration” (see p. 12, lines 24 – 25, p. 13, lines 6 – 10, and FIG. 6B and 7 of Hu, and p. 2, lines 20 – 21 of Samsung; Hu teaches the client device 100 (UE) obtains TCI configuration for UL or DL data transmission in data channels, such as PDSCH and PUSCH (i.e., DL and UL communication with TRPs), and can obtain the subset of TCI states based on an activation status vector in bitmap form, which can be in a MAC CE from the network access node 300 (i.e., MAC CE received from a TRP of the network access node). Since the TCI configuration is configured prior to sending to the UE, it is considered as preconfigured; Samsung teaches the joint TCI state is indicated when beam correspondence b/w DL and UL is assumed, and the UE can use the joint TCI state for DL reception and UL transmission. Thus, joint TCI state is indicated by network entity when beam correspondence is assumed, thus, the joint TCI state is preconfigured prior to it being indicated to the UE). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention as taught by Hu to incorporate the teachings of Samsung to activate joint DL and UL TCI states and applied to the DL and UL communication based on preconfiguration. The suggestion to do so would have been to use the same spatial filter / beam when receiving and transmitting data and UE-dedicated control information or separate beams as needed (see p. 2, lines 13 and 14 of Samsung).
Regarding claim 21, the combination of Hu, ZTE, and Samsung teaches the apparatus of claim 16, and further teaches “receive, from a base station associated with the TRP and the plurality of TRPs, a second configuration indicating a mapping between the activated at least one set of joint DL and UL TCI states and the scheduled communication through the DL and the UL with the plurality of TRPs” (see p. 11, lines 28 and 29, p. 12, lines 24 and 25, and p. 13, lines 6 – 10 of Hu, and p. 2, lines 20 – 21 of Samsung; Hu teaches the network access node 300 (base station) can comprise one or more TRPs (i.e., plurality of TRPs) for communication with client devices (UE); the client device 100 (UE) obtains TCI configuration for UL or DL data transmission in data channels, such as PDSCH and PUSCH (i.e., communication through DL and UL with the plurality of TRPs), and can obtain the subset of TCI states (i.e., TCI configuration) based on an activation status vector in bitmap form, which can be in a MAC CE from the network access node 300 (base station). Therefore, based on the configuration indicating the activated TCI states, the appropriate configuration for the UL and DL communication via the data channels (PDSCH and PUSCH) with the plurality of TRPs is determined. Thus, the configuration is a mapping between the activated TCI states and the UL and DL communication; Samsung teaches the joint TCI state is indicated when beam correspondence b/w DL and UL is assumed, and the UE can use the joint TCI state for DL reception and UL transmission). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention as taught by Hu to incorporate the teachings of Samsung to receive a configuration indicate a mapping between the joint DL and UL TCI states and the DL and UL communication. The suggestion to do so would have been to use the same spatial filter / beam when receiving and transmitting data and UE-dedicated control information or separate beams as needed (see p. 2, lines 13 and 14 of Samsung).
Regarding claim 22, the combination of Hu, ZTE, and Samsung teaches the apparatus of claim 21, and further teaches “wherein to receive the first or the second configuration, the at least one processor is configured to receive the first or the second configuration through one of radio resource control (RRC) signaling, the MAC-CE, or the DCI” (see p. 13, lines 6 – 10 of Hu; UE can obtain (received) the subset of TCI states (i.e., TCI configuration) based on an activation status vector in bitmap form, which can be in a MAC CE from the network access node 300).
Regarding claim 23, the combination of Hu, ZTE, and Samsung teaches the apparatus of claim 21, and further teaches “wherein the MAC-CE comprises a bitmap indicating at least one TCI codepoint, each TCI codepoint of the at least one TCI codepoint including a set of TCI state identifiers (IDs) corresponding to at least one of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states, the activated DL TCI states, or the activated UL TCI states” (see p. 12, lines 24 and 25, p. 13, lines 6 – 10, p. 14, lines 22 – 25, and FIG. 7 of Hu; the client device 100 (UE) obtains TCI configuration for UL or DL data transmission in data channels, such as PDSCH and PUSCH; the client device 100 (UE) can obtain the subset of TCI states (i.e., can be DL TCI states or UL TCI states) based on an activation status vector in bitmap form, which can be in a MAC CE from the network access node 300; further, the client device 100 (UE) receives a MAC CE used to activate a specific beam rank and a subset of the set of TCI state sets, i.e. TO, T1. T(N-1 ) (i.e., TCI state IDs). The activated subset of TCI state sets is mapped to codepoints of the DCI field “Transmission Configuration Indication”, starting from the first activated TCI state set, i.e. T1 in this example (i.e., at least one codepoint of DCI is mapped to the set TCI state sets/TCI state IDs)).
