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 Amendment
Applicant’s amendment filed on August 6, 2026, has been entered. Claims 35-54 are presently pending with claims 35, 40, 45, and 50 being independent. Claims 36-39, 41-44, 46-49, and 51-54 have been previously presented. Claims 1-34 are canceled. Claims 35, 40, 45, and 50 are currently amended.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 9-13, filed August 6, 2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 35, 40, 45, and 50 under 35 U.S.C. §103 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 Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.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 35 U.S.C. §103. Refer to updated rejection of claims 35-54 below in view of amendments.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 35-54 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsai et al. (US 2022/0295589 A1; hereinafter Tsai) in view of Zhang et al. (AU 2019341362 B2; hereinafter Zhang ‘1362) further in view of Koskela et al. (US 2023/0199529 A1; hereinafter Koskela).
Regarding claim 35, Tsai teaches a method, performed by a terminal device (read as UE) (Fig. 1, UE; ¶ [0046] The UE may communicate with multiple TRPs.),
the method comprising:
determining (read as configured or determined), for a cell, a first reference signal (RS) set and a second RS set for beam failure detection (read as BFD) (¶ [0082] Multiple sets may be configured for a BWP by configuring multiple lists, each list comprising one or more RS for BFD (e.g., failureDetectionResources).; ¶ [0086] A first set of BFD RS is configured. A second set of BFD RS is determined.); and
Tsai does not explicitly teach transmitting, to a network device, beam failure recovery information, the beam failure recovery information comprising an indication associated with a parameter indicating:
whether beam failure is detected for one or both of the first RS set and the second RS set;
an index of one of the first RS set or the second RS set; and
an indication about the presence of a first reference signal in a third RS set corresponding to one of the first RS set or the second RS set,
wherein:
in a case where the beam failure is detected for only one RS set among the first RS set and the second RS set, the parameter is set to a first value indicating that the beam failure is detected for only one RS set among the first RS set and the second RS set, and
in a case where the beam failure is detected for both the first RS set and the second RS set, the parameter is set to a second value indicating that the beam failure is detected for both the first RS set and the second RS set.
In analogous art, Zhang ‘1362 teaches transmitting, to a network device (read as base station), beam failure recovery information (page 46, lines 11-26, Reports the index of the one reference signal to a base station. The terminal can send the PRACH on the PRACH resource corresponding to the selected reference signal. Reporting reference signal indication information herein includes that the terminal sends a preamble on a reporting resource or the terminal reports, in a PUCCH, indication information.),
the beam failure recovery information comprising an indication associated with a parameter (read as set index information) indicating:
whether beam failure is detected for one or both of the first RS set and the second RS set (read as at least one of the first set or the second set) (page 27, lines 13-14, The first-type beam failure recovery parameters include at least one of: a beam failure detection signal set.; page 28, lines 8-22, Both the first set of first-type beam failure recovery parameters and the second set of first-type beam failure recovery parameters correspond to the first set of second-type beam failure recovery parameters. When a beam failure event is detected according to a beam failure detection reference signal set in at least one of the first set or the second set.; page 37, lines 7-11, Reporting the set index information is configured for indicating the beam failure event being detected according to a beam failure detection reference signal set corresponding to the first-type beam failure recovery parameters corresponding to the set index information.)
an index of one of the first RS set or the second RS set (page 36, lines 16-28 and page 37, lines 1-5, Set index information of the A sets of first-type beam failure recovery parameters is reported. Reference signal indication information or set index information of the A sets of first-type beam failure recovery parameters are included in a channel associated with a control resource set for beam failure recovery. The set index information may be indicated by index information of a frequency domain bandwidth, control channel resource group, CC, CC group, or data channel configuration information corresponding to the first-type beam failure recovery parameters.); and
an indication (read as indication information) about the presence of a first reference signal in a third RS set (read as candidate reference signal set) corresponding to one of the first RS set or the second RS set (page 77, lines 27-28, page 78, lines 1-6, Two beam failure detection reference signal sets and two candidate reference signal sets are provided; as long as a beam failure event is detected in any beam failure detection reference signal set, a new reference signal is selected from the candidate reference signal set corresponding to the any beam failure detection reference signal set. One reference indication information selected from a candidate reference signal set can be reported.; page 78, lines 25-28, The terminal can inform TRP0 through the SR/MAC-CE command indication information of a reference signal selected by the terminal from candidate reference signal set 1.),
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine a reference signal set index taught by Zhang ‘1362 with reference signals for beam failure detection as taught by Tsai. One would have been motivated to do so in order improve link recovery and reliability by enabling the network to quickly identify which beam or reference signal set has failed (Zhang ‘1362: pages 1-4).
