DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
1A. A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 01/20/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
2. Amendments filed on 01/20/2026 are entered for prosecution. Claims 1, 4-5, 7-11 and 13-17 remain pending in the application. The amendments change the scopes of the previously presented claims.
Applicant’s amendments to the claims have overcome each and every rejection based on 35 USC § 112 to the claims previously set forth in the Final Office Action.
Response to Arguments
3. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 4-5, 7-11 and 13-17 filed 01/20/2026 regarding newly added limitations have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to the references being used in the current rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
5. Claims 1, 4-5, 7, 10-11, and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al (US 20240137960 A1, hereinafter Park) in view of YUAN et al (US 20230059644 A1, hereinafter YUAN).
Regarding claim 1, Park discloses a method performed by a user equipment (UE) comprising (Fig. 30 – Wireless Device 3020; [0078] user equipment (e.g., UE). Although one or more of the above types of devices may be referenced herein (e.g., UE, wireless device, computing device, etc.)… Apparatuses, systems, and/or methods described herein may generally be described as implemented on one or more devices (e.g., wireless device, base station, eNB, gNB, computing device, etc.)):
receiving (Fig. 30 - 3001) a set of power control parameters comprising a closed loop index, and a path loss (PL) RS, wherein the set of power control parameters are associated with a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state ([0293] A base station 3010 may send (e.g., transmit) to a wireless device 3020… The one or more messages 3001 may comprise configuration parameters of reference TCI states 3002 and/or identifiers (e.g., signal identifiers). An identifier (e.g., each identifier) may indicate one or more target RSs… The wireless device 3020 may send (e.g., transmit) the transport block 3007 (e.g., data), for example, based on a transmit power control of the transport block (e.g., PUSCH). The transmit power control may be based on the pathloss estimation with a downlink RS of the reference TCI state or a downlink RS linked to the reference TCI state 3002 (e.g., among downlink RS configured in a message comprising candidate PL-RS (e.g., for PUSCH); [0302] FIG. 35 shows an example for validation of a control command. The control command may comprise DCI. The DCI may indicate a reference TCI state (e.g., as a field inside the DCI, or indicating it indirectly, for example, associated by a message, field, or parameter)…The wireless device may identify/indicate, with validation, the DCI carrying the control command using the fields (e.g., … “Closed loop indicator” …) with a pre-configured bitwidth in the DCI); and
transmitting a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission by a transmit (TX) beam determined by a quasi-co-location (QCL) type D (QCL-TypeD) reference signal (RS) contained in the TCI state ([0293] FIG. 30 shows an example of wireless communications using a beam indication for downlink and/or uplink data channel transmission(s)… The wireless device may send (e.g., transmit) the transport block 3007 (e.g., data) via the PUSCH with/using the spatial domain filter 3004 determined by the reference TCI state 3002; [0267] The TCI state may provide a quasi co-location (“QCL”) assumption (e.g., a reference signal (“RS”), an RS source, SS/PBCH block, CSI-RS) or a QCL type (e.g., QCL-TypeA, QCL-TypeD, etc.)) that is associated with the set of power control parameters ([0293] The wireless device 3020 may send (e.g., transmit) the transport block 3007 (e.g., data), for example, based on a transmit power control of the transport block (e.g., PUSCH). The transmit power control may be based on the pathloss estimation with a downlink RS of the reference TCI state or a downlink RS linked to the reference TCI state 3002 (e.g., among downlink RS configured in a message comprising candidate PL-RS (e.g., for PUSCH); [0302] FIG. 35 shows an example for validation of a control command. The control command may comprise DCI. The DCI may indicate a reference TCI state (e.g., as a field inside the DCI, or indicating it indirectly, for example, associated by a message, field, or parameter)…The wireless device may identify/indicate, with validation, the DCI carrying the control command using the fields (e.g., … “Closed indicator” …) with a pre-configured bitwidth in the DCI). Park does not explicitly disclose wherein the set of power control parameters comprising P0 and alpha.
However, YUAN discloses a set of power control parameters comprising P0 and alpha ([0082] The ULPC_para_set may contain any of a P0 value, a pathloss downlink RS, and a closeloopindex, and a path loss compensation factor; [0078] α.sub.b,f,c, is path loss compensation factor).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was filed to modify the set of power control parameters of Park to include the set of power control parameters comprising P0 and alpha as taught by YUAN in order to provide additional power control parameters to determine the appropriate power for transmission and manage uplink transmissions more efficiently (YUAN - [0004] The described techniques relate to improved methods… apparatuses that support uplink power control parameter indication for multi-panel transmission; [0075] In some examples, power control for physical uplink shared channel may be calculated using the equation (1) (Subject to maximum transmit power limit); Park – [0293] The wireless device 3020 may send (e.g., transmit) the transport block 3007 (e.g., data), for example, based on a transmit power control of the transport block (e.g., PUSCH)).