Regarding claim 24, the combination of Hu, ZTE, and Samsung teaches the apparatus of claim 21, and further teaches “wherein one TCI codepoint of the at least one TCI codepoint is associated with a set of default joint common DL and UL beams” (see p. 12, lines 24 and 25, p. 13, lines 6 – 10, p. 14, lines 22 – 25, and FIG. 7 of Hu, and p. 2, lines 20 – 23 of Samsung; Samsung teaches when beam correspondence between DL and UL is assumed, a joint TCI state can be used by the UE for DL reception and UL transmission, and a common DL and UL beam can be indicated for the joint TCI state). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention as taught by Hu to incorporate the teachings of Samsung to have a codepoint mapped to a joint DL and UL TCI state which is associated with a common beam for DL and UL communication. The suggestion to do so would have been to use the same spatial filter / beam when receiving and transmitting data and UE-dedicated control information or separate beams as needed (see p. 2, lines 13 and 14 of Samsung).
Regarding claim 25, the combination of Hu, ZTE, and Samsung teaches the apparatus of claim 15, and further teaches “wherein the activated at least one set of the joint DL and UL TCI states, the activated DL TCI states, or the activated UL TCI states comprises a plurality of sets of activated joint DL and UL TCI states, activated DL TCI states, or activated UL TCI states, each set corresponding to one TCI codepoint” (see p. 14, lines 22 – 25, and FIG. 7 of Hu; the client device 100 (UE) receives a MAC CE used to activate a specific beam rank and a subset of the set of TCI state sets, i.e. TO, T1. T(N-1 ). The activated subset of TCI state sets is mapped to codepoints of the DCI field “Transmission Configuration Indication”).
Regarding claim 26, the combination of Hu, ZTE, and Samsung teaches the apparatus of claim 25, and further teaches “receive, from the TRP, downlink control information (DCI) scheduling the communication through the DL and the UL with the plurality of TRPs, and indicating a TCI codepoint for the scheduled communication, wherein the scheduled communication through DL and UL with the plurality of TRPs is based on the indicated TCI codepoint” (see p. 14, lines 22 – 25, and 29 – 31, and FIG. 7 of Hu; the client device 100 (UE) receives a MAC CE used to activate a specific beam rank and a subset of the set of TCI state sets, i.e. TO, T1. T(N-1 ). The activated subset of TCI state sets is mapped to codepoints of the DCI field “Transmission Configuration Indication”; the client device 100 (UE) derives TCI information for the set of data channels based on the codepoint, in this example the client device 100 knows there are two QCL information which are Beam #3 and Beam #5 for the associated set of data channels).
Regarding claim 27, the combination of Hu, ZTE, and Samsung teaches the apparatus of claim 25, and further teaches “further comprising a transceiver coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive, from the TRP, downlink control information (DCI) indicating a TCI codepoint for DCI scheduled communication; and receive at least one DCI scheduling the communication through the DL and the plurality of TRPs scheduled through the at least one DCI being based on the received TCI codepoint” (see p. 12, line 31 to p. 13, line 4 of Hu; the client device 100 receives a DCI associated with a set of data channels or alternatively a set of layers of a data channel (e.g. PDSCH and PUSCH) and addressed to the client device 100. The TCI field of the received DCI is decoded so that the client device 100 obtains a codepoint which is used for deriving TCI state set information for the set of data channels or the set of layers of the data channel. Finally, the client device 100 receives DL data transmission(s) in the set of data channels according to the obtained TCI state set information. The obtained TCI state set information can be at least one of: quasi-collocation (QCL) information; spatial filter parameters; and beam link information for the data transmissions in the set of data channels. Hence, the client device 100 tunes its receiver block to the mentioned TCI state set information for receiving the DL data transmission).
Regarding claim 28, the combination of Hu, ZTE, and Samsung teaches the apparatus of claim 25, and further teaches “receive, from the TRP, downlink control information (DCI) scheduling the communication through the DL and the UL with the plurality of TRPs, the DCI excluding TCI codepoint information, wherein the scheduled communication through DL and UL with the plurality of TRPs is based on a default TCI codepoint indicated in the MAC-CE, the default TCI codepoint being associated with a set of default joint common DL and UL beams” (see p. 15, lines 29 – 30, p. 16, lines 1 and 2, and p. 16, lines 12 - line 2 of Hu, and p. 2, lines 20 – 23 of Samsung; Hu teaches for each beam rank larger than 1, and for each TCI state there is a default TCI state set. The default TCI state set can be received in RRC signaling or MAC signaling from a network access node 300 (i.e., from a TRP); and when high layer signaling parameter “tci-PresentlnDCI” is not configured (i.e., DCI excluding TCI codepoint information) for the CORESET scheduling the PDSCH, or the PDSCH is scheduled by a DCI format 1_0. For determining multiple PDSCHs’ antenna port quasi co-location (QCL), the client device 100 (UE) assumes that the TCI state for the PDSCH is dependent on the TCI state applied for the CORESET used for the PDCCH transmission and a default TCI state set. Samsung teaches when beam correspondence between DL and UL is assumed, a joint TCI state can be used by the UE for DL reception and UL transmission, and a common DL and UL beam can be indicated for the joint TCI state). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention as taught by Hu to incorporate the teachings of Samsung to have a default codepoint indicated mapped to a joint DL and UL TCI state which is associated with a common beam for DL and UL communication. The suggestion to do so would have been to use the same spatial filter / beam when receiving and transmitting data and UE-dedicated control information or separate beams as needed (see p. 2, lines 13 and 14 of Samsung).
