DETAILED ACTION
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office Action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 10/15/2025 has been entered and made of record.
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 .
Claim Status
Claims 1, 4, 22-23 and 29-30 are amended.
Claims 2-3 and 21 are cancelled.
No new claim is/are added.
Claims 1, 4-20 and 22-30 are pending for examination.
Applicant Argument
Applicant’s response has been fully considered. Below are applicant’s main arguments and examiner’s response to those arguments:
Applicant’s argument: (remark page 11-13), filed on 10/15/2025, with respect to claims 1, 20, 29 and 30, ‘Applicant has amended independent claims 1, 20, 29, and 30 to include features previously recited in dependent claims 2 and 3 … However, a report that an event occurred, as discussed in Rahman, is not the same as, nor does it disclose, "a request for an activation of an uplink beam selection procedure," … Accordingly, Applicant requests that the rejection of independent claims 1, 20, 29, and 30 under 35 U.S.C. § 102 be reconsidered and withdrawn’.
Examiner’s response: Examiner respectfully disagrees. Rahman teaches several conditions where an autonomous UL beam selection (alternate UL TX beam selection without having to wait for the next UL TX beam indication) is desirable and report to network upon such a condition (event) happened to request to enable “alternate” UL TX beam selection (without having to wait for the next UL TX beam indication) in order to avoid outage (Rahman: [0005], [0096]-[0104], [0130]), which teaches the limitations as claimed.
Applicant’s arguments (remark pages 9-14), filed on 10/15/2025, with respect to claims 1, 4-20 and 22-30 have been considered but are not convincing. The claim rejections for claims 1, 4-20 and 22-30 are not withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 4-5, 8-11, 13-20, 22-23 and 26-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Rahman et al. (US 20210410130 A1), hereinafter “Rahman”.
Per claim 1, 20, 29 and 30:
Regarding claim 1, Rahman teaches ‘An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE)’ (Rahman: [0004]: “apparatuses to enable event-based uplink transmit beam switching”; [0005]: “a UE in a wireless communication system”); ‘comprising: one or more processors’ (Rahman: [FIG.3]: “PROCESSOR”); ‘one or more memories’ (Rahman: [FIG.3]: “MEMORY”); ‘coupled with the one or more processors’ (this is implied); ‘instructions stored in one or more memories and executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to’ (Rahman: [0082]: “one or more processors executing instructions to perform the noted functions”);
‘receive a first message activating a plurality of transmission configuration indicator states for the UE for uplink communications’ (Rahman: [FIG.14]: “UE is configured to receive UL TX beam indicating two beams (B1, B2)”; [0005]: “UE includes a transceiver configured to: receive configuration information including information on a beam indication indicating N uplink (UL) transmit beams, where N>1, and receive the beam indication”; [0094]: “TCI states is configured via higher-layer (RRC) signaling and, when applicable, a subset of those TCI states is selected/activated via MAC CE for the TCI field code points”; [0231]: “the beam indication is via N transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states, one TCI state for each of the N UL transmit beams”; a plurality of TCI states for UL communication);
‘transmit a request for an activation of an uplink beam selection procedure for autonomous selection of an uplink beam by the UE’ (Rahman: [0130]: “For explicit information, the UE can explicitly report a pre-notification message to indicate to the NW/gNB that the event occurred”; [0005]: “elect a beam from the N UL transmit beams based on whether the event is detected or not”; [0099]-[0104]: different conditions (events) for enabling “alternative” UL beam selection (without having to wait for the next UL TX beam indication) to avoid outage; upon detecting an event (condition) happened, UE would transmit a report to request an activation of “alternative” UL beam selection);
‘receive a second message that indicates, for uplink communications by the UE, a first transmission configuration indicator state of the plurality of transmission configuration indicator states and that indicates the activation of the uplink beam selection procedure for autonomous selection of an uplink beam by the UE, wherein receipt of the second message is based at least in part on transmission of the request’ (Rahman: [FIG.14]: “UE receives UL TX beam indication”; [0096]-[0104]: “enabling “alternate” UL TX beam selection (without having to wait for the next UL TX beam indication)”, i.e. autonomous selection; [0094]: “TCI states is selected/activated via MAC CE for the TCI field code points”; UE would receive a second message about UL TCI state to indicate an activation of an uplink beam selection procedure for autonomous selection of an uplink beam based on the request (the reported condition));
‘transmit an uplink message using a second transmission configuration indicator state different from the first transmission configuration indicator state, the second transmission configuration indicator state selected by the UE based at least in part on the uplink beam selection procedure’ (Rahman: [FIG.14]: “UE switches to alternate UL TX beam B’ to transmit UL transmission, where B’ is selected from (B1, B2)”; [0005]: “elect a beam from the N UL transmit beams based on whether the event is detected or not”; UE may transmit an uplink message using a second TCI state associated with alternate beam B’ selected by UE if some event happened).