Regarding claim 4, Park further discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising a receiving radio resource control (RRC) signaling (Fig. 30 – element 3001-3002) to indicate whether a TCI field ([0290] The base station may send (e.g., transmit) a control command comprising a field indicating at least one of: a reference TCI state of the reference TCI states, and/or a signal identifier. The wireless device may determine (e.g., based on the reference TCI state), a spatial domain filter (e.g., a beam) of the one or more target RSs indicated by the signal identifier) is included in an uplink (UL) grant ([0293] The wireless device 3020 may receive an uplink scheduling grant 3006 (e.g., DCI) scheduling a transport block via a PUSCH associated with the DMRS), wherein, if the TCI field is included in the UL grant (Fig. 23C – TCIPresentInDCI), the TX beam is determined by the TCI state ([0293] The wireless device may send (e.g., transmit) the transport block 3007 (e.g., data) via the PUSCH with/using the spatial domain filter 3004 determined by the reference TCI state 3002), and
if the TCI field is not included in the UL grant (Fig. 23C – TCIPresentInDCI; [0253] If the field is absent, a wireless device may consider/determine the TCI to be absent/disabled; [0263] A wireless device configured by higher layer parameter (e.g., PDCCH-Config) may contain two different values of a coreset pool index (e.g., CORESETPoolIndex) in a control resource set (e.g., ControlResourceSet), for example, if a TCI indication (e.g., tci-PresentInDCI) is enabled (e.g., is set to ‘enabled’) and/or if the TCI indication (e.g., tci-PresentInDCI) is not configured in an RRC connected mode), the TX beam is determined by spatial relations configured for sounding reference signal (SRS) resources indicated by an SRS resource indicator (SRI) field of the UL grant ([0265] A wireless device may determine a panel and/or a transmission beam (and/or spatial domain transmission filter) on the panel, for example, if a wireless device receives DCI indicating an uplink grant. The panel may be indicated (e.g., explicitly indicated) by a panel ID comprised in the DCI. The panel may be indicated (e.g., implicitly indicated) by an SRS ID (and/or an SRS group/pool index), a UL TCI pool index of a UL TCI for uplink transmission, and/or a CORESET pool index of a CORESET for receiving the DCI), or
determined by the TCI state ([0293] The wireless device may send (e.g., transmit) the transport block 3007 (e.g., data) via the PUSCH with/using the spatial domain filter 3004 determined by the reference TCI state 3002) or
QCL assumption indicated for a control resource set (CORESET) transmitting a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carrying the UL grant ([0263] A wireless device configured by higher layer parameter (e.g., PDCCH-Config) may contain two different values of a coreset pool index (e.g., CORESETPoolIndex) in a control resource set (e.g., ControlResourceSet), for example, if a TCI indication (e.g., tci-PresentInDCI) is enabled (e.g., is set to ‘enabled’) and/or if the TCI indication (e.g., tci-PresentInDCI) is not configured in an RRC connected mode. If A wireless device may assume/determine that DM-RS ports of a PDSCH associated with a value of a coreset pool index (e.g., CORESETPoolIndex) of a serving cell are quasi co-located with the RS(s) with respect to the QCL parameter(s), for example, if the offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH transmission is less than a threshold (e.g., timeDurationForQCL). The QCL parameter(s) may be used for a PDCCH quasi co-location indication of the CORESET associated with a monitored search space with the lowest CORESET-ID among CORESETs; [0095] A physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) may comprise/carry downlink control information (DCI), which may comprise downlink scheduling commands, uplink scheduling grants, and uplink power control commands).
Regarding claim 5, Park further discloses the method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a Medium Access Control (MAC) control element (CE) indicating the TCI state ([0157] The base station may indicate one or more TCI states to the wireless device (e.g., via RRC signaling, a MAC CE, and/or DCI). The wireless device may receive a downlink transmission with an Rx beam determined based on the one or more TCI states) and its associated power control parameter set for a TCI codepoint ([0284] The wireless device may send (e.g., transmit) the uplink signal of the second target signal/channel of the list, for example, based on a transmit power control of the uplink signal. The transmit power control may be based on the pathloss estimation with a downlink RS of the reference TCI (or a downlink RS linked or associated to the reference TCI); [0297] FIG. 32 shows an example of a signal/channel identifier. The signal/channel identifier may indicate/identify one or more target channels. A codepoint ‘01010’ of the signal/channel identifier may be (pre-)configured by a base station (e.g., by higher-layer signaling, e.g., RRC signaling (higher-layer signaling could also be MAC signaling – see [0155])) as ‘PDSCH, PUSCH, and PUCCH’, wherein the base station may further indicate the codepoint ‘01010’ with a reference TCI (e.g., by sending a (subsequent) control command) and the wireless device may determine a Tx/Rx configuration filter (e.g., spatial domain filter) based on the indicated reference TCI (e.g., as a unified downlink/uplink TCI) to use/apply for subsequent downlink receptions (e.g., PDSCH) and uplink transmissions (e.g., PUSCH, PUCCH), based on the codepoint ‘01010’ indicating the one or more target signal(s)/channels as ‘PDSCH, PUSCH, and PUCCH’ to be applicable/usable with the determined Tx/Rx configuration filter (e.g., spatial domain filter)).