Zhang and Tsai do not explicitly teach wherein: in a case where the beam failure is detected for only one RS set among the first RS set and the second RS set, the parameter is set to a first value indicating that the beam failure is detected for only one RS set among the first RS set and the second RS set, wherein the first value is an integer value equal to 0; and in a case where the beam failure is detected for both the first RS set and the second RS set, the parameter is set to a second value indicating that the beam failure is detected for both the first RS set and the second RS set, wherein the second value is an integer value not equal to 0.
In analogous art, Koskela teaches wherein:
in a case where the beam failure is detected for only one RS set (read as partial failure) among the first RS set and the second RS set, the parameter (read as information element 604) is set to a first value indicating that the beam failure is detected for only one RS set among the first RS set and the second RS set, wherein the first value is an integer value equal to 0 (read as 1 for partial beam failure) (Fig. 6B element 604 indicates whether beam failure is full or partial; ¶ [0049] If a failure is detected on set #0 (but not on #1) UE may declare partial failure.; ¶ [0071] The beam failure indication data comprises a first information element 604 indicating whether the beam failure is full or partial. The indication may be realized with one bit (e.g. 0 for full beam failure or 1 for partial beam failure).; Note: MPEP §2143(I)(B) - Simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results.; It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to select the alternative binary encoding (i.e., 0 for partial failure and 1 for full failure) and correspondingly reverse the receiver’s interpretation.); and
in a case where the beam failure is detected for both the first RS set and the second RS set (read as full failure), the parameter (read as information element 604) is set to a second value indicating that the beam failure is detected for both the first RS set and the second RS set, wherein the second value is an integer value not equal to 0 (read field 604 may not be set) (Fig. 6B element 604 indicates whether beam failure is full or partial; ¶ [0049] If UE is configured to monitor failure on one or more beam failure detection resources (e.g. BFD-RS set #0 and set #1) and all the RS in all of the sets are in failure condition, UE may determine that full beam failure has occurred/detected.; ¶ [0071] If full failure is detected by the UE, said field 604 may not be set (thus may equal to 0), and thus the network may assume that full failure has occurred.; Note: MPEP §2143(I)(B) - Simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results.; It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to select the alternative binary encoding (i.e., 0 for partial failure and 1 for full failure) and correspondingly reverse the receiver’s interpretation.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine beam failure indication as taught by Koskela with a reference signal set index taught by Zhang ‘1362 and reference signals for beam failure detection as taught by Tsai. One would have been motivated to do so in order to improve beam failure recovery efficiency and increase reliability by identifying the affected RS set and distinguishing failure of one set form failure of both sets, which would enable the network to start recovery of the affected links while preserving communication over functioning links (Koskela: ¶¶ [0047]-[0048]).
Regarding claim 36, Tsai teaches wherein the first reference signal is a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) or a synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel block (SS/PBCH block) (¶ [0070] UE is configured for beam failure detection (BFD) based on configuration method which when the higher layers (e.g. RRC) provides the reference signal (RS, e.g., CSI-RS) resources for UE to perform BFD.; ¶ [0072] UE assesses the radio link quality according to the periodic CSI-RS resource configurations or SS/PBCH blocks.; ¶ [0185] Candidate RS ID 0 may refer to one RS in q1,0,k.).
Regarding claim 37, Tsai teaches wherein reference signals in the first RS set (read as q0,i,k) or the second RS set are channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs) (¶ [0070] The higher layers provides the reference signal (RS, e.g. CSI-RS) resources for UE to perform BFD.; ¶ [0072] Each set q0,i,k and q1,i,k independently associated with multiple sets of periodic CSI-RS.).
Regarding claim 38, Tsai teaches wherein a link quality of each reference signal in at least one of the first RS set or the second RS set is less than a first threshold (¶ [0107] When the link quality for all RS in q0,0,k are below a threshold.).
