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 .
Priorities and Examiner Remarks
This application filed 12/23/2022 is a Continuation of PCT/CN2020/097931
(filed 06/24/2020), and does not claim priority from any domestic or foreign applications.
Objections
Claims 1, 18, 19, and 20 are objected to because of the following informalities, and appropriate correction is required.
Claim 1 line 9, the phrase “the identity” appears to refer back to the “identity of a domain” in claim 1 line 6. Hence, they should be changed to “the identity of the domain” for avoiding ambiguity issues. Similar issue appears in various places of each claim 18, 19, and 20.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1, 4, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Manolakos et al. (US 2020/0351055 A1, hereinafter Manolakos), in view of Lee et al. (US 2018/0091212 A1, hereinafter Lee).
Regarding claim 1,
Manolakos teaches a method, comprising (in general, see fig. 3-4 and corresponding paragraphs, see also fig. 2 and its paragraphs for additional background information; note that fig. 4 is an additional embodiment to the steps of fig. 3):
determining, by a wireless communication device, a transmission control indication state identifier (TCI) according to at least one transmission from a wireless communication node (Manolakos, see at least para. 115-117, for one non-limiting example, steps 310-320),
the at least one transmission comprising at least one of a system information block (SIB), synchronization signal, physical broadcast channel (PBCH), and a reference signal (RS) (Manolakos, see at least para. 102, “...in some cases (e.g., for CSS signaling), a TRP may scramble data (e.g., of a transmission) based on its PCI. For example, a TRP may scramble PDSCH using a PCI of the TRP when the PDSCH is scheduled using DCI format 1_0 in CSS. More generally, broadcast messages carried in PDSCH (e.g., remaining minimum system information (RMSI), other system information (OSI), paging, random access channel (RACH) response, etc.) and dedicated messages using DCI format 1_0 in CSS, may be scrambled with PCI of the signaling TRP...”, in other words and for a possible example, RMSI in PDSCH in CSS),
determining, by the wireless communication device, an identity of a domain in the SIB of the at least one transmission (Manolakos, see at least para. 102, “...in some cases (e.g., for CSS signaling), a TRP may scramble data (e.g., of a transmission) based on its PCI. For example, a TRP may scramble PDSCH using a PCI of the TRP when the PDSCH is scheduled using DCI format 1_0 in CSS. More generally, broadcast messages carried in PDSCH (e.g., remaining minimum system information (RMSI), other system information (OSI), paging, random access channel (RACH) response, etc.) and dedicated messages using DCI format 1_0 in CSS, may be scrambled with PCI of the signaling TRP...”);
and
identifying, by the wireless communication device according to the TCI and the identity of the domain, a transmission control indication state within the domain (Manolakos, see at least para. 117-118, for one non-limiting example, steps 320-325),
wherein both the TCI and the identity are determined based on the at least one transmission (Manolakos, see at least para. 115-117, for one non-limiting example, steps 310-320),
and
wherein determining the TCI comprises combining the identity of the domain in the SIB with at least one additional identifier obtained from the at least one transmission to generate the TCI (Manolakos, see at least para. 117-118 in view of para. 103, “...At 320, the base station (e.g., TRP 205-c and/or TRP 205-d) may transmit a downlink transmission encoded according to a first PCI (e.g., associated with TRP 205-c) or a second PCI (e.g., associated with TRP 205-d), based on the association identified at 305 and the TCI state associated with the downlink transmission. For example, in some cases, TRP 205-c may transmit the downlink transmission, and may scramble the downlink transmission using the first PCI (e.g., which identifies the TRP 205-c) ... In some cases, the downlink transmission includes a downlink control channel signal in the common search space (e.g., PDCCH in CSS) or downlink data channel signal in the common search space (e.g., PDSCH in CSS), etc...”; note that para. 103 discloses “...PDCCH transmissions may also be scrambled using PCI of the transmitting TRP. For example, when PDCCH is scrambled using random access RNTI (RA-RNTI), system information RNTI (SI-RNTI), paging RNTI (P-RNTI), and C-RNTI in CSS, the PCI of the transmitting TRP may be used. Again, UE 115-a may identify TCI state and PCI association, such that the UE 115-a may identify the PCI used to scramble PDCCH based on the TCI state the UE 115-a uses to receive the PDCCH transmission...”).
Manolakos does not specifically teach an identity of a domain extracted from content of the SIB.