Regarding claim 7, Park further discloses the method of claim 5, wherein the MAC CE includes a CORESET pool identifier (ID) field to indicate a CORESETPoolIndex value of a CORESET transmitting a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carrying an UL grant (Fig. 14A; [0263] A wireless device configured by higher layer parameter (e.g., PDCCH-Config) (higher-layer could also be MAC signaling – see [0155]) may contain two different values of a coreset pool index (e.g., CORESETPoolIndex) in a control resource set (e.g., ControlResourceSet); [0265] A wireless device may determine a panel and/or a transmission beam (and/or spatial domain transmission filter) on the panel, for example, if a wireless device receives DCI indicating an uplink grant (PDCCH carrying UL grant). The panel may be indicated (e.g., explicitly indicated) by a panel ID comprised in the DCI. The panel may be indicated (e.g., implicitly indicated) by an SRS ID (and/or an SRS group/pool index), a UL TCI pool index of a UL TCI for uplink transmission, and/or a CORESET pool index of a CORESET for receiving the DCI).
Regarding claim 10, Park discloses a method performed by a base unit (Fig. 30 – Base Station 3010), the method comprising ([0078] Apparatuses, systems, and/or methods described herein may generally be described as implemented on one or more devices (e.g., wireless device, base station, eNB, gNB, computing device, etc.):
transmitting (Fig. 30 - 3001) a set of power control parameters comprising a closed loop index, and a path loss (PL) RS, wherein the set of power control parameters are associated with a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state ([0293] A base station 3010 may send (e.g., transmit) to a wireless device 3020… The one or more messages 3001 may comprise configuration parameters of reference TCI states 3002 and/or identifiers (e.g., signal identifiers). An identifier (e.g., each identifier) may indicate one or more target RSs… The wireless device 3020 may send (e.g., transmit) the transport block 3007 (e.g., data), for example, based on a transmit power control of the transport block (e.g., PUSCH). The transmit power control may be based on the pathloss estimation with a downlink RS of the reference TCI state or a downlink RS linked to the reference TCI state 3002 (e.g., among downlink RS configured in a message comprising candidate PL-RS (e.g., for PUSCH); [0302] FIG. 35 shows an example for validation of a control command. The control command may comprise DCI. The DCI may indicate a reference TCI state (e.g., as a field inside the DCI, or indicating it indirectly, for example, associated by a message, field, or parameter)…The wireless device may identify/indicate, with validation, the DCI carrying the control command using the fields (e.g., … “Closed indicator” …) with a pre-configured bitwidth in the DCI) and
receiving a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission (Fig. 30 – element 3007; [0328] The base station may transmit and/or receive any quantity of downlink and/or uplink signals corresponding to signal type(s) of the list of signals indicated by an identifier at step 3930) by a transmit (TX) beam determined by a quasi-co-location (QCL) type D (QCL-TypeD) reference signal (RS) contained in the TCI state that is associated with the set of power control parameters ([0293] The wireless device may send (e.g., transmit) the transport block 3007 (e.g., data) via the PUSCH with/using the spatial domain filter 3004 determined by the reference TCI state 3002. The wireless device 3020 may send (e.g., transmit) the transport block 3007 (e.g., data), for example, based on a transmit power control of the transport block (e.g., PUSCH). The transmit power control may be based on the pathloss estimation with a downlink RS of the reference TCI state or a downlink RS linked to the reference TCI state 3002 (e.g., among downlink RS configured in a message comprising candidate PL-RS (e.g., for PUSCH); [0302] FIG. 35 shows an example for validation of a control command. The control command may comprise DCI. The DCI may indicate a reference TCI state (e.g., as a field inside the DCI, or indicating it indirectly, for example, associated by a message, field, or parameter)…The wireless device may identify/indicate, with validation, the DCI carrying the control command using the fields (e.g., … “Closed loop indicator” …) with a pre-configured bitwidth in the DCI; [0267] The TCI state may provide a quasi co-location (“QCL”) assumption (e.g., a reference signal (“RS”), an RS source, SS/PBCH block, CSI-RS) or a QCL type (e.g., QCL-TypeA, QCL-TypeD, etc.)).
Park does not explicitly disclose wherein the set of power control parameters comprising P0 and alpha.
However, YUAN discloses a set of power control parameters comprising P0 and alpha ([0082] The ULPC_para_set may contain any of a P0 value, a pathloss downlink RS, and a closeloopindex, and a path loss compensation factor; [0078] α.sub.b,f,c, is path loss compensation factor).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was filed to modify the set of power control parameters of Park to include the set of power control parameters comprising P0 and alpha as taught by YUAN in order to provide additional power control parameters to determine the appropriate power for transmission and manage uplink transmissions more efficiently (YUAN - [0004] The described techniques relate to improved methods… apparatuses that support uplink power control parameter indication for multi-panel transmission; [0075] In some examples, power control for physical uplink shared channel may be calculated using the equation (1) (Subject to maximum transmit power limit); Park – [0293] The wireless device 3020 may send (e.g., transmit) the transport block 3007 (e.g., data), for example, based on a transmit power control of the transport block (e.g., PUSCH)).