Regarding claim 39, Tsai teaches wherein an index of the first reference signal is transmitted to the network device (¶ [0112] During a BFR procedure, UE may report only one beam with corresponding to the measured CSI-RS resource index (CRI) per TRP at a CC.; ¶ [0160] The failed CC index(es) or the new/identified candidate beam/RS qnew,i are reported by MAC-CE conveyed by PUSCH.), and
receiving power of the first reference signal is larger than or equal to a second threshold (¶ [0183] The AC field for example indicates the presence of the Candidate RS ID field. If at least one of the SSBs with SS-RSRP above rsrp-ThresholdBFR amongst the SSBs in candidateBeamRSSCellList or the CSI-RSs with CSI-RSRP above rsrp-ThresholdBFR amongst the CSI-RSs in candidateBeamRSSCellList is available, the AC field is set to 1.).
Regarding claim 40, Tsai teaches a method, performed by a network device (read as TRP) (Fig. 27A, element 119 TRP; ¶ [0046] The UE may communicate with multiple TRPs.; ¶ [0194] TRPs may be any type of device configured to wirelessly interface with at least one of the WTRU to facilitate access to communication networks.),
the method comprising:
transmitting, for a cell, a first reference signal (RS) set and a second RS set for beam failure detection (¶ [0108] UE is configured with two sets of RS for BFD.; ¶ [0108] A first RS of the first set of RSs is transmitted from a first TRP. A third RS of the third set of RSs is transmitted from the first TRP.); and
Tsai does not explicitly teach receiving, from a terminal device, beam failure recovery information, the beam failure recovery information comprising an indication associated with a parameter indicating:
whether beam failure is detected for one or both of the first RS set and the second RS set;
an index of one of the first RS set or the second RS set; and
an indication about the presence of a first reference signal in a third RS set corresponding to one of the first RS set or the second RS set,
wherein:
in a case where the beam failure is detected for only one RS set among the first RS set and the second RS set, the parameter is set to a first value indicating that the beam failure is detected for only one RS set among the first RS set and the second RS set, and
in a case where the beam failure is detected for both the first RS set and the second RS set, the parameter is set to a second value indicating that the beam failure is detected for both the first RS set and the second RS set.
In analogous art, Zhang ‘1362 teaches receiving, from a terminal device, beam failure recovery information (page 46, lines 11-26, Reports the index of the one reference signal to a base station. The terminal can send the PRACH on the PRACH resource corresponding to the selected reference signal. Reporting reference signal indication information herein includes that the terminal sends a preamble on a reporting resource or the terminal reports, in a PUCCH, indication information.),
the beam failure recovery information comprising an indication associated with a parameter (read as set index information) indicating:
whether beam failure is detected for one or both of the first RS set and the second RS set (read as at least one of the first set or the second set) (page 27, lines 13-14, The first-type beam failure recovery parameters include at least one of: a beam failure detection signal set.; page 28, lines 8-22, Both the first set of first-type beam failure recovery parameters and the second set of first-type beam failure recovery parameters correspond to the first set of second-type beam failure recovery parameters. When a beam failure event is detected according to a beam failure detection reference signal set in at least one of the first set or the second set.; page 37, lines 7-11, Reporting the set index information is configured for indicating the beam failure event being detected according to a beam failure detection reference signal set corresponding to the first-type beam failure recovery parameters corresponding to the set index information.)
an index of one of the first RS set or the second RS set (page 36, lines 16-28 and page 37, lines 1-5, Set index information of the A sets of first-type beam failure recovery parameters is reported. Reference signal indication information or set index information of the A sets of first-type beam failure recovery parameters are included in a channel associated with a control resource set for beam failure recovery. The set index information may be indicated by index information of a frequency domain bandwidth, control channel resource group, CC, CC group, or data channel configuration information corresponding to the first-type beam failure recovery parameters.); and
an indication (read as indication information) about the presence of a first reference signal in a third RS set (read as candidate reference signal set) corresponding to one of the first RS set or the second RS set (page 77, lines 27-28, page 78, lines 1-6, Two beam failure detection reference signal sets and two candidate reference signal sets are provided; as long as a beam failure event is detected in any beam failure detection reference signal set, a new reference signal is selected from the candidate reference signal set corresponding to the any beam failure detection reference signal set. One reference indication information selected from a candidate reference signal set can be reported.; page 78, lines 25-28, The terminal can inform TRP0 through the SR/MAC-CE command indication information of a reference signal selected by the terminal from candidate reference signal set 1.),
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine a reference signal set index taught by Zhang ‘1362 with reference signals for beam failure detection as taught by Tsai. One would have been motivated to do so in order improve link recovery and reliability by enabling the network to quickly identify which beam or reference signal set has failed (Zhang ‘1362: pages 1-4).