Regarding claim 20, Rahman teaches ‘An apparatus for wireless communication at a network entity’ (Rahman: [0004]: “apparatuses to enable event-based uplink transmit beam switching”; [0006]: “a BS in a wireless communication system”); ‘comprising: one or more processors’ (Rahman: [FIG.2]: “PROCESSOR”); ‘one or more memories’ (Rahman: [FIG.2]: “MEMORY”); ‘coupled with the one or more processors’ (this is implied); ‘instructions stored in one or more memories and executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to’ (Rahman: [0082]: “one or more processors executing instructions to perform the noted functions”);
‘transmit a first message activating a plurality of transmission configuration indicator states for a user equipment (UE) for uplink communications’ (Rahman: [FIG.14]: “UE is configured to receive UL TX beam indicating two beams (B1, B2)”; [0006]: “The BS includes a processor configured to generate configuration information including information on a beam indication indicating N uplink (UL) transmit beams, where N>1, and generate the beam indication … transmit the configuration information, transmit the beam indication”; [0094]: “TCI states is configured via higher-layer (RRC) signaling and, when applicable, a subset of those TCI states is selected/activated via MAC CE for the TCI field code points”; [0231]: “the beam indication is via N transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states, one TCI state for each of the N UL transmit beams”; a plurality of TCI states for UL communication);
‘receive a request for an activation of an uplink beam selection procedure for autonomous selection of an uplink beam at the UE’ (Rahman: [0130]: “For explicit information, the UE can explicitly report a pre-notification message to indicate to the NW/gNB that the event occurred”; [0005]: “elect a beam from the N UL transmit beams based on whether the event is detected or not”; [0099]-[0104]: different conditions (events) for enabling “alternative” UL beam selection (without having to wait for the next UL TX beam indication) to avoid outage; upon detecting an event (condition) happened, network device would receive a report to request an activation of “alternative” UL beam selection);
‘transmit a second message that indicates, for uplink communications by the UE, a first transmission configuration indicator state of the plurality of transmission configuration indicator states’ (Rahman: [FIG.14]: “UE receives UL TX beam indication”; [0231]: “the beam indication is via N transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states, one TCI state for each of the N UL transmit beams”; network device would transmit a second message to indicate a TCI state for UL communication by the UE);
‘that indicates the activation of the uplink beam selection procedure for autonomous selection of an uplink beam at the UE, wherein transmission of the second message is based at least in part on receipt of the request’ (Rahman: [0096]-[0104]: “enabling “alternate” UL TX beam selection (without having to wait for the next UL TX beam indication)”, i.e. autonomous selection; [0094]: “TCI states is selected/activated via MAC CE for the TCI field code points”; based on the request (the reported condition));
‘receive an uplink message associated with a second transmission configuration indicator state different from the first transmission configuration indicator state, the second transmission configuration indicator state selected by the UE based at least in part on the activation of the uplink beam selection procedure’’ (Rahman: [FIG.14]: “UE switches to alternate UL TX beam B’ to transmit UL transmission, where B’ is selected from (B1, B2)”; [0005]: “elect a beam from the N UL transmit beams based on whether the event is detected or not”; may receive an UL message using a second TCI state associated with alternate beam B’ selected by UE if some event happened (activation of the uplink beam selection procedure)).