Regarding claim 11, Park discloses a base unit (Fig. 15A – Base station 1504; Fig. 15A – Wireless Device 1502; [0078] user equipment (e.g., UE). Although one or more of the above types of devices may be referenced herein (e.g., UE, wireless device, computing device, etc.)), comprising:
At least one memory (Fig. 15A – 1514; Fig. 15A - 1524); and
at least one processor (Fig. 15A – 1508; Fig. 15A – 1518; [0204] The processing system 1508 and/or the processing system 1518 may comprise one or more controllers and/or one or more processors) coupled with the at least one memory ([0203] The processing system 1508 and the processing system 1518 may be associated with a memory 1514 and a memory 1524) and configured to cause the base unit to ([0203] The processing system 1508 and/or the processing system 1518 may perform at least… any other functionality that may enable the wireless device 1502 and/or the base station 1504 to operate in a wireless environment; [0329] The wireless device may comprise one or more processors; and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the wireless device to perform the described method, additional operations and/or include the additional elements):
transmit (Fig. 30 - 3001) a set of power control parameters comprising a closed loop index, and a path loss (PL) RS, wherein the set of power control parameters are associated with a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state ([0293] A base station 3010 may send (e.g., transmit) to a wireless device 3020… The one or more messages 3001 may comprise configuration parameters of reference TCI states 3002 and/or identifiers (e.g., signal identifiers). An identifier (e.g., each identifier) may indicate one or more target RSs… The wireless device 3020 may send (e.g., transmit) the transport block 3007 (e.g., data), for example, based on a transmit power control of the transport block (e.g., PUSCH). The transmit power control may be based on the pathloss estimation with a downlink RS of the reference TCI state or a downlink RS linked to the reference TCI state 3002 (e.g., among downlink RS configured in a message comprising candidate PL-RS (e.g., for PUSCH); [0302] FIG. 35 shows an example for validation of a control command. The control command may comprise DCI. The DCI may indicate a reference TCI state (e.g., as a field inside the DCI, or indicating it indirectly, for example, associated by a message, field, or parameter)…The wireless device may identify/indicate, with validation, the DCI carrying the control command using the fields (e.g., … “Closed indicator” …) with a pre-configured bitwidth in the DCI) and
receive a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission by a transmit (TX) beam determined by a quasi-co-location (QCL) type D (QCL-TypeD) reference signal (RS) contained in the TCI state ([0293] FIG. 30 shows an example of wireless communications using a beam indication for downlink and/or uplink data channel transmission(s)… The wireless device may send (e.g., transmit) the transport block 3007 (e.g., data) via the PUSCH with/using the spatial domain filter 3004 determined by the reference TCI state 3002; [0267] The TCI state may provide a quasi co-location (“QCL”) assumption (e.g., a reference signal (“RS”), an RS source, SS/PBCH block, CSI-RS) or a QCL type (e.g., QCL-TypeA, QCL-TypeD, etc.)) that is associated with the set of power control parameters ([0293] The wireless device may send (e.g., transmit) the transport block 3007 (e.g., data) via the PUSCH with/using the spatial domain filter 3004 determined by the reference TCI state 3002. The wireless device 3020 may send (e.g., transmit) the transport block 3007 (e.g., data), for example, based on a transmit power control of the transport block (e.g., PUSCH). The transmit power control may be based on the pathloss estimation with a downlink RS of the reference TCI state or a downlink RS linked to the reference TCI state 3002 (e.g., among downlink RS configured in a message comprising candidate PL-RS (e.g., for PUSCH); [0302] FIG. 35 shows an example for validation of a control command. The control command may comprise DCI. The DCI may indicate a reference TCI state (e.g., as a field inside the DCI, or indicating it indirectly, for example, associated by a message, field, or parameter)…The wireless device may identify/indicate, with validation, the DCI carrying the control command using the fields (e.g., … “Closed loop indicator” …) with a pre-configured bitwidth in the DCI).
Park does not explicitly disclose wherein the set of power control parameters comprising P0 and alpha.
However, YUAN discloses a set of power control parameters comprising P0 and alpha ([0082] The ULPC_para_set may contain any of a P0 value, a pathloss downlink RS, and a closeloopindex, and a path loss compensation factor; [0078] α.sub.b,f,c, is path loss compensation factor).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was filed to modify the set of power control parameters of Park to include the set of power control parameters comprising P0 and alpha as taught by YUAN in order to provide additional power control parameters to determine the appropriate power for transmission and manage uplink transmissions more efficiently (YUAN - [0004] The described techniques relate to improved methods… apparatuses that support uplink power control parameter indication for multi-panel transmission; [0075] In some examples, power control for physical uplink shared channel may be calculated using the equation (1) (Subject to maximum transmit power limit); Park – [0293] The wireless device 3020 may send (e.g., transmit) the transport block 3007 (e.g., data), for example, based on a transmit power control of the transport block (e.g., PUSCH)).
