DETAILED ACTION
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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Applicants’ remarks, filed January 29, 2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1, 29, 31, 58 under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of newly found prior art Xu et al. (US 2021/0105751), hereafter Xu751.
Xu751 teaches wherein the two or more UL TCI states define a spatial relation for UL transmissions instead of downlink transmissions (Section 0233). Additionally, Examiner continues to respectfully disagree with Applicants’ assertion-Specifically, Xu fails to teach at least "associations between two or more power control states and two or more uplink, UL, Transmission Configuration Indicator, TCI, states [] wherein each power control state of the two or more power control states comprises one or more UL power control related parameters.'-for the same reasons set forth in the Office Action dated October 29, 2025. Xu teaches obtaining information that indicates associations between two or more power control states and two or more uplink (UL) Transmission Configuration Indicator, TCI, states (Section 0254, each TCI state is associated with a plurality of power control parameters, which are the power control states, this renders a scenario wherein there are a plurality of TCI states associated with a plurality of power control parameters, the power control parameters that the TCI states are associated with can be uplink power control parameters such as P0-PUSCH-AlphaSets (See Sections 0252, 0254) thus the TCI states associated with said uplink power control parameters are UL TCI states), wherein each power control state of the two or more power control states comprises one or more UL power control related parameters (Sections 0252, 0254, P0_PUSCH-AlphaSets are UL power control related parameters).
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.
Claim(s) 1, 10 – 16, 29, 31, 58 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (US 2021/0219246) in view of Xu751.
Regarding Claim 1, Xu further teaches a method performed by a wireless communication device, comprising: obtaining information that indicates associations between two or more power control states and two or more uplink (UL) Transmission Configuration Indicator, TCI, states (Section 0254, each TCI state is associated with a plurality of power control parameters, which are the power control states, this renders a scenario wherein there are a plurality of TCI states associated with a plurality of power control parameters, the power control parameters that the TCI states are associated with can be uplink power control parameters such as P0-PUSCH-AlphaSets (See Sections 0252, 0254) thus the TCI states associated with said uplink power control parameters are UL TCI states) for (a) two or more uplink, UL, channels, (b) two or more UL resources, (c) two or more UL resource sets, (d) two or more UL resource groups, or (e) any combination of two or more of (a)-(d) (Section 0240, power control of the PUSCH, which is an UL channel, wireless networks such as the network of Xu comprise multiple UEs transmitting on PUSCHs thus there will be a plurality of PUSCHs), wherein each power control state of the two or more power control states comprises one or more UL power control related parameters (Sections 0252, 0254, P0_PUSCH-AlphaSets are UL power control related parameters); and performing UL power control for one or more UL transmissions based on the information (Section 0254, the power control parameters enable power control of the UL transmissions).
Xu does not teach wherein the two or more UL TCI states define a spatial relation for UL transmissions instead of downlink transmissions.
Xu751, which also teaches TCI states, teaches wherein the two or more UL TCI states define a spatial relation for UL transmissions instead of downlink transmissions (Section 0233).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Xu with the above features of Xu751 for the purpose of improving beam management and tracking, which is a benefit of spatial relation reference signals as taught by Xu751.
Regarding Claim 29, Xu teaches a wireless communication device comprising: one or more transmitters (Figure 15, wireless device has at least one transmitter); one or more receivers (Figure 15, wireless device has at least one receiver); and processing circuitry associated with the one or more transmitters and the one or more receivers, the processing circuitry configured to cause the wireless communication device to (Figure 15, processing system (1518)): obtain information that indicates associations between two or more power control states and two or more uplink, UL, Transmission Configuration Indicator, TCI, states, (Section 0254, each TCI state is associated with a plurality of power control parameters, which are the power control states, this renders a scenario wherein there are a plurality of TCI states associated with a plurality of power control parameters, the power control parameters that the TCI states are associated with can be uplink power control parameters such as P0-PUSCH-AlphaSets (See Sections 0252, 0254) thus the TCI states associated with said uplink power control parameters are UL TCI states) for (a) two or more uplink, UL, channels, (b) two or more UL resources, (c) two or more UL resource sets, (d) two or more UL resource groups, or (e) any combination of two or more of (a)-(d) (Section 0240, power control of the PUSCH, which is an UL channel, wireless networks such as the network of Xu comprise multiple UEs transmitting on PUSCHs thus there will be a plurality of PUSCHs), wherein each power control state of the two or more power control states comprises one or more UL power control related parameters (Sections 0252, 0254, P0_PUSCH-AlphaSets are UL power control related parameters); and perform UL power control for one or more UL transmissions based on the information (Section 0254, the power control parameters enable power control of the UL transmissions).
Xu does not teach wherein the two or more UL TCI states define a spatial relation for UL transmissions instead of downlink transmissions.
Xu751, which also teaches TCI states, teaches wherein the two or more UL TCI states define a spatial relation for UL transmissions instead of downlink transmissions (Section 0233).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Xu with the above features of Xu751 for the purpose of improving beam management and tracking, which is a benefit of spatial relation reference signals as taught by Xu751.