Lee teaches an identity of a domain extracted from content of the SIB (Lee, see at least para. 155 of fig. 6C, for one non-limiting example, “...in step S616, the first TRP 610 may transmit a System Information Block (SIB) including the physical cell ID of the second TRP 620 and the reference signal configuration of the second TRP 620 to the UE 630. The system information block may be transmitted through a downlink control channel of the first TRP 610...”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate Lee into Manolakos can more efficiently perform the measurement in an environment in which network entities operating in different beam modes coexist by receiving information required for the measurement from the network entities (para. 13).
Regarding claim 4, Manolakos in view of Lee teaches determining, by the wireless communication device, the TCI using the identity of the domain in the SIB and the at least one additional identifier, the at least one additional identifier included in the SIB. (Manolakos, see at least para. 117-118 in view of para. 102-103, “...At 320, the base station (e.g., TRP 205-c and/or TRP 205-d) may transmit a downlink transmission encoded according to a first PCI (e.g., associated with TRP 205-c) or a second PCI (e.g., associated with TRP 205-d), based on the association identified at 305 and the TCI state associated with the downlink transmission. For example, in some cases, TRP 205-c may transmit the downlink transmission, and may scramble the downlink transmission using the first PCI (e.g., which identifies the TRP 205-c) ... In some cases, the downlink transmission includes a downlink control channel signal in the common search space (e.g., PDCCH in CSS) or downlink data channel signal in the common search space (e.g., PDSCH in CSS), etc...”; note that para. 103 discloses “...PDCCH transmissions may also be scrambled using PCI of the transmitting TRP. For example, when PDCCH is scrambled using random access RNTI (RA-RNTI), system information RNTI (SI-RNTI), paging RNTI (P-RNTI), and C-RNTI in CSS, the PCI of the transmitting TRP may be used. Again, UE 115-a may identify TCI state and PCI association, such that the UE 115-a may identify the PCI used to scramble PDCCH based on the TCI state the UE 115-a uses to receive the PDCCH transmission...”)
Regarding claim 18, this claim is rejected for the same reasoning as claim 1 except this claim is in apparatus claim format.
To be more specific, Manolakos in view of Lee also teaches a same or similar apparatus comprising processor, transceiver, and memory (Manolakos, see at least fig. 8 and 12), which are well known in the art and commonly used for providing and enabling robust and reliable data communication hardware and software.
Regarding claim 19, this claim is rejected for the same reasoning as claim 1. To be more specific, although reciting subject matters slightly different, one skilled in the art would have known claim 19 performs reverse (or corresponding) procedures of claim 1. For example, it would be a wireless communication node of claim 19 that performs the reverse (or corresponding) receiving from and transmitting to the wireless communication device of claim 1. Hence, the examiner applies the same rejection reasoning as set forth in claim 1.
Regarding claim 20, this claim is rejected for the same reasoning as claim 19 except this claim is in apparatus claim format.
To be more specific, Manolakos in view of Lee also teaches a same or similar apparatus comprising processor, transceiver, and memory (Manolakos, see at least fig. 8 and 12), which are well known in the art and commonly used for providing and enabling robust and reliable data communication hardware and software.
Claims 5-11, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Manolakos in view of Lee, and further in view of SEO et al. (US 2020/0045709 A1, hereinafter SEO).
Regarding claim 5,
Manolakos in view of Lee teaches claim 1.
Manolakos in view of Lee further teaches determining, by the wireless communication device, the TCI using the identity of the domain extracted from the content of the SIB (Manolakos, see at least para. 118-119 in view of para. 102, “...At 325, UE 115-b may identify an association between the TCI state used to receive the downlink transmission at 320, and PCI of TRP 205-c and/or TRP 205-d. For example, in some cases, a downlink transmission from TRP 205-c and a downlink transmission from TRP 205-d may each be associated with a different TCI state. In such cases, a TCI state used to receive the downlink transmission may, in this example, may be associated with one of either the first PCI or the second PCI...”, Lee, see at least para. 155).
Manolakos in view of Lee does not teaches a synchronization signal block index (SSBI) in the PBCH.
SEO teaches a synchronization signal block index (SSBI) in the PBCH (SEO, see at least para. 157 along with para. 133 and fig. 13, “…The TCI state at CORESET #0 may be determined by the SSB associated with the corresponding CORESET/
search space set. There may exist a CORESET #0 and a search space set # 0
associated with each SSB…”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate SEO into Manolakos in view of Lee for enhancing resources allocations.