Regarding claim 13, Park further discloses the base unit of claim 11, further comprising:
receiving a radio resource control (RRC) signaling (Fig. 30 – element 3001-3002) to indicate whether a TCI field ([0290] The base station may send (e.g., transmit) a control command comprising a field indicating at least one of: a reference TCI state of the reference TCI states, and/or a signal identifier. The wireless device may determine (e.g., based on the reference TCI state), a spatial domain filter (e.g., a beam) of the one or more target RSs indicated by the signal identifier) is included in an uplink (UL) grant ([0293] The wireless device 3020 may receive an uplink scheduling grant 3006 (e.g., DCI) scheduling a transport block via a PUSCH associated with the DMRS), wherein, if the TCI field is included in the UL grant (Fig. 23C – TCIPresentInDCI), the TX beam is determined by the TCI state ([0293] The wireless device may send (e.g., transmit) the transport block 3007 (e.g., data) via the PUSCH with/using the spatial domain filter 3004 determined by the reference TCI state 3002), and
if the TCI field is not included in the UL grant (Fig. 23C – TCIPresentInDCI; [0253] If the field is absent, a wireless device may consider/determine the TCI to be absent/disabled; [0263] A wireless device configured by higher layer parameter (e.g., PDCCH-Config) may contain two different values of a coreset pool index (e.g., CORESETPoolIndex) in a control resource set (e.g., ControlResourceSet), for example, if a TCI indication (e.g., tci-PresentInDCI) is enabled (e.g., is set to ‘enabled’) and/or if the TCI indication (e.g., tci-PresentInDCI) is not configured in an RRC connected mode), the TX beam is determined by spatial relations configured for sounding reference signal (SRS) resources indicated by an SRS resource indicator (SRI) field of the UL grant ([0265] A wireless device may determine a panel and/or a transmission beam (and/or spatial domain transmission filter) on the panel, for example, if a wireless device receives DCI indicating an uplink grant. The panel may be indicated (e.g., explicitly indicated) by a panel ID comprised in the DCI. The panel may be indicated (e.g., implicitly indicated) by an SRS ID (and/or an SRS group/pool index), a UL TCI pool index of a UL TCI for uplink transmission, and/or a CORESET pool index of a CORESET for receiving the DCI), or
determined by the TCI state ([0293] The wireless device may send (e.g., transmit) the transport block 3007 (e.g., data) via the PUSCH with/using the spatial domain filter 3004 determined by the reference TCI state 3002) or
QCL assumption indicated for a control resource set (CORESET) transmitting a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carrying the UL grant ([0263] A wireless device configured by higher layer parameter (e.g., PDCCH-Config) may contain two different values of a coreset pool index (e.g., CORESETPoolIndex) in a control resource set (e.g., ControlResourceSet), for example, if a TCI indication (e.g., tci-PresentInDCI) is enabled (e.g., is set to ‘enabled’) and/or if the TCI indication (e.g., tci-PresentInDCI) is not configured in an RRC connected mode. If A wireless device may assume/determine that DM-RS ports of a PDSCH associated with a value of a coreset pool index (e.g., CORESETPoolIndex) of a serving cell are quasi co-located with the RS(s) with respect to the QCL parameter(s), for example, if the offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH transmission is less than a threshold (e.g., timeDurationForQCL). The QCL parameter(s) may be used for a PDCCH quasi co-location indication of the CORESET associated with a monitored search space with the lowest CORESET-ID among CORESETs; [0095] A physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) may comprise/carry downlink control information (DCI), which may comprise downlink scheduling commands, uplink scheduling grants, and uplink power control commands).
Regarding claim 14, Park further discloses the base unit of claim 11, further comprising:
receiving a Medium Access Control (MAC) control element (CE) indicating a TCI state ([0157] The base station may indicate one or more TCI states to the wireless device (e.g., via RRC signaling, a MAC CE, and/or DCI). The wireless device may receive a downlink transmission with an Rx beam determined based on the one or more TCI states) and its associated power control parameter set for a TCI codepoint ([0284] The wireless device may send (e.g., transmit) the uplink signal of the second target signal/channel of the list, for example, based on a transmit power control of the uplink signal. The transmit power control may be based on the pathloss estimation with a downlink RS of the reference TCI (or a downlink RS linked or associated to the reference TCI); [0297] FIG. 32 shows an example of a signal/channel identifier. The signal/channel identifier may indicate/identify one or more target channels. A codepoint ‘01010’ of the signal/channel identifier may be (pre-)configured by a base station (e.g., by higher-layer signaling, e.g., RRC signaling (higher-layer signaling could also be MAC signaling – see [0155])) as ‘PDSCH, PUSCH, and PUCCH’, wherein the base station may further indicate the codepoint ‘01010’ with a reference TCI (e.g., by sending a (subsequent) control command) and the wireless device may determine a Tx/Rx configuration filter (e.g., spatial domain filter) based on the indicated reference TCI (e.g., as a unified downlink/uplink TCI) to use/apply for subsequent downlink receptions (e.g., PDSCH) and uplink transmissions (e.g., PUSCH, PUCCH), based on the codepoint ‘01010’ indicating the one or more target signal(s)/channels as ‘PDSCH, PUSCH, and PUCCH’ to be applicable/usable with the determined Tx/Rx configuration filter (e.g., spatial domain filter)).