Zhang and Tsai do not explicitly teach wherein: in a case where the beam failure is detected for only one RS set among the first RS set and the second RS set, the parameter is set to a first value indicating that the beam failure is detected for only one RS set among the first RS set and the second RS set, wherein the first value is an integer value equal to 0; and in a case where the beam failure is detected for both the first RS set and the second RS set, the parameter is set to a second value indicating that the beam failure is detected for both the first RS set and the second RS set, wherein the second value is an integer value not equal to 0.
In analogous art, Koskela teaches wherein:
in a case where the beam failure is detected for only one RS set (read as partial failure) among the first RS set and the second RS set, the parameter (read as information element 604) is set to a first value indicating that the beam failure is detected for only one RS set among the first RS set and the second RS set, wherein the first value is an integer value equal to 0 (read as 1 for partial beam failure) (Fig. 6B element 604 indicates whether beam failure is full or partial; ¶ [0049] If a failure is detected on set #0 (but not on #1) UE may declare partial failure.; ¶ [0071] The beam failure indication data comprises a first information element 604 indicating whether the beam failure is full or partial. The indication may be realized with one bit (e.g. 0 for full beam failure or 1 for partial beam failure).; Note: MPEP §2143(I)(B) - Simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results.; It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to select the alternative binary encoding (i.e., 0 for partial failure and 1 for full failure) and correspondingly reverse the receiver’s interpretation.); and
in a case where the beam failure is detected for both the first RS set and the second RS set (read as full failure), the parameter (read as information element 604) is set to a second value indicating that the beam failure is detected for both the first RS set and the second RS set, wherein the second value is an integer value not equal to 0 (read field 604 may not be set) (Fig. 6B element 604 indicates whether beam failure is full or partial; ¶ [0049] If UE is configured to monitor failure on one or more beam failure detection resources (e.g. BFD-RS set #0 and set #1) and all the RS in all of the sets are in failure condition, UE may determine that full beam failure has occurred/detected.; ¶ [0071] If full failure is detected by the UE, said field 604 may not be set (thus may equal to 0), and thus the network may assume that full failure has occurred.; Note: MPEP §2143(I)(B) - Simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results.; It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to select the alternative binary encoding (i.e., 0 for partial failure and 1 for full failure) and correspondingly reverse the receiver’s interpretation.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine beam failure indication as taught by Koskela with a reference signal set index taught by Zhang ‘1362 and reference signals for beam failure detection as taught by Tsai. One would have been motivated to do so in order to improve beam failure recovery efficiency and increase reliability by identifying the affected RS set and distinguishing failure of one set form failure of both sets, which would enable the network to start recovery of the affected links while preserving communication over functioning links (Koskela: ¶¶ [0047]-[0048]).
Regarding claim 41, Tsai teaches wherein the first reference signal is a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) or a synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel block (SS/PBCH block) (¶ [0070] UE is configured for beam failure detection (BFD) based on configuration method which when the higher layers (e.g. RRC) provides the reference signal (RS, e.g., CSI-RS) resources for UE to perform BFD.; ¶ [0072] UE assesses the radio link quality according to the periodic CSI-RS resource configurations or SS/PBCH blocks.; ¶ [0185] Candidate RS ID 0 may refer to one RS in q1,0,k.).
Regarding claim 42, Tsai teaches wherein reference signals in the first RS set (read as q0,i,k) or the second RS set are channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs) (¶ [0070] The higher layers provides the reference signal (RS, e.g. CSI-RS) resources for UE to perform BFD.; ¶ [0072] Each set q0,i,k and q1,i,k independently associated with multiple sets of periodic CSI-RS.).
Regarding claim 43, Tsai teaches wherein a link quality of each reference signal in at least one of the first RS set or the second RS set is less than a first threshold (¶ [0107] When the link quality for all RS in q0,0,k are below a threshold.).
Regarding claim 44, Tsai teaches wherein an index of the first reference signal is received from the terminal device (read as UE) (¶ [0112] During a BFR procedure, UE may report only one beam with corresponding to the measured CSI-RS resource index (CRI) per TRP at a CC.; ¶ [0160] The failed CC index(es) or the new/identified candidate beam/RS qnew,i are reported by MAC-CE conveyed by PUSCH.), and
receiving power of the first reference signal is larger than or equal to a second threshold (¶ [0183] The AC field for example indicates the presence of the Candidate RS ID field. If at least one of the SSBs with SS-RSRP above rsrp-ThresholdBFR amongst the SSBs in candidateBeamRSSCellList or the CSI-RSs with CSI-RSRP above rsrp-ThresholdBFR amongst the CSI-RSs in candidateBeamRSSCellList is available, the AC field is set to 1.).
