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 with respect to claim(s) 13-24 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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) 13-24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jung et al. (Jung), U.S. Publication No. 2021/0058113 in view of LIU et al. (Liu), U.S. Publication No. 2023/0370238.
Regarding Claims 13 and 22, Jung discloses a method performed by a User
Equipment (UE) (i.e., terminal shown in figure 15), the method comprising:
receiving, from a network node, an indication (i.e., corresponding bit described in paragraphs [0084] and [0105]-[0107]) for at least one bandwidth part of at least one component carrier (CC) via a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) message, or via a downlink control information (DCI) message (i.e., the base station may configure the initial BWP (first BWP) of the terminal via RRC signaling and notify of at least one piece of BWP configuration information that may be indicated via downlink control information (DCI) later. The base station may indicate, to the terminal, which bandwidth to be used by the terminal by notifying of a BWP ID via DCI.; see paragraph [0059]), wherein the indication provides:
one or more receive setting for at least two downlink (DL) channels, or one DL channel and one DL resource, or two DL resources, or
one or more transmit setting for at least two uplink (UL) channels (for example, PUCCH #1, PUCCH #2 as shown in figures 12, 13A-13B), or one UL channel and one UL resource, or two UL resources, or
one or more transmit setting for at least one UL channel and/or resource and one or more receive setting for at least one DL channel and/or resource;
wherein the setting for said UL and/or DL channel(s) and/or resource(s) are received, from the network node, via one or more transmission configuration indication (TCI) configuration in the received indication, wherein a TCI configuration of the one or more TCI configurations provides at least one reference RS or at least one reference resource (such as antenna ports, DMRS ports, BWP or direction of beamforming as discussed in paragraph [0148]) along with an indication of transmission and/or reception parameter(s) to be derived or obtained from each of the at least one reference RS or the at least one reference resources provided by the TCI configuration (for example, the terminal may identify information on the number of DMRS ports and indices, the number of front-load symbols, and the number of CDM groups for a PDSCH based on an indicator (an index) transmitted by the base station. Further, based on information of a transmission configuration indication (TCI) field in DCI 1_1, the terminal may determine the switching of the dynamic beamforming direction.; see paragraph [0148]); and
applying said setting(s) provided in the indication for the reception of said DL channel(s) and/or resource(s), and/or for the transmission of said UL channel(s) and/or resource(s) (shown in figures 12, 13A-13B).
Although Jung discloses reference resources (i.e., antenna ports, DMRS ports, BWP or direction of beamforming) indicating transmission and/or reception parameters for deriving or obtaining from at least one reference resource provided by the TCI (for example, TCI field can state switching of beamforming direction or activating in a DL BWP each providing reference resources used for UL/DL resources) as required in the claims, Jung does not specifically teach wherein the at least one reference RS or the at least one reference resource provided by the TCI configuration comprises at least one of a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource or SRS resource set, or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource.
Liu discloses wherein the at least one reference RS or the at least one reference resource provided by the TCI configuration (in other words, BWPs associated with CCs received as TCI updates by the UE considered as at least one reference resource) comprises at least one of a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource (i.e., also, considered as updating for SRS resources for CCs; see paragraphs [0146]-[0149]) or SRS resource set, or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to consider Liu’s invention of the UE receiving BWPs/reference resource as a TCI update comprised as a SRS resource with Jung’s invention of the UE receiving BWP/reference resource in a TCI field for providing simultaneous DL/UL activation states for UE’s movement and network changes thereby achieving cooperative communication for enhancing communication reliability as discussed throughout Liu and Jung.