Regarding claim 15, Park further discloses the base unit of claim 14, wherein the MAC CE includes a CORESET pool identifier (ID) field to indicate a CORESETPoolIndex value of a CORESET transmitting a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carrying an UL grant (Fig. 14A; [0263] A wireless device configured by higher layer parameter (e.g., PDCCH-Config) (higher-layer could also be MAC signaling – see [0155]) may contain two different values of a coreset pool index (e.g., CORESETPoolIndex) in a control resource set (e.g., ControlResourceSet); [0265] A wireless device may determine a panel and/or a transmission beam (and/or spatial domain transmission filter) on the panel, for example, if a wireless device receives DCI indicating an uplink grant (PDCCH carrying UL grant). The panel may be indicated (e.g., explicitly indicated) by a panel ID comprised in the DCI. The panel may be indicated (e.g., implicitly indicated) by an SRS ID (and/or an SRS group/pool index), a UL TCI pool index of a UL TCI for uplink transmission, and/or a CORESET pool index of a CORESET for receiving the DCI).
6. Claims 8 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park and YUAN in further view of NTT DOCOMO, INC, “Discussion on MTRP for reliability”, 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #102-e R1-2006719 e-Meeting, Aug. 17th – Aug. 28th, 2020 (hereinafter, NTT DOCOMO) and in further view of Xu et al (US 20200351794 A1 hereinafter, Xu).
Regarding claim 8, Park further discloses the method of claim 5, wherein the TCI state is associated with a power control set when a PUSCH transmission is configured ([0263] The wireless device may be configured to determine that the DM-RS ports of PDSCH of a serving cell are quasi co-located with the RS(s) with respect to the QCL parameter(s) associated with the TCI states, for example, if at least one TCI codepoint indicates two TCI states. The TCI states may correspond to the lowest codepoint among the TCI codepoints containing two different TCI states; [0293] The wireless device may send (e.g., transmit) the transport block 3007 (e.g., data) via the PUSCH with/using the spatial domain filter 3004 determined by the reference TCI state 3002. The wireless device 3020 may send (e.g., transmit) the transport block 3007 (e.g., data), for example, based on a transmit power control of the transport block (e.g., PUSCH). The transmit power control may be based on the pathloss estimation with a downlink RS of the reference TCI state or a downlink RS linked to the reference TCI state 3002 (e.g., among downlink RS configured in a message comprising candidate PL-RS (e.g., for PUSCH)).
Park and YUAN do not explicitly disclose the PUSCH transmission with a multi-beam repetition not configured.
However, NTT DOCOMO discloses a multi-beam repetition not configured ([Section 2.2] PUSCH repetitions across multiple TRPs can achieve significant performance gain over single PUSCH transmission (hence, the multi-beam PUSCH repetition not configured) at lower BLER target… For 4GHz, the required SNR for achieving BLER=10-4 for 2/4 repetitions is around 0.8/1.4 dB lower than that without repetitions).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was filed to modify the PUSCH transmission of Park and YUAN to include a multi-beam repetition not configured as taught by NTT DOCOMO in order to reduce overhead and support the wireless devices with limited capabilities (Park - [0157] The wireless device may or may not have a capability of beam correspondence).
Park, YUAN and NTT DOCOMO do not disclose one associated power control parameter set is associated with the TCI state even if two TCI states are pointed to by one TCI codepoint.
However, Xu discloses one associated power control parameter set is associated with the TCI state even if two TCI states are pointed to by one TCI codepoint (Fig. 23; [0353] In example, a codepoint in the DCI indication may indicate one of the one or more TCI state sets activated by the MAC CE… In an example, a TCI state set indication of the DCI may indicate a TCI state set from the one or more TCI state sets activated by the MAC CE; [0357] The wireless device may receive, from the base station, a DCI indicating one or more second (2nd) TCI states of the one or more first (1st) TCI states activated by the MAC CE at time T3… The wireless device may measure, based on the one or more pathloss RSs… of the wireless device at time T4... The wireless device may determine, in response to the DCI indicating the one second (2nd) TCI state… a combined pathloss based on the first pathloss and the second pathloss at time T5. The combined pathloss may comprise an average of the first pathloss and the second pathloss. The wireless device may transmit an uplink transport block with a transmission power based on the combined pathloss at time T6).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was filed to modify the TCI state of Park, YUAN and NTT DOCOMO to include the power control parameter set is associated with multiple TCI states pointed to by one TCI codepoint as taught by Xu in order to improve the measurement accuracy of the pathloss (Xu – [0350] The combined pathloss based on the multiple pathloss may improve the measurement accuracy of the pathloss between the TRP and the active panel for uplink transmission).
Regarding claim 16, Park further discloses the base unit of claim 14, wherein the TCI state is associated with a power control set when a PUSCH transmission is configured ([0263] The wireless device may be configured to determine that the DM-RS ports of PDSCH of a serving cell are quasi co-located with the RS(s) with respect to the QCL parameter(s) associated with the TCI states, for example, if at least one TCI codepoint indicates two TCI states. The TCI states may correspond to the lowest codepoint among the TCI codepoints containing two different TCI states; [0293] The wireless device may send (e.g., transmit) the transport block 3007 (e.g., data) via the PUSCH with/using the spatial domain filter 3004 determined by the reference TCI state 3002. The wireless device 3020 may send (e.g., transmit) the transport block 3007 (e.g., data), for example, based on a transmit power control of the transport block (e.g., PUSCH). The transmit power control may be based on the pathloss estimation with a downlink RS of the reference TCI state or a downlink RS linked to the reference TCI state 3002 (e.g., among downlink RS configured in a message comprising candidate PL-RS (e.g., for PUSCH)).