Regarding claim 29, claim 29 recites the method implemented by the apparatus of claim 1 (see rejection of claim 1 above).
Regarding claim 30, claim 30 recites the method implemented by the apparatus of claim 20 (see rejection of claim 20 above).
Per claim 4 and 22:
Regarding claim 4, Rahman teaches the apparatus of claim 1 (discussed above).
Rahman teaches ‘receive a third message that indicates a second activation of the uplink beam selection procedure by the UE based at least in part on transmitting the request’ (Rahman: [FIG.14]: “UE switches to alternate UL TX beam B’ to transmit UL transmission” -> “Next UL TX beam indication?” -> “Yes” -> “UE receives UL TX beam indication”, may receive another message that indicates a second activation of the uplink beam selection procedure by the UE based at least in part on transmitting the request);
‘deactivate the uplink beam selection procedure by the UE based at least in part on the second activation comprising a deactivation of the uplink beam selection procedure by the UE’ (Rahman: [0107]: “The reference RS can be dynamically triggered by the NW/gNB … a combination of such pre-configuration and activation/deactivation”; [FIG.14]: “Event?”; [0155]: “The event detection by the UE can be based on at least one DL measurement RS such as CSI-RS or SSB, which can be configured specifically for the purpose of event detection”; UE would deactivate event detection (uplink beam selection procedure) if receiving a second activation to deactivate the reference RS for event detection).
Regarding claim 22, Rahman teaches the apparatus of claim 20 (discussed above).
Rahman teaches ‘transmit a third message that indicates a second activation of the uplink beam selection procedure by the UE based at least in part on receiving the request’ (Rahman: [FIG.14]: “UE switches to alternate UL TX beam B’ to transmit UL transmission” -> “Next UL TX beam indication?” -> “Yes” -> “UE receives UL TX beam indication”, may transmit another message that indicates a second activation of the uplink beam selection procedure by the UE based at least in part on receiving the request);
‘wherein the activation comprises a deactivation of the uplink beam selection procedure by the UE’ (Rahman: [0107]: “The reference RS can be dynamically triggered by the NW/gNB … a combination of such pre-configuration and activation/deactivation”; [FIG.14]: “Event?”; [0155]: “The event detection by the UE can be based on at least one DL measurement RS such as CSI-RS or SSB, which can be configured specifically for the purpose of event detection”; if the activation comprises deactivation of reference RS for event detection, UE would deactivate the uplink beam selection procedure).
Per claim 5 and 23:
Regarding claim 5, Rahman teaches the apparatus of claim 1 (discussed above).
Rahman teaches ‘receive a third message that indicates a second activation of the uplink beam selection procedure by the UE’ (Rahman: [FIG.15]: “UE switches to alternate UL TX beam B’ to transmit UL transmission, where B’ is selected from (B1, …, BN)” -> “Next UL TX beam indication?” -> “Yes” -> “UE receives UL TX beam indication”; may receive another message that indicates a second activation of the uplink beam selection procedure);
‘wherein the third message indicates a third transmission configuration indicator state of the plurality of transmission configuration indicator states’ (Rahman: [0231]: “the beam indication is via N transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states, one TCI state for each of the N UL transmit beams”; [0145]: “UE configured to receive an UL TX beam indication indicating N beams (B1, B2, …, BN)”; may receive another messages indicates a third TCI state);
‘transmit a second uplink message using the third transmission configuration indicator state based at least in part on refraining from selecting a fourth transmission configuration indicator state during a threshold duration that occurs between receiving the third message and transmitting the second uplink message’ (Rahman: [FIG.15]: “UE transmits UL transmission with a UL TX beam B from (B1, B2, . . . , BN)”; [0147]: “the UE continues to transmit UL transmission with the alternate UL TX beam B′ until it receives an update of the UL TX beam indication in a future time slot”; UE may transmit with the same beam (UL TCI state) by refraining from selecting another TCI state if UL transmission happening between receiving the third message and next UL TX beam indication (a threshold duration)).