Regarding Claim 31, Xu teaches a method performed by a base station, comprising: providing, to one or more wireless communication devices, information that indicates associations between two or more power control states and two or more uplink, UL, Transmission Configuration Indicator, TCI, states, (Section 0254, each TCI state is associated with a plurality of power control parameters, which are the power control states, this renders a scenario wherein there are a plurality of TCI states associated with a plurality of power control parameters, the power control parameters that the TCI states are associated with can be uplink power control parameters such as P0-PUSCH-AlphaSets (See Sections 0252, 0254) thus the TCI states associated with said uplink power control parameters are UL TCI states) for (a) two or more UL channels, (b) two or more uplink, UL, resources, (c) two or more UL resource sets, (d) two or more UL resource groups, or (e) any combination of two or more of (a)-(d) (Section 0240, power control of the PUSCH, which is an UL channel, wireless networks such as the network of Xu comprise multiple UEs transmitting on PUSCHs thus there will be a plurality of PUSCHs), wherein each power control state of the two or more power control states comprises one or more UL power control related parameters (Sections 0252, 0254, P0_PUSCH-AlphaSets are UL power control related parameters).
Xu does not teach wherein the two or more UL TCI states define a spatial relation for UL transmissions instead of downlink transmissions.
Xu751, which also teaches TCI states, teaches wherein the two or more UL TCI states define a spatial relation for UL transmissions instead of downlink transmissions (Section 0233).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Xu with the above features of Xu751 for the purpose of improving beam management and tracking, which is a benefit of spatial relation reference signals as taught by Xu751.
Regarding Claim 58, Xu teaches a base station comprising processing circuitry configured to cause the base station (Figure 15, processing system (1508)) to: provide, to one or more wireless communication devices, information that indicates associations between two or more power control states and two or more uplink, UL, Transmission Configuration Indicator, TCI, states (Section 0254, each TCI state is associated with a plurality of power control parameters, which are the power control states, this renders a scenario wherein there are a plurality of TCI states associated with a plurality of power control parameters, the power control parameters that the TCI states are associated with can be uplink power control parameters such as P0-PUSCH-AlphaSets (See Sections 0252, 0254) thus the TCI states associated with said uplink power control parameters are UL TCI states), for (a) two or more UL channels, (b) two or more uplink, UL, resources, (c) two or more UL resource sets, (d) two or more UL resource groups, or (e) any combination of two or more of (a)-(d) (Section 0240, power control of the PUSCH, which is an UL channel, wireless networks such as the network of Xu comprise multiple UEs transmitting on PUSCHs thus there will be a plurality of PUSCHs), wherein each power control state of the two or more power control states comprises one or more UL power control related parameters (Sections 0252, 0254, P0_PUSCH-AlphaSets are UL power control related parameters).
Xu does not teach wherein the two or more UL TCI states define a spatial relation for UL transmissions instead of downlink transmissions.
Xu751, which also teaches TCI states, teaches wherein the two or more UL TCI states define a spatial relation for UL transmissions instead of downlink transmissions (Section 0233).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Xu with the above features of Xu751 for the purpose of improving beam management and tracking, which is a benefit of spatial relation reference signals as taught by Xu751.
Regarding Claim 10, Xu teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 9. Xu further teaches wherein the one or more UL power control related parameters comprise: (i) PO, (ii) α, (iii) a pathloss Reference Signal, RS, (iv) a closed loop index, or (v) any combination of two or more of (i)-(iv) (Section 0253, PO-PUSCH-AlphaSets, pathloss reference signals, closed loop indexes).
Regarding Claim 11, Xu in view of Xu751 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Xu further teaches wherein the information further indicates associations between the two or more power states and the two or more TCI states for all UL channels, all UL resources, all UL resource sets, or all UL resource groups (Section 0253, power control procedure for uplink transmission, which comprises UL channels).
Regarding Claim 12, Xu in view of Xu751 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Xu further teaches indicates associations between the two or more power states and the two or more TCI states on a per UL channel, per UL resource, per UL resource set, and/or per UL resource group basis (Section 0253, power control procedure for uplink transmission, which comprises UL channels thus there will be a per UL channel basis).
Regarding Claim 13, Xu in view of Xu751 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Xu further teaches wherein the information is comprised explicitly in TCI state configurations for the two or more TCI states (Section 0254, DCI indicating one or more TCIs is an explicit indication).
Regarding Claim 14, Xu in view of Xu751 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 13. Xu further teaches wherein the information comprises configuration of an identifier of a power control state in the configuration of each of the two or more TCI states (Section 0254, indication of power control parameters will comprise some kind of identifier of said power control parameters).
Regarding Claim 15, Xu in view of Xu751 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 14. Xu further teaches wherein the information is applicable to at least one of (1) a Physical Uplink Control Channel, PUCCH; (2) a Physical Uplink Shared Channel, PUSCH; and (3) a Sounding Reference Signal, SRS (PLEASE NOTE: Examiner has assumed that Applicants meant to include the disjunctive word “or”, Section 0254, PO-PUSCH-AlphaSets).