Park and YUAN do not explicitly disclose the PUSCH transmission with a multi-beam repetition not configured.
However, NTT DOCOMO discloses a multi-beam repetition not configured ([Section 2.2] PUSCH repetitions across multiple TRPs can achieve significant performance gain over single PUSCH transmission (hence, the multi-beam PUSCH repetition not configured) at lower BLER target… For 4GHz, the required SNR for achieving BLER=10-4 for 2/4 repetitions is around 0.8/1.4 dB lower than that without repetitions).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was filed to modify the PUSCH transmission of Park and YUAN to include a multi-beam repetition not configured as taught by NTT DOCOMO in order to reduce overhead and support the wireless devices with limited capabilities (Park - [0157] The wireless device may or may not have a capability of beam correspondence).
Park, YUAN and NTT DOCOMO do not disclose one associated power control parameter set is associated with the TCI state even if two TCI states are pointed to by one TCI codepoint.
However, Xu discloses one associated power control parameter set is associated with the TCI state even if two TCI states are pointed to by one TCI codepoint (Fig. 23; [0353] In example, a codepoint in the DCI indication may indicate one of the one or more TCI state sets activated by the MAC CE… In an example, a TCI state set indication of the DCI may indicate a TCI state set from the one or more TCI state sets activated by the MAC CE; [0357] The wireless device may receive, from the base station, a DCI indicating one or more second (2nd) TCI states of the one or more first (1st) TCI states activated by the MAC CE at time T3… The wireless device may measure, based on the one or more pathloss RSs… of the wireless device at time T4... The wireless device may determine, in response to the DCI indicating the one second (2nd) TCI state… a combined pathloss based on the first pathloss and the second pathloss at time T5. The combined pathloss may comprise an average of the first pathloss and the second pathloss. The wireless device may transmit an uplink transport block with a transmission power based on the combined pathloss at time T6).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was filed to modify the TCI state of Park, YUAN and NTT DOCOMO to include the power control parameter set is associated with multiple TCI states pointed to by one TCI codepoint as taught by Xu in order to improve the measurement accuracy of the pathloss (Xu – [0350] The combined pathloss based on the multiple pathloss may improve the measurement accuracy of the pathloss between the TRP and the active panel for uplink transmission).
7. Claims 9 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park and YUAN and in further view of NTT DOCOMO.
Regarding claim 9, Park further discloses the method of claim 5, wherein when a multi-beam PUSCH is configured (Fig. 24; [0294] The wireless device may send (e.g., transmit) (semi-) periodically the transport block (e.g., data) via the PUSCH with the spatial domain filter determined by the reference TCI state), the TCI state is associated with one associated power control parameter set when a PUSCH transmission is configured ([0293] The wireless device may send (e.g., transmit) the transport block 3007 (e.g., data) via the PUSCH with/using the spatial domain filter 3004 determined by the reference TCI state 3002. The wireless device 3020 may send (e.g., transmit) the transport block 3007 (e.g., data), for example, based on a transmit power control of the transport block (e.g., PUSCH). The transmit power control may be based on the pathloss estimation with a downlink RS of the reference TCI state or a downlink RS linked to the reference TCI state 3002 (e.g., among downlink RS configured in a message comprising candidate PL-RS (e.g., for PUSCH)).
Park and YUAN do not explicitly disclose the repetition of the multi-beam PUSCH transmission.
However, NTT DOCOMO discloses a multi-beam repetition is configured ([Section 2.2] PUSCH repetitions across multiple TRPs (hence, the multi-beam PUSCH repetition is configured) can achieve significant performance gain over single PUSCH transmission at lower BLER target… For 4GHz, the required SNR for achieving BLER=10-4 for 2/4 repetitions is around 0.8/1.4 dB lower than that without repetitions).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was filed to modify the multi-beam PUSCH transmission of Park and YUAN to include the multi-beam repetition as taught by NTT DOCOMO in order to increase performance gain over a single PUSCH transmission at a lower BLER target (NTT DOCOMO – [Section 2.2]).
Park and NTT DOCOMO do not explicitly disclose that if two TCI states are pointed to by one TCI codepoint, each of the two TCI states is associated with one associated power control parameter set.