Regarding claim 45, Tsai teaches a terminal device, comprising a processor configured to cause the terminal device to (Fig. 27F, element 118 Processor; ¶ [0248] WTRU may include a processor.; ¶ [0249] The processor may perform signal coding, data processing, power control, input/output processing, or any other functionality that enables the WTRU to operate in a wireless environment.):
determine (read as configured or determined), for a cell, a first reference signal (RS) set and a second RS set for beam failure detection (read as BFD) (¶ [0082] Multiple sets may be configured for a BWP by configuring multiple lists, each list comprising one or more RS for BFD (e.g., failureDetectionResources).; ¶ [0086] A first set of BFD RS is configured. A second set of BFD RS is determined.); and
Tsai does not explicitly teach transmit, to a network device, beam failure recovery information, the beam failure recovery information comprising an indication associated with a parameter indicating:
whether beam failure is detected for one or both of the first RS set and the second RS set;
an index of one of the first RS set or the second RS set; and
an indication about the presence of a first reference signal in a third RS set corresponding to one of the first RS set or the second RS set,
wherein:
in a case where the beam failure is detected for only one RS set among the first RS set and the second RS set, the parameter is set to a first value indicating that the beam failure is detected for only one RS set among the first RS set and the second RS set, and
in a case where the beam failure is detected for both the first RS set and the second RS set, the parameter is set to a second value indicating that the beam failure is detected for both the first RS set and the second RS set.
In analogous art, Zhang ‘1362 teaches transmit, to a network device (read as base station), beam failure recovery information (page 46, lines 11-26, Reports the index of the one reference signal to a base station. The terminal can send the PRACH on the PRACH resource corresponding to the selected reference signal. Reporting reference signal indication information herein includes that the terminal sends a preamble on a reporting resource or the terminal reports, in a PUCCH, indication information.),
the beam failure recovery information comprising an indication associated with a parameter (read as set index information) indicating:
whether beam failure is detected for one or both of the first RS set and the second RS set (read as at least one of the first set or the second set) (page 27, lines 13-14, The first-type beam failure recovery parameters include at least one of: a beam failure detection signal set.; page 28, lines 8-22, Both the first set of first-type beam failure recovery parameters and the second set of first-type beam failure recovery parameters correspond to the first set of second-type beam failure recovery parameters. When a beam failure event is detected according to a beam failure detection reference signal set in at least one of the first set or the second set.; page 37, lines 7-11, Reporting the set index information is configured for indicating the beam failure event being detected according to a beam failure detection reference signal set corresponding to the first-type beam failure recovery parameters corresponding to the set index information.)
an index of one of the first RS set or the second RS set (page 36, lines 16-28 and page 37, lines 1-5, Set index information of the A sets of first-type beam failure recovery parameters is reported. Reference signal indication information or set index information of the A sets of first-type beam failure recovery parameters are included in a channel associated with a control resource set for beam failure recovery. The set index information may be indicated by index information of a frequency domain bandwidth, control channel resource group, CC, CC group, or data channel configuration information corresponding to the first-type beam failure recovery parameters.); and
an indication (read as indication information) about the presence of a first reference signal in a third RS set (read as candidate reference signal set) corresponding to one of the first RS set or the second RS set (page 77, lines 27-28, page 78, lines 1-6, Two beam failure detection reference signal sets and two candidate reference signal sets are provided; as long as a beam failure event is detected in any beam failure detection reference signal set, a new reference signal is selected from the candidate reference signal set corresponding to the any beam failure detection reference signal set. One reference indication information selected from a candidate reference signal set can be reported.; page 78, lines 25-28, The terminal can inform TRP0 through the SR/MAC-CE command indication information of a reference signal selected by the terminal from candidate reference signal set 1.),
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine a reference signal set index taught by Zhang ‘1362 with reference signals for beam failure detection as taught by Tsai. One would have been motivated to do so in order improve link recovery and reliability by enabling the network to quickly identify which beam or reference signal set has failed (Zhang ‘1362: pages 1-4).
Zhang and Tsai do not explicitly teach wherein: in a case where the beam failure is detected for only one RS set among the first RS set and the second RS set, the parameter is set to a first value indicating that the beam failure is detected for only one RS set among the first RS set and the second RS set, wherein the first value is an integer value equal to 0; and in a case where the beam failure is detected for both the first RS set and the second RS set, the parameter is set to a second value indicating that the beam failure is detected for both the first RS set and the second RS set, wherein the second value is an integer value not equal to 0.