Regarding claim 23, Rahman teaches the apparatus of claim 20 (discussed above).
Rahman teaches ‘transmit a third message that indicates a second activation of the uplink beam selection procedure by the UE based at least in part on receiving the request’ (Rahman: [FIG.15]: “UE switches to alternate UL TX beam B’ to transmit UL transmission, where B’ is selected from (B1, …, BN)” -> “Next UL TX beam indication?” -> “Yes” -> “UE receives UL TX beam indication”; may transmit another message that indicates a second activation of the uplink beam selection procedure);
‘wherein the third message indicates a third transmission configuration indicator state of the plurality of transmission configuration indicator states’ (Rahman: [0231]: “the beam indication is via N transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states, one TCI state for each of the N UL transmit beams”; [0145]: “UE configured to receive an UL TX beam indication indicating N beams (B1, B2, …, BN)”; may indicate a third TCI state);
‘receive a second uplink message associated with a third transmission configuration indicator state during a threshold duration of time that occurs between communication of the third message and the second uplink message’ (Rahman: [FIG.15]: “UE transmits UL transmission with a UL TX beam B from (B1, B2, . . . , BN)”; [0147]: “the UE continues to transmit UL transmission with the alternate UL TX beam B′ until it receives an update of the UL TX beam indication in a future time slot”; network device may receive a second UL message associated with the same third TCI state if UL transmission happening between receiving the third message and next UL TX beam indication (a threshold duration)).
Per claim 8 and 26:
Regarding claim 8, Rahman teaches the apparatus of claim 1 (discussed above).
Rahman teaches ‘receive an indication to report the second transmission configuration indicator state to a network entity, wherein the indication is received via the first message or the second message’ (Rahman: [FIG.14]; [0132]: “the UE is configured via a higher layer (RRC) configuration for the reporting/inclusion of the UE-selected UL TX beam or TCI state”; may receive an indication for UE to report the selected TCI state via the first message or the second message).
Regarding claim 26, Rahman teaches the apparatus of claim 20 (discussed above).
Rahman teaches ‘transmit an indication for the UE to report the second transmission configuration indicator state to the network entity, wherein the indication is transmitted via the first message or the second message’ (Rahman: [FIG.14]; [0132]: “the UE is configured via a higher layer (RRC) configuration for the reporting/inclusion of the UE-selected UL TX beam or TCI state”, may transmit an indication for UE to report the selected TCI state via the first message or the second message).
Per claim 9 and 27:
Regarding claim 9, Rahman teaches the apparatus of claim 1 (discussed above).
Rahman teaches ‘transmit, using the first transmission configuration indicator state, a second uplink message prior to transmitting the uplink message, the second uplink message comprising an indication of the second transmission configuration indicator state’ (Rahman: [FIG.15]: “UE transmits UL transmission with a UL TX beam B from (B1, B2, . . . , BN)”; [0130]: “For explicit information, the UE can explicitly report a pre-notification message to indicate to the NW/gNB that the event occurred”; [0147]: “the UE continues to transmit UL transmission with the alternate UL TX beam B′ until it receives an update of the UL TX beam indication in a future time slot”; [0143]: “The UE can be configured with at least one UL reporting resource for including/reporting the information of the selected beam”; UE may transmit an indication of another beam (TCI state) using the same current beam (TCI state) prior to transmitting the uplink message).
Regarding claim 27, Rahman teaches the apparatus of claim 20 (discussed above).