Regarding claim 6, Manolakos in view of Lee and SEO teaches determining, by the wireless communication device, the TCI using the identity of the domain extracted from the content of the SIB and a transmission control indication state group identity (TCGI) in the SIB, and a synchronization signal block index (SSBI) in the PBCH. (SEO, see at least para. 145 along with para. 165, for one example, but not limited to, “…If the above applies to the default TCI, the above proposal may be applied to the valid TCI state of the candidate group. For example, the TCI state of the lowest index among the set of TCI states which are set for the PDSCH, etc. … is used as the default TCI, when the index # 0 is set to CSI-RS # 2 and the index # 1 is set to SSB # 1, the TCI state for CORESET #0/search space # 0 can be set to index #1 (SSB #1),…”; Manolakos, see at least para. 118-119 in view of para. 102, “...At 325, UE 115-b may identify an association between the TCI state used to receive the downlink transmission at 320, and PCI of TRP 205-c and/or TRP 205-d. For example, in some cases, a downlink transmission from TRP 205-c and a downlink transmission from TRP 205-d may each be associated with a different TCI state. In such cases, a TCI state used to receive the downlink transmission may, in this example, may be associated with one of either the first PCI or the second PCI...”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate SEO into Manolakos in view of Lee for enhancing resources allocations.
Regarding claim 7, Manolakos in view of Lee and SEO teaches determining, by the wireless communication device, the TCI using the identity of the domain extracted from the content of the SIB and a CSI-RS resource index (CRI) in the SIB, the CRI selected according to the CSI-RS. (SEO, see at least para. 145 along with para. 165, for one example, but not limited to, “…If the above applies to the default TCI, the above proposal may be applied to the valid TCI state of the candidate group. For example, the TCI state of the lowest index among the set of TCI states which are set for the PDSCH, etc. … is used as the default TCI, when the index # 0 is set to CSI-RS # 2 and the index # 1 is set to SSB # 1, the TCI state for CORESET #0/search space # 0 can be set to index #1 (SSB #1),…”; Manolakos, see at least para. 118-119 in view of para. 102, “...At 325, UE 115-b may identify an association between the TCI state used to receive the downlink transmission at 320, and PCI of TRP 205-c and/or TRP 205-d. For example, in some cases, a downlink transmission from TRP 205-c and a downlink transmission from TRP 205-d may each be associated with a different TCI state. In such cases, a TCI state used to receive the downlink transmission may, in this example, may be associated with one of either the first PCI or the second PCI...”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate SEO into Manolakos in view of Lee for enhancing resources allocations.
Regarding claim 8, Manolakos in view of Lee and SEO teaches determining, by the wireless communication device, the TCI using the identity of the domain extracted from the content of the SIB and TCI information in the SIB, the TCI information selected according to the CSI-RS. (SEO, see at least para. 145 along with para. 165, for one example, but not limited to, “…If the above applies to the default TCI, the above proposal may be applied to the valid TCI state of the candidate group. For example, the TCI state of the lowest index among the set of TCI states which are set for the PDSCH, etc. … is used as the default TCI, when the index # 0 is set to CSI-RS # 2 and the index # 1 is set to SSB # 1, the TCI state for CORESET #0/search space # 0 can be set to index #1 (SSB #1),…”; Manolakos, see at least para. 118-119 in view of para. 102, “...At 325, UE 115-b may identify an association between the TCI state used to receive the downlink transmission at 320, and PCI of TRP 205-c and/or TRP 205-d. For example, in some cases, a downlink transmission from TRP 205-c and a downlink transmission from TRP 205-d may each be associated with a different TCI state. In such cases, a TCI state used to receive the downlink transmission may, in this example, may be associated with one of either the first PCI or the second PCI...”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate SEO into Manolakos in view of Lee for enhancing resources allocations.
Regarding claim 9, Manolakos in view of Lee and SEO teaches determining, by the wireless communication device, the TCI using the identity of the domain extracted from the content of the SIB, a transmission control indication state group identity (TCGI) in the SIB and TCI information in the SIB, the TCI information selected according to the CSI-RS. (SEO, see at least para. 143-145 along with para. 165, for one example, but not limited to, “…If the above applies to the default TCI, the above proposal may be applied to the valid TCI state of the candidate group. For example, the TCI state of the lowest index among the set of TCI states which are set for the PDSCH, etc. … is used as the default TCI, when the index # 0 is set to CSI-RS # 2 and the index # 1 is set to SSB # 1, the TCI state for CORESET #0/search space # 0 can be set to index #1 (SSB #1),…”; Manolakos, see at least para. 118-119 in view of para. 102, “...At 325, UE 115-b may identify an association between the TCI state used to receive the downlink transmission at 320, and PCI of TRP 205-c and/or TRP 205-d. For example, in some cases, a downlink transmission from TRP 205-c and a downlink transmission from TRP 205-d may each be associated with a different TCI state. In such cases, a TCI state used to receive the downlink transmission may, in this example, may be associated with one of either the first PCI or the second PCI...”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate SEO into Manolakos in view of Lee for enhancing resources allocations.