In analogous art, Koskela teaches wherein:
in a case where the beam failure is detected for only one RS set (read as partial failure) among the first RS set and the second RS set, the parameter (read as information element 604) is set to a first value indicating that the beam failure is detected for only one RS set among the first RS set and the second RS set, wherein the first value is an integer value equal to 0 (read as 1 for partial beam failure) (Fig. 6B element 604 indicates whether beam failure is full or partial; ¶ [0049] If a failure is detected on set #0 (but not on #1) UE may declare partial failure.; ¶ [0071] The beam failure indication data comprises a first information element 604 indicating whether the beam failure is full or partial. The indication may be realized with one bit (e.g. 0 for full beam failure or 1 for partial beam failure).; Note: MPEP §2143(I)(B) - Simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results.; It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to select the alternative binary encoding (i.e., 0 for partial failure and 1 for full failure) and correspondingly reverse the receiver’s interpretation.); and
in a case where the beam failure is detected for both the first RS set and the second RS set (read as full failure), the parameter (read as information element 604) is set to a second value indicating that the beam failure is detected for both the first RS set and the second RS set, wherein the second value is an integer value not equal to 0 (read field 604 may not be set) (Fig. 6B element 604 indicates whether beam failure is full or partial; ¶ [0049] If UE is configured to monitor failure on one or more beam failure detection resources (e.g. BFD-RS set #0 and set #1) and all the RS in all of the sets are in failure condition, UE may determine that full beam failure has occurred/detected.; ¶ [0071] If full failure is detected by the UE, said field 604 may not be set (thus may equal to 0), and thus the network may assume that full failure has occurred.; Note: MPEP §2143(I)(B) - Simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results.; It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to select the alternative binary encoding (i.e., 0 for partial failure and 1 for full failure) and correspondingly reverse the receiver’s interpretation.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine beam failure indication as taught by Koskela with a reference signal set index taught by Zhang ‘1362 and reference signals for beam failure detection as taught by Tsai. One would have been motivated to do so in order to improve beam failure recovery efficiency and increase reliability by identifying the affected RS set and distinguishing failure of one set form failure of both sets, which would enable the network to start recovery of the affected links while preserving communication over functioning links (Koskela: ¶¶ [0047]-[0048]).
Regarding claim 46, Tsai teaches wherein the first reference signal is a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) or a synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel block (SS/PBCH block) (¶ [0070] UE is configured for beam failure detection (BFD) based on configuration method which when the higher layers (e.g. RRC) provides the reference signal (RS, e.g., CSI-RS) resources for UE to perform BFD.; ¶ [0072] UE assesses the radio link quality according to the periodic CSI-RS resource configurations or SS/PBCH blocks.; ¶ [0185] Candidate RS ID 0 may refer to one RS in q1,0,k.).
Regarding claim 47, Tsai teaches wherein reference signals in the first RS set (read as q0,i,k) or the second RS set are channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs) (¶ [0070] The higher layers provides the reference signal (RS, e.g. CSI-RS) resources for UE to perform BFD.; ¶ [0072] Each set q0,i,k and q1,i,k independently associated with multiple sets of periodic CSI-RS.).
Regarding claim 48, Tsai teaches wherein a link quality of each reference signal in at least one of the first RS set or the second RS set is less than a first threshold (¶ [0107] When the link quality for all RS in q0,0,k are below a threshold.).
Regarding claim 49, Tsai teaches wherein an index of the first reference signal is transmitted to the network device (¶ [0112] During a BFR procedure, UE may report only one beam with corresponding to the measured CSI-RS resource index (CRI) per TRP at a CC.; ¶ [0160] The failed CC index(es) or the new/identified candidate beam/RS qnew,i are reported by MAC-CE conveyed by PUSCH.), and
receiving power of the first reference signal is larger than or equal to a second threshold (¶ [0183] The AC field for example indicates the presence of the Candidate RS ID field. If at least one of the SSBs with SS-RSRP above rsrp-ThresholdBFR amongst the SSBs in candidateBeamRSSCellList or the CSI-RSs with CSI-RSRP above rsrp-ThresholdBFR amongst the CSI-RSs in candidateBeamRSSCellList is available, the AC field is set to 1.).