Rahman teaches ‘receive a second uplink message associated with the first transmission configuration indicator state prior to receiving the uplink message, the second uplink message comprising an indication of the second transmission configuration indicator state’ (Rahman: [FIG.15]: “UE transmits UL transmission with a UL TX beam B from (B1, B2, . . . , BN)”; [0130]: “For explicit information, the UE can explicitly report a pre-notification message to indicate to the NW/gNB that the event occurred”; [0147]: “the UE continues to transmit UL transmission with the alternate UL TX beam B′ until it receives an update of the UL TX beam indication in a future time slot”; [0143]: “The UE can be configured with at least one UL reporting resource for including/reporting the information of the selected beam”; network device may receive an indication of another beam (TCI state) using the same current beam (TCI state) prior to receiving the uplink message).
Regarding claim 10, Rahman teaches the apparatus of claim 1 (discussed above).
Rahman teaches ‘wherein the uplink message comprises an indication of the second transmission configuration indicator state’ (Rahman: [0130]: “For explicit information, the UE can explicitly report a pre-notification message to indicate to the NW/gNB that the event occurred”; [0005]: “elect a beam from the N UL transmit beams based on whether the event is detected or not”; [0143]: “The UE can be configured with at least one UL reporting resource for including/reporting the information of the selected beam”; the uplink message may comprise an indication of another TCI state).
Per claim 11 and 28:
Regarding claim 11, Rahman teaches the apparatus of claim 1 (discussed above).
Rahman teaches ‘transmit uplink control information comprising an indication of the second transmission configuration indicator state’ (Rahman: [0160]: “the UE can include/report the information of the selected beam (either B or B′), or UL TCI state … this information can be included/reported concurrently with the UL control on PUCCH”; UE may transmit UL control information to indicate another TCI state).
Regarding claim 28, Rahman teaches the apparatus of claim 20 (discussed above).
Rahman teaches ‘receive uplink control information comprising an indication of the second transmission configuration indicator state’ (Rahman: [0160]: “the UE can include/report the information of the selected beam (either B or B′), or UL TCI state … this information can be included/reported concurrently with the UL control on PUCCH”; network device may receive UL control information to indicate another TCI state).
Regarding claim 13, Rahman teaches the apparatus of claim 1 (discussed above).
Rahman teaches ‘select the second transmission configuration indicator state from a pool of transmission configuration indicator states for the uplink beam selection procedure by the UE’ (Rahman: [FIG.15]: “UE switches to alternate UL TX beam B’ to transmit UL transmission, where B’ is selected from (B1,…, BN)”, select a beam (TCI state) from a pool of N beams (TCI states)).
Regarding claim 14, Rahman teaches the apparatus of claim 13 (discussed above).
Rahman teaches ‘determine, based at least in part on an indication included in the second message or based at least in part on a configuration of the UE, that the pool of transmission configuration indicator states comprises the plurality of transmission configuration indicator states’ (Rahman: [0145]: “UE configured to receive an UL TX beam indication indicating N beams (B1, B2, …, BN)”; [0231]: “the beam indication is via N transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states, one TCI state for each of the N UL transmit beams”; may determine the pool of TCI states comprises a plurality of TCI states).
Regarding claim 15, Rahman teaches the apparatus of claim 14 (discussed above).
Rahman teaches ‘select the second transmission configuration indicator state from the plurality of transmission configuration indicator states after a threshold period of time after receiving the first message’ (Rahman: [FIG.15]: “UE is configured to receive UL TX beam indication indicating N beams (B1, B2, . . . , BN)”, “UE switches to alternate UL TX beam B’ to transmit UL transmission, where B’ us selected from (B1, B2, . . . , BN)”; [0147]: “the UE continues to transmit UL transmission with the alternate UL TX beam B′ until it receives an update of the UL TX beam indication in a future time slot”; [0130]: “For explicit information, the UE can explicitly report a pre-notification message to indicate to the NW/gNB that the event occurred”; [0005]: “elect a beam from the N UL transmit beams based on whether the event is detected or not”; UE may select another TCI state from N TCI states after receiving an update of the UL TX beam indication (after a threshold period of time after receiving the first message)).