Regarding Claim 16, Xu in view of Xu751 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 13. Xu further teaches wherein the information comprises configuration of one or more identifiers of one or more power control states in the configuration of each of the two or more TCI states (Section 0254, indication of power control parameters will comprise some kind of identifier of said power control parameters).
Claim(s) 4, 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (US 2021/0219246) in view of Xu751, as applied to Claim 1 set forth above, and further in view of Sundararajan et al. (US 2018/0368017).
Regarding Claim 4, Xu in view of Xu751 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Xu in view of Xu751 does not teach wherein the information indicates associations between the two or more power control states and the (b) two or more UL channels.
Sundararajan, which also teaches the use of power control parameters, teaches wherein the information indicates associations between the two or more power control states and the (b) two or more UL channels (Section 0081, power control parameters associated with particular UL channels renders a plurality of power control parameters associated with a plurality of UL channels).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Xu in view of Xu751 with the above features of Sundararajan for the purpose of enabling a scheduling entity to identify the interference level from UEs of a neighboring cell at each UE served by the scheduling entity as taught by Sundararajan.
Regarding Claim 5, Xu in view of Xu751 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Xu in view of Xu751 does not teach wherein the information indicates associations between the two or more power control states and the (c) two or more UL resources.
Sundararajan, which also teaches the use of power control parameters, teaches wherein the information indicates associations between the two or more power control states and the (c) two or more UL resources (Section 0081, power control parameters associated with particular UL channels renders a plurality of power control parameters associated with a plurality of UL channels and thus a plurality of UL resources).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Xu in view of Xu751 with the above features of Sundararajan for the purpose of enabling a scheduling entity to identify the interference level from UEs of a neighboring cell at each UE served by the scheduling entity as taught by Sundararajan.
Claim(s) 6, 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (US 2021/0219246) in view of Xu751, as applied to Claim 1 set forth above, and further in view of Zhang et al. (WO 2020063923)
Regarding Claim 6, Xu in view of Xu751 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Xu in view of Xu751 does not teach wherein the information indicates associations between the two or more power control states and the (d) two or more UL resource sets.
Zhang, which also teaches the use of power control parameters, teaches wherein the information indicates associations between the two or more power control states and the (d) two or more UL resource sets (Section 0009, association between power control parameters and UL resource sets).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Xu in view of Xu751 with the above features of Zhang for the purpose of achieve quality of service (QoS) while also minimizing interference to other users as taught by Zhang.
Regarding Claim 7, Xu in view of Xu751 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Xu in view of Xu751 does not teach wherein the information indicates associations between the two or more power control states and the (e) two or more UL resource groups.
Zhang, which also teaches the use of power control parameters, teaches wherein the information indicates associations between the two or more power control states and the (e) two or more UL resource groups (Section 0009, association between power control parameters and UL resource sets, which are also UL resource groups).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Xu in view of Xu751 with the above features of Zhang for the purpose of achieve quality of service (QoS) while also minimizing interference to other users as taught by Zhang.
Claim(s) 8 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (US 2021/0219246) in view of Xu751, as applied to Claim 1 set forth above, and further in view of Papasakellariou (US 2020/0259625)
Regarding Claim 8, Xu in view of Xu751 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 1. Xu further teaches associating two or more TCI states to a power control state (Section 0254, each TCI state is associated with a plurality of power control parameters, which are the power control states, this renders a scenario wherein there are a plurality of TCI states associated with a power control parameter).
Xu in view of Xu751 does not teach wherein the information further comprises an uplink channel configuration that implicitly associates two or more TCI sates to a power control state.
Papasakellariou, which also teaches TCI states, teaches implicitly associating two or more TCI states (Section 0117).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Xu in view of Xu751 with the above features of Papasakellariou for the purpose of providing link adaptation for communication support of different service types as taught by Papasakellariou. The combination of Xu in view of Xu751 and Papasakellariou teaches wherein the information further comprises an uplink channel configuration that implicitly associates two or more TCI sates to a power control state
Claim(s) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xu et al. (US 2021/0219246) in view of Xu751, as applied to Claim 1 set forth above, and further in view of in view of Jeon et al. (US 2019/0253986)
Regarding Claim 17, Xu in view of Xu751 teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claim 16. Xu further teaches wherein the one or more identifiers are specific to a PUSCH (Section 0254, PO-PUSCH-AlphaSets).
Xu in view of Xu751 does not teach wherein the one or more identifiers are specific to at least one of (1) a Physical Uplink Control Channel, PUCCH and (3) a Sounding Reference Signal, SRS.
Jeon, which also teaches power control parameters, teaches identifiers specific to at least one of (1) a Physical Uplink Control Channel, PUCCH and (3) a Sounding Reference Signal, SRS (Section 0320, there will be some kind of identifier of said power control parameters).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Xu in view of Xu751 with the above features of Jeon for the purpose of allowing a beam failure report to be transmitted to a cell other than the cell experiencing the beam failure, reporting of beam failure for a cell that may be configured with a downlink carrier without an uplink carrier and/or for which a wireless device may otherwise not have a configured uplink, and/or an alternate method of beam failure reporting if other beam failure recovery procedures fail.as taught by Jeon.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/RAYMOND S DEAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645 Raymond S. Dean
March 26, 2026