Regarding claim 50, Tsai teaches network device, comprising a processor configured to cause the network device to (Fig. 27F, element 118 Processor; ¶ [0248] The example WTRU may include a processor 118. The base stations or the nodes that the base stations may represent, such as proxy nodes, among others, may include some or all of the elements depicted in Fig. 27F.):
transmit, for a cell, a first reference signal (RS) set and a second RS set for beam failure detection (¶ [0108] UE is configured with two sets of RS for BFD.; ¶ [0108] A first RS of the first set of RSs is transmitted from a first TRP. A third RS of the third set of RSs is transmitted from the first TRP.); and
Tsai does not explicitly teach receive, from a terminal device, beam failure recovery information, the beam failure recovery information comprising an indication associated with a parameter indicating:
whether beam failure is detected for one or both of the first RS set and the second RS set;
an index of one of the first RS set or the second RS set; and
an indication about the presence of a first reference signal in a third RS set corresponding to one of the first RS set or the second RS set,
wherein:
in a case where the beam failure is detected for only one RS set among the first RS set and the second RS set, the parameter is set to a first value indicating that the beam failure is detected for only one RS set among the first RS set and the second RS set, and
in a case where the beam failure is detected for both the first RS set and the second RS set, the parameter is set to a second value indicating that the beam failure is detected for both the first RS set and the second RS set.
In analogous art, Zhang ‘1362 teaches receive, from a terminal device, beam failure recovery information (page 46, lines 11-26, Reports the index of the one reference signal to a base station. The terminal can send the PRACH on the PRACH resource corresponding to the selected reference signal. Reporting reference signal indication information herein includes that the terminal sends a preamble on a reporting resource or the terminal reports, in a PUCCH, indication information.),
the beam failure recovery information comprising an indication associated with a parameter (read as set index information) indicating:
whether beam failure is detected for one or both of the first RS set and the second RS set (read as at least one of the first set or the second set) (page 27, lines 13-14, The first-type beam failure recovery parameters include at least one of: a beam failure detection signal set.; page 28, lines 8-22, Both the first set of first-type beam failure recovery parameters and the second set of first-type beam failure recovery parameters correspond to the first set of second-type beam failure recovery parameters. When a beam failure event is detected according to a beam failure detection reference signal set in at least one of the first set or the second set.; page 37, lines 7-11, Reporting the set index information is configured for indicating the beam failure event being detected according to a beam failure detection reference signal set corresponding to the first-type beam failure recovery parameters corresponding to the set index information.)
an index of one of the first RS set or the second RS set (page 36, lines 16-28 and page 37, lines 1-5, Set index information of the A sets of first-type beam failure recovery parameters is reported. Reference signal indication information or set index information of the A sets of first-type beam failure recovery parameters are included in a channel associated with a control resource set for beam failure recovery. The set index information may be indicated by index information of a frequency domain bandwidth, control channel resource group, CC, CC group, or data channel configuration information corresponding to the first-type beam failure recovery parameters.); and
an indication (read as indication information) about the presence of a first reference signal in a third RS set (read as candidate reference signal set) corresponding to one of the first RS set or the second RS set (page 77, lines 27-28, page 78, lines 1-6, Two beam failure detection reference signal sets and two candidate reference signal sets are provided; as long as a beam failure event is detected in any beam failure detection reference signal set, a new reference signal is selected from the candidate reference signal set corresponding to the any beam failure detection reference signal set. One reference indication information selected from a candidate reference signal set can be reported.; page 78, lines 25-28, The terminal can inform TRP0 through the SR/MAC-CE command indication information of a reference signal selected by the terminal from candidate reference signal set 1.),
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine a reference signal set index taught by Zhang ‘1362 with reference signals for beam failure detection as taught by Tsai. One would have been motivated to do so in order improve link recovery and reliability by enabling the network to quickly identify which beam or reference signal set has failed (Zhang ‘1362: pages 1-4).
Zhang and Tsai do not explicitly teach wherein: in a case where the beam failure is detected for only one RS set among the first RS set and the second RS set, the parameter is set to a first value indicating that the beam failure is detected for only one RS set among the first RS set and the second RS set, wherein the first value is an integer value equal to 0; and in a case where the beam failure is detected for both the first RS set and the second RS set, the parameter is set to a second value indicating that the beam failure is detected for both the first RS set and the second RS set, wherein the second value is an integer value not equal to 0.