Regarding claim 30, Hu teaches “[a]n apparatus for wireless communication at a transmission reception point (TRP), compromising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to: transmit, to a user equipment (UE), a media access control (MAC) control element (CE) (MAC-CE) activating at least one set of . . . DL TCI states . . . for a plurality of TRPs . . . each of the activated DL TCI states indicating a beam for communication in DL” (see p. 11, lines 20–22, and lines 28 and 29, p. 12, lines 24 and 25, p. 13, lines 6–10, 17, 18, and 20– 23, p. 14, lines 22–24 and lines 29-31, and FIGS. 1, 6B, and 7; the network access node 300 comprises a processor 302, a transceiver 304 and a memory 306. The processor 302 is coupled to the transceiver 304 and the memory 306; the network access node 300 can comprise one or more TRPs for communication with client devices (UE). The client device 100 obtains (i.e., a TRP transmits) TCI configuration for UL or DL data transmission in data channels, such as PDSCH and PUSCH; in step II of FIG. 7, the client device 100 (UE) receives a MAC CE to activate a specific beam rank and subset of TCI states, i.e., T0, T1, T(N-1), and the activated TCI states are mapped to codepoints of the DCI (i.e., the activated TCI states can be DL TCI states); in step III of Fig. 7, the client device 100 (UE) derives TCI information for the set of data channels based on the codepoint, in this example the client device 100 knows there are two QCL information which are Beam #3 and Beam #5 for the associated set of data channels, and in FIG. 7, each activated TCI state set shows corresponding beams for the TCI states; thus, each activated DL TCI state indicates a beam for DL communication. The client device 100 (UE) can obtain (i.e., TRP transmits) the subset of TCI states based on an activation status vector in bitmap form, which can be in a MAC CE from the network access node 300 (i.e., MAC CE received from the TRP); FIG. 6B shows the client device 100 (UE) in communication with TRP1 and TRP2 (i.e., plurality of TRPs) and furthermore, two PDSCHs, PDSCH1 and PDSCH2 are transmitted from two respective TRPs, i.e., TRP1 and TRP2. Thus, the MAC CE received from the TRP activates at least DL TCI states for a plurality of TRPs and the beam rank indicated in the MAC CE indicate the beams); and
Hu also teaches “communicate through DL and UL with the UE based on . . . the activated DL TCI states” (see p. 12, lines 24 – 25, p. 14, lines 29 – 31, and FIGs. 6B and 7; the client device 100 (UE) obtains TCI configuration for UL or DL data transmission in data channels, such as PDSCH and PUSCH (i.e., UL and DL communication between at least the TRP and the UE); in step III of Fig. 7, the client device 100 (UE) derives TCI information (which, as discussed above, can be activated DL TCI states information) for the set of data channels based on the codepoint, in this example the client device 100 knows there are two QCL information which are Beam #3 and Beam #5 for the associated set of data channels; therefore, the client device (UE) determines the beams based on the activated TCI state information it received. Thus, the TRP and the client device 100 (UE) communicate with each other based on the activated DL TCI states).