However, YUAN discloses two TCI states are pointed to by one TCI codepoint, each of the two TCI states is associated with one associated power control parameter set (Fig. 3; [0088] For instance, in control message 300, two rows may correspond to a first codepoint (two TCI states are pointed to one TCI codepoint)… FIG. 3, the control message 300 may indicate a first activated uplink transmission configuration indicator state identifier 325 (TCI state ID 01) for the codepoint (indicated via C0) associated with a first antenna panel and a second activated uplink transmission configuration indicator state identifier 330 (TCI state ID 02) for the codepoint associated with a second antenna panel if C0 is set to 1… the control message may include a first uplink power control parameter set identifier 335 (ULPC ID 01) associated with the first activated uplink transmission configuration indicator state identifier 325 (TCI state ID 01) and a second uplink power control parameter set identifier 340 (ULPC ID 02) associated with the second activated uplink transmission configuration indicator state identifier 330 (TCI state ID 02). That is, if UL TCI state ID01 is activated, the control message may indicate ULPC parameter set ID01 associated with UL TCI state ID01. Similarly, if UL TCI state ID02 (e.g., a uplink transmission configuration indicator state identifier associated with the same codepoint as UL TCI state ID01 but different antenna panel) is activated, the control message may indicate ULPC parameter set ID02 associated with UL TCI state ID02).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was filed to modify the TCI state and the power control parameter set of Park, YUAN and NTT DOCOMO to include the two TCI states are pointed to by one TCI codepoint, each of the two TCI states is associated with one associated power control parameter set as taught by YUAN in order to reduce power consumption and extend the battery life of the wireless device (YUAN - [0025] UEs capable of supporting uplink power control parameter indication for multi-panel transmission may utilize the techniques described herein to experience power saving, such as reduced power consumption and extended battery life while ensuring reliable and efficient communications between UEs and base stations).
Regarding claim 17, Park further discloses the base unit of claim 14, wherein when a multi-beam PUSCH is configured (Fig. 24; [0294] The wireless device may send (e.g., transmit) (semi-) periodically the transport block (e.g., data) via the PUSCH with the spatial domain filter determined by the reference TCI state), the TCI state is associated with one associated power control parameter set when a PUSCH transmission is configured ([0293] The wireless device may send (e.g., transmit) the transport block 3007 (e.g., data) via the PUSCH with/using the spatial domain filter 3004 determined by the reference TCI state 3002. The wireless device 3020 may send (e.g., transmit) the transport block 3007 (e.g., data), for example, based on a transmit power control of the transport block (e.g., PUSCH). The transmit power control may be based on the pathloss estimation with a downlink RS of the reference TCI state or a downlink RS linked to the reference TCI state 3002 (e.g., among downlink RS configured in a message comprising candidate PL-RS (e.g., for PUSCH)).
Park and YUAN do not explicitly disclose the repetition of the multi-beam PUSCH transmission.
However, NTT DOCOMO discloses a multi-beam repetition is configured ([Section 2.2] PUSCH repetitions across multiple TRPs (hence, the multi-beam PUSCH repetition is configured) can achieve significant performance gain over single PUSCH transmission at lower BLER target… For 4GHz, the required SNR for achieving BLER=10-4 for 2/4 repetitions is around 0.8/1.4 dB lower than that without repetitions).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was filed to modify the multi-beam PUSCH transmission of Park and YUAN to include the multi-beam repetition as taught by NTT DOCOMO in order to increase performance gain at a lower BLER target than that without repetitions (NTT DOCOMO – [Section 2.2]).
Park and NTT DOCOMO do not explicitly disclose that if two TCI states are pointed to by one TCI codepoint, each of the two TCI states is associated with one associated power control parameter set.
However, YUAN discloses two TCI states are pointed to by one TCI codepoint, each of the two TCI states is associated with one associated power control parameter set (Fig. 3; [0088] For instance, in control message 300, two rows may correspond to a first codepoint (two TCI states are pointed to one TCI codepoint)… FIG. 3, the control message 300 may indicate a first activated uplink transmission configuration indicator state identifier 325 (TCI state ID 01) for the codepoint (indicated via C0) associated with a first antenna panel and a second activated uplink transmission configuration indicator state identifier 330 (TCI state ID 02) for the codepoint associated with a second antenna panel if C0 is set to 1… the control message may include a first uplink power control parameter set identifier 335 (ULPC ID 01) associated with the first activated uplink transmission configuration indicator state identifier 325 (TCI state ID 01) and a second uplink power control parameter set identifier 340 (ULPC ID 02) associated with the second activated uplink transmission configuration indicator state identifier 330 (TCI state ID 02). That is, if UL TCI state ID01 is activated, the control message may indicate ULPC parameter set ID01 associated with UL TCI state ID01. Similarly, if UL TCI state ID02 (e.g., a uplink transmission configuration indicator state identifier associated with the same codepoint as UL TCI state ID01 but different antenna panel) is activated, the control message may indicate ULPC parameter set ID02 associated with UL TCI state ID02).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention was filed to modify the TCI state and the power control parameter set of Park, YUAN and NTT DOCOMO to include the two TCI states are pointed to by one TCI codepoint, each of the two TCI states is associated with one associated power control parameter set as taught by YUAN in order to reduce power consumption and extend the battery life of the wireless device (YUAN - [0025] UEs capable of supporting uplink power control parameter indication for multi-panel transmission may utilize the techniques described herein to experience power saving, such as reduced power consumption and extended battery life while ensuring reliable and efficient communications between UEs and base stations).
Conclusion
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THERESA NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)272-2386. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9AM - 5PM EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, MOO JEONG can be reached at (571)272-9617. 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.
/THERESA NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 2418
/Moo Jeong/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2418