Regarding Claims 23 and 24, Jung discloses a method performed by a network
node (i.e., base station shown in figure 16), the method comprising:
transmitting, to the UE, an indication (i.e., corresponding bit described in paragraphs [0084] and [0105]-[0107]) for at least one bandwidth part of at least one carrier component (CC) via a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) message or via a downlink control information (DCI) message (i.e., the base station may configure the initial BWP (first BWP) of the terminal via RRC signaling and notify of at least one piece of BWP configuration information that may be indicated via downlink control information (DCI) later. The base station may indicate, to the terminal, which bandwidth to be used by the terminal by notifying of a BWP ID via DCI.; see paragraph [0059]) wherein the indication provides:
one or more receive setting for at least two Downlink (DL) channels, or one DL channel and one DL resource, or two DL resources, or
one or more transmit setting for at least two Uplink (UL) channels (for example, PUCCH #1, PUCCH #2 as shown in figures 12, 13A-13B), or one UL channel and one UL resource, or two UL resources, or
one or more transmit setting for at least one UL channel and/or resource and one or more receive setting(s) for at least one DL channel and/or resource;
wherein the setting for said UL and/or DL channel(s) and/or resource(s) are transmitted, from the network node, to the UE via one or more transmission configuration indication (TCI) configuration, wherein a TCI configuration of the one or more TCI configurations provides at least one reference (RS) or at least one reference resource (such as antenna ports, DMRS ports, BWP or direction of beamforming as discussed in paragraph [0148]) along with an indication of transmission and/or reception parameter(s) to be derived or obtained from each of the at least one reference RS or the at least one reference resources provided by the TCI configuration, for enabling the UE to apply said settings provided in the indication for the reception of said DL channel(s) and/or resource(s) and/or for the transmission of said UL channel(s) and/or resource(s) (for example, the terminal may identify information on the number of DMRS ports and indices, the number of front-load symbols, and the number of CDM groups for a PDSCH based on an indicator (an index) transmitted by the base station. Further, based on information of a transmission configuration indication (TCI) field in DCI 1_1, the terminal may determine the switching of the dynamic beamforming direction.; see paragraph [0148]); and
receiving, from the UE, said UL channel(s) and/or resource(s), and/or transmitting, to the UE, said DL channel(s) and/or resource(s) (shown in figures 12, 13A-13B).
Although Jung discloses reference resources (i.e., antenna ports, DMRS ports, BWP or direction of beamforming) indicating transmission and/or reception parameters for deriving or obtaining from at least one reference resource provided by the TCI (for example, TCI field can state switching of beamforming direction or activating in a DL BWP each providing reference resources used for UL/DL resources) as required in the claims, Jung does not specifically teach wherein the at least one reference RS or the at least one reference resource provided by the TCI configuration comprises at least one of a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource or SRS resource set, or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource.
Liu discloses wherein the at least one reference RS or the at least one reference resource provided by the TCI configuration (in other words, BWPs associated with CCs received as TCI updates by the UE considered as at least one reference resource) comprises at least one of a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource (i.e., also, considered as updating for SRS resources for CCs; see paragraphs [0146]-[0149]) or SRS resource set, or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to consider Liu’s invention of the UE receiving BWPs/reference resource as a TCI update comprised as a SRS resource with Jung’s invention of the UE receiving BWP/reference resource in a TCI field for providing simultaneous DL/UL activation states for UE’s movement and network changes thereby achieving cooperative communication for enhancing communication reliability as discussed throughout Liu and Jung.
Regarding Claim 14, Jung discloses wherein said transmit setting(s) for an UL
transmission or UL transmission parameter(s) indicate one or more of the following parameters or setting(s) of an UL transmission: spatial relation/Transmit (Tx) spatial filter/Tx beam direction, pathloss reference RS or pathloss reference signal port(s) to be used by the UE for the transmission, closed loop power control indication, parameters alpha (p0) that are provided in third generation partnership project (3GPP) specification, 3GPP TS 38.213 Release 16 (see paragraphs [0184] and [0188]), and wherein receive setting(s) for a DL reception indicates setting(s) that provide(s) one or more reference RS(s) or reference resource(s) for the derivation of one or more of the following parameters: Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread (see paragraphs [0194]-[0197]), Rx spatial filter/Rx beam direction.