In analogous art, Koskela teaches wherein:
in a case where the beam failure is detected for only one RS set (read as partial failure) among the first RS set and the second RS set, the parameter (read as information element 604) is set to a first value indicating that the beam failure is detected for only one RS set among the first RS set and the second RS set, wherein the first value is an integer value equal to 0 (read as 1 for partial beam failure) (Fig. 6B element 604 indicates whether beam failure is full or partial; ¶ [0049] If a failure is detected on set #0 (but not on #1) UE may declare partial failure.; ¶ [0071] The beam failure indication data comprises a first information element 604 indicating whether the beam failure is full or partial. The indication may be realized with one bit (e.g. 0 for full beam failure or 1 for partial beam failure).; Note: MPEP §2143(I)(B) - Simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results.; It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to select the alternative binary encoding (i.e., 0 for partial failure and 1 for full failure) and correspondingly reverse the receiver’s interpretation.); and
in a case where the beam failure is detected for both the first RS set and the second RS set (read as full failure), the parameter (read as information element 604) is set to a second value indicating that the beam failure is detected for both the first RS set and the second RS set, wherein the second value is an integer value not equal to 0 (read field 604 may not be set) (Fig. 6B element 604 indicates whether beam failure is full or partial; ¶ [0049] If UE is configured to monitor failure on one or more beam failure detection resources (e.g. BFD-RS set #0 and set #1) and all the RS in all of the sets are in failure condition, UE may determine that full beam failure has occurred/detected.; ¶ [0071] If full failure is detected by the UE, said field 604 may not be set (thus may equal to 0), and thus the network may assume that full failure has occurred.; Note: MPEP §2143(I)(B) - Simple substitution of one known element for another to obtain predictable results.; It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to select the alternative binary encoding (i.e., 0 for partial failure and 1 for full failure) and correspondingly reverse the receiver’s interpretation.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine beam failure indication as taught by Koskela with a reference signal set index taught by Zhang ‘1362 and reference signals for beam failure detection as taught by Tsai. One would have been motivated to do so in order to improve beam failure recovery efficiency and increase reliability by identifying the affected RS set and distinguishing failure of one set form failure of both sets, which would enable the network to start recovery of the affected links while preserving communication over functioning links (Koskela: ¶¶ [0047]-[0048]).
Regarding claim 51, Tsai teaches wherein the first reference signal is a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) or a synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel block (SS/PBCH block) (¶ [0070] UE is configured for beam failure detection (BFD) based on configuration method which when the higher layers (e.g. RRC) provides the reference signal (RS, e.g., CSI-RS) resources for UE to perform BFD.; ¶ [0072] UE assesses the radio link quality according to the periodic CSI-RS resource configurations or SS/PBCH blocks.; ¶ [0185] Candidate RS ID 0 may refer to one RS in q1,0,k.).
Regarding claim 52, Tsai teaches wherein reference signals in the first RS set (read as q0,i,k) or the second RS set are channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs) (¶ [0070] The higher layers provides the reference signal (RS, e.g. CSI-RS) resources for UE to perform BFD.; ¶ [0072] Each set q0,i,k and q1,i,k independently associated with multiple sets of periodic CSI-RS.).
Regarding claim 53, Tsai teaches wherein a link quality of each reference signal in at least one of the first RS set or the second RS set is less than a first threshold (¶ [0107] When the link quality for all RS in q0,0,k are below a threshold.).
Regarding claim 54, Tsai teaches wherein an index of the first reference signal is received from the terminal device (read as UE) (¶ [0112] During a BFR procedure, UE may report only one beam with corresponding to the measured CSI-RS resource index (CRI) per TRP at a CC.; ¶ [0160] The failed CC index(es) or the new/identified candidate beam/RS qnew,i are reported by MAC-CE conveyed by PUSCH.) , and
receiving power of the first reference signal is larger than or equal to a second threshold (¶ [0183] The AC field for example indicates the presence of the Candidate RS ID field. If at least one of the SSBs with SS-RSRP above rsrp-ThresholdBFR amongst the SSBs in candidateBeamRSSCellList or the CSI-RSs with CSI-RSRP above rsrp-ThresholdBFR amongst the CSI-RSs in candidateBeamRSSCellList is available, the AC field is set to 1.).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Xia et al. (US 2018/0288756 A1) discloses “System and Method for Communications Beam Recovery”
Cirik et al. (US 2022/0217592 A1) “Beam Failure Recovery Procedure in Carrier Aggregation”
Zhou et al. (US 2023/0413359 A1) “Configuration for Beam Failure Recovery”
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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/D.M.K./Examiner, Art Unit 2464
/RICKY Q NGO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2464
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