Hu does not appear to explicitly teach the following limitations recited in claim 1: “transmit a first configuration indicating which of at least one of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), channel state information (CSI) reference signals (RS) (CSI-RS), or positioning RS (PRS) for DL is applicable to each of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states or the activated DL TCI states, and indicating which of at least one of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), sounding reference signals (SRS), or a physical random access channel (PRACH) for UL is applicable to each of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states or the activated UL TCI states,” and the following limitations recited in the alternative, in claim 1 “joint downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states . . . UL TCI states . . . each of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states indicating a common beam for communication in DL and UL . . . each of the activated UL TCI states indicating a beam for communication in UL” and “communicate through DL and UL with the plurality of TRPs based on the activated joint DL and UL TCI states based on the activated joint DL and UL TCI states . . . or the activated UL TCI states.” However, the foregoing limitations are known in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention
For example ZTE teaches “transmit a first configuration indicating a set of applicable channel types that indicates which of at least one of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), channel state information (CSI) reference signals (RS) (CSI-RS), or positioning RS (PRS) for DL is applicable to each of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states or the activated DL TCI states,” (p. 1, lines 9 and 10, p. 1, line 26 - p. 2, lines 1-3, p. 2, lines 9, 10, 14–18, and 29–30, and p. 4, lines 10-13 and lines 19-22; UE receives UE-specific PDSCH (i.e., channel type) MAC CE (i.e., configuration). Since the MAC CE is for PDSCH (a channel type), it is, at the very least, indicating a channel type that is applicable. Additionally, ZTE also teaches including a Ti field in MAC CE which is mapped to a codepoint in DCI used to decode corresponding PDSCH, where indicating a “1” in the Ti field can indicate that the corresponding PDSCH should be decoded with the mapped codepoint; and since a set can include a single element, the disclosed configuration is indicating a set of channel types for the activated DL TCI state; also the MAC CE activating TCI states can be used for mPDCCH mTRP case for scheduling DL transmission; the received MAC CE (configuration) is for specific PDSCH for DL scheduled by CORESET, and the field set to 1 indicates that the MAC CE shall be applied for the DL transmission scheduled by the CORESET with the CORESET pool ID = 1; therefore, at least one of the PDCCH, PDSCH, CSI-RS, or PRS for activated DL TCI state is indicated for DL that is scheduled by a CORESET associated with the CORESET pool ID). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention as taught by Hu to incorporate the teachings of ZTE transmit a configuration indicating at least one of PDSCH for DL that is scheduled by a CORESET associated with the CORESET pool ID is applicable to each of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states or the activated DL TCI states. The suggestion to do so would have been to improve enhanced TCI state activation/deactivation (see p. 1, line 9 of ZTE).
The combination of Hu and ZTE do not explicitly disclose “indicating which of at least one of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), sounding reference signals (SRS), or a physical random access channel (PRACH) for UL that is scheduled by a CORESET associated with the CORESET pool ID is applicable to each of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states or the activated UL TCI states,” and the following limitations recited in the alternative, in claim 1 “joint downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states . . . UL TCI states . . . each of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states indicating a common beam for communication in DL and UL . . . each of the activated UL TCI states indicating a beam for communication in UL” and “communicate through DL and UL with the plurality of TRPs based on the activated joint DL and UL TCI states based on the activated joint DL and UL TCI states . . . or the activated UL TCI states based on the first configuration.” However, the foregoing limitations are known in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
However, Samsung teaches the foregoing limitations (see p. 1, lines 24–26, and p. 2, lines 17–22; for UL, the spatialRelationInfo framework is used for beam indication for PUCCH and SRS, which is updated through RRC and MAC CE signaling; for PUSCH, the SRI (SRS Resource Indicator), in an UL DCI with UL grants, can be used for beam indication; a joint TCI state can be used for DL reception and UL transmission when beam correspondence between DL and UL is assumed (i.e., common beam for DL and UL); therefore, when joint TCI state is used it indicates a common beam for communication in DL and UL. Separate TCI states can be used for DL and UL (i.e., UL TCI states can be used for UL) if beam correspondence is not assumed; thus, if UL TCI states is used, it indicates a beam for communication in UL). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the invention as taught by Hu to incorporate the teachings of Samsung to activate joint DL and UL TCI states or UL TCI states, where the joint TCI states indicate a common beam or UL beam and to transmit configuration indicating at least by PUSCH for UL. The suggestion to do so would have been to use the same spatial filter / beam when receiving and transmitting data and UE-dedicated control information or separate beams as needed (see p. 2, lines 13 and 14 of Samsung).
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hu in view of Samsung and further in view of Kim et al. (U.S. Publication No. 2021/0367743A1).
Regarding claim 18, the combination of Hu and Samsung teaches the apparatus of claim 16, and further teaches “the scheduled communication through the DL and the UL with the plurality of TRPs” of claim 18 as described above (see see p. 12, lines 24 – 25, p. 14, lines 29 – 31, and FIGs. 6B and 7 of Hu). The combination of Hu and Samsung, does not appear explicitly teach that “the scheduled communication . . . is through at least one of frequency division multiplexing (FDM), time division multiplexing (TDM), or spatial division multiplexing (SDM).” However, UL and DL communication via FDM, TDM, or SDM is well known in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention. For example, Kim teaches the UL and DL communication “through at least one of frequency division multiplexing (FDM), time division multiplexing (TDM), or spatial division multiplexing (SDM)” (see ¶ [0080]; frame structure type 1 for frequency division duplex (i.e., a type of FDM) and frame structure type 2 for time division duplex (i.e., a type of TDM)).
Conclusion
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/SRIHARSHA REDDY VANGAPATY/Examiner, Art Unit 2475
/KHALED M KASSIM/supervisory patent examiner, Art Unit 2475
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