Regarding Claim 15, Jung discloses wherein said setting(s) to be derived from
the reference RS in the TCI configuration for said channel(s) and/or resource(s) is/are indicated to the UE via quasi-colocation (QCL) setting(s) in the TCI configuration, wherein a QCL setting is provided in 3GPP TS 38.214 Release 16 (see paragraphs [0194]-[0197]).
Regarding Claim 16, Jung discloses wherein the MAC-CE message or the DCI
message comprises or refers to one or more identities (IDs) of TCI(s) states or information element(s) (IEs) configured to the UE by the network node (see paragraph [0059]).
Regarding Claim 17, Jung discloses further comprising applying the transmit or
receive settings provided by the MAC-CE to at least one of the following:
Physical Downlink Shared Channel(s) (PDSCH(s)), scheduled by DCI(s) without a TCI
field at least in the CC; Physical Uplink Shared Channel(s) (PUSCH(s)), scheduled at least in the CC via a higher layer configured grant or a PUSCH scheduled at least in the CC via the DCI without an SRS resource indicator (SRI) field or a DCI that has an SRI field with 0 bits; one or more Control Resource Sets (CORESETs) in the active DL BWP of at least the CC, or one or more CORESETs in the active DL BWP of at least the CC configured with a CORESET pool index 0 or without any CORESET pool index value (see paragraphs [0210] and [0249]); and one or more Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resources in the active UL BWP of at least the CC, or one or more PUCCH resources in the active UL BWP of at least the CC, that are configured with CORESET pool index 0 or without any CORESET pool index value (see paragraph [0075]).
Regarding Claim 18, Jung discloses further comprising applying the transmit or
receive settings provided by the MAC-CE to at least one of the following: the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), the PDSCH, the PUCCH, and the PUSCH; or the PDCCH and the PUCCH (see figure 12); or the PDSCH and the PUSCH; or the PDCCH, the PUCCH and the PUSCH; or the PDSCH, the PUCCH and the PUSCH; or the PUCCH and the PUSCH.
Regarding Claim 19, Jung discloses further comprising applying two or more
TCI configurations using at least one of the following methods in a CC: using a first TCI configuration to obtain the transmit setting for the UL transmission of a first PUSCH scheduled by a DCI obtained from a CORESET with CORESET pool index value c0 and a second TCI configuration for the UL transmission of a second PUSCH scheduled by a DCI obtained from a CORESET with CORESET pool index value c1; using a first TCI configuration to obtain the receive setting for the DL reception of a first PDSCH scheduled by a DCI obtained from a CORESET with CORESET pool index value c0 and a second TCI configuration to obtain the receive setting for the DL reception of a second PDSCH scheduled by a DCI obtained from a CORESET with CORESET pool index value C1 (see paragraphs [0144], [0210] and [0249]); using a first TCI configuration to obtain the transmit setting for the UL transmission of a first PUCCH resource indicated by a DCI obtained from a CORESET with CORESET pool index value C0 and a second TCI configuration to obtain the transmit setting for the UL transmission of a second PUCCH resource indicated by a DCI obtained from a CORESET with CORESET pool index value c1; and using a first TCI configuration to obtain the transmit setting for the UL transmission of a first PUCCH resource configured with CORESET pool index value c0 and a second TCI configuration to obtain the transmit setting for the UL transmission of a second PUCCH resource configured with CORESET pool index value c1.
Regarding Claim 20, Jung discloses wherein the transmission setting(s) for an
UL transmission are obtained from QCL setting(s) in the indicated TCI configuration (see paragraph [0144]).
Regarding Claim 21, Jung discloses wherein a QCL setting contains one or
more QCL type values to indicate to the UE transmission parameter(s) obtained/derived from a given reference signal or reference resource for an UL transmission (see paragraph [0194]).
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHANTELL LAKETA HEIBER whose telephone number is (571)272-0886. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F from 9am to 5pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Anthony Addy, can be reached at telephone number (571)272-0886. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SHANTELL L HEIBER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645
March 26, 2026