Regarding claim 10, Manolakos in view of Lee and SEO teaches determining, by the wireless communication device, the TCI using the identity of the domain extracted from the content of the SIB, a transmission control indication state group identity (TCGI) in the SIB and a CSI-RS resource index (CRI) in the SIB, the CRI selected according to the CSI-RS. (SEO, see at least para. 143-145 along with para. 165, for one example, but not limited to, “…If the above applies to the default TCI, the above proposal may be applied to the valid TCI state of the candidate group. For example, the TCI state of the lowest index among the set of TCI states which are set for the PDSCH, etc. … is used as the default TCI, when the index # 0 is set to CSI-RS # 2 and the index # 1 is set to SSB # 1, the TCI state for CORESET #0/search space # 0 can be set to index #1 (SSB #1),…”; Manolakos, see at least para. 118-119 in view of para. 102, “...At 325, UE 115-b may identify an association between the TCI state used to receive the downlink transmission at 320, and PCI of TRP 205-c and/or TRP 205-d. For example, in some cases, a downlink transmission from TRP 205-c and a downlink transmission from TRP 205-d may each be associated with a different TCI state. In such cases, a TCI state used to receive the downlink transmission may, in this example, may be associated with one of either the first PCI or the second PCI...”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate SEO into Manolakos in view of Lee for enhancing resources allocations.
Regarding claim 11, Manolakos in view of Lee and SEO teaches determining, by the wireless communication device, the TCI using the identity of the domain extracted from the content of the SIB and a CSI-RS resource index (CRI) in the SIB, and a synchronization signal block index (SSBI) in the PBCH, the CRI selected according to the CSI-RS. (SEO, see at least para. 143-145 along with para. 165, for one example, but not limited to, “…If the above applies to the default TCI, the above proposal may be applied to the valid TCI state of the candidate group. For example, the TCI state of the lowest index among the set of TCI states which are set for the PDSCH, etc. … is used as the default TCI, when the index # 0 is set to CSI-RS # 2 and the index # 1 is set to SSB # 1, the TCI state for CORESET #0/search space # 0 can be set to index #1 (SSB #1),…”; Manolakos, see at least para. 118-119 in view of para. 102, “...At 325, UE 115-b may identify an association between the TCI state used to receive the downlink transmission at 320, and PCI of TRP 205-c and/or TRP 205-d. For example, in some cases, a downlink transmission from TRP 205-c and a downlink transmission from TRP 205-d may each be associated with a different TCI state. In such cases, a TCI state used to receive the downlink transmission may, in this example, may be associated with one of either the first PCI or the second PCI...”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate SEO into Manolakos in view of Lee for enhancing resources allocations.
Regarding claim 17, Manolakos in view of Lee and SEO teaches identifying, by the wireless communication device using the TCI, a location. (SEO, see at least para. 160, for one example, but not limited to, “…The one TCI state may include information on a quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship between the CSI-RS and a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) port for the PDCCH/PDSCH…”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate SEO into Manolakos in view of Lee for enhancing resources allocations.
Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Manolakos in view of Lee, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of MANOLAKOS et al. (US 2021/0360611 A1, hereinafter MANOLAKOS_611).
Regarding claim 21,
Manolakos in view of Lee teaches claim 1.
Manolakos in view of Lee does not teach reporting, by the wireless communication device, the TCI with at least one of a measurement, a radio link failure, a beam failure, or a minimization of drive test (MDT).
MANOLAKOS_611 teaches reporting, by the wireless communication device, the TCI with at least one of a measurement, a radio link failure, a beam failure, or a minimization of drive test (MDT). (MANOLAKOS_611, see at least para. 166, UE sends measurement report)
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate MANOLAKOS_611 into Manolakos in view of Lee for improving measurements for accuracy.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 08/13/2026 have been fully considered. Regarding independent claims 1, 18, 19, and 20, since applicant's amendment necessitated new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action, previous Office action's rejections are moot. Accordingly, corresponding dependent claims have also been rejected in this Office action.
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 YEE F LAM whose telephone number is (571)270-7577. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm. 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, Ayman Abaza can be reached on 571-270-0422. 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.
/YEE F LAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
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