Regarding claim 16, Rahman teaches the apparatus of claim 1 (discussed above).
Rahman teaches ‘wherein second transmission configuration indicator state is different from each transmission configuration indicator state of the plurality of transmission configuration indicator states’ (Rahman: [0169]: “Upon the reception of the next UL TX beam indication, the UE updates the two beams (B.sub.1, B.sub.2), and proceeds with UL transmission using the two new UL TX beams as described above”; [0231]: “the beam indication is via N transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states, one TCI state for each of the N UL transmit beams”; UE may receive a new TCI state which is different from the previous two).
Regarding claim 17, Rahman teaches the apparatus of claim 1 (discussed above).
Rahman teaches ‘wherein the activation is valid for a duration of time’ (Rahman: [0147]: “the UE continues to transmit UL transmission with the alternate UL TX beam B′ until it receives an update of the UL TX beam indication in a future time slot”, that activation is valid for a duration time until the next UL TX beam indication).
Regarding claim 18, Rahman teaches the apparatus of claim 1 (discussed above).
Rahman teaches ‘wherein: the second message comprises downlink control information (DCI)’ (Rahman: [0115]: “The gNB/NW can then indicate the UL TX beam selection (step 1104) using the SRI field in the UL-related DCI”).
Regarding claim 19, Rahman teaches the apparatus of claim 1 (discussed above).
Rahman teaches ‘wherein the first message comprises a medium access control control element (MAC-CE) or a radio resource control (RRC) message’ (Rahman: [0144]: “the UE uses one of sub-embodiments I.1 and I.2 for UL transmission depending on the event of interest … one of sub-embodiments I.1 and I.2 is configured to the UE, for example, via RRC and/or MAC CE”).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 factual inquiries 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.
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 6 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rahman, in view of Zhao et al. (US 20220201505 A1), hereinafter “Zhao”.
Per claim 6 and 24:
Regarding claim 6, Rahman teaches the apparatus of claim 1 (discussed above).
Rahman teaches ‘transmit, in response to the first message or the second message, an indication of a preference for activating or deactivating the uplink beam selection procedure by the UE’ (Rahman: [FIG.14]: “UE is configured to receive UL TX beam indication indicating two beams (B1, B2)” -> “UE receives UL TX beam indication” ->“Event?”; [0130]: “For explicit information, the UE can explicitly report a pre-notification message to indicate to the NW/gNB that the event occurred”; [0005]: “elect a beam from the N UL transmit beams based on whether the event is detected or not”; in response to the first message or the second message, UE may transmit an indication for activating or deactivating the uplink beam selection procedure). However, Rahman fails to expressly teach a preference.
However, Zhao in the same field of endeavor teaches UE may have a preference on uplink beam selection procedure (Zhao: [0038]: “the wireless device may be set in a specific mode with autonomous selection of UL beam (e.g. DL based estimation mode) or in another mode with UL beam sweeping (e.g. UL beam sweep mode). In addition, the wireless device may have its preference and capability limitation on a certain choice; for example, the uplink beam sweeping procedure (or UL beam sweep mode) usually causes a severe delay in the communication. A wireless device may for example prefer to operate its uplink beam autonomously instead of going to uplink beam sweep mode due to delay impact”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Zhao’s teaching with that of Rahman for UE to transmit an indication of a preference for activating or deactivating the uplink beam selection procedure in order to choose proper uplink beam selection procedure with consideration of delay impact (see refence quotes above).
Regarding claim 24, Rahman teaches the apparatus of claim 20 (discussed above).
Rahman teaches ‘receive, based at least in part on transmitting the first message or transmitting the second message, an indication of a UE preference for activating or deactivating the uplink beam selection procedure by the UE’ (Rahman: [FIG.14]: “UE is configured to receive UL TX beam indication indicating two beams (B1, B2)” -> “UE receives UL TX beam indication” ->“Event?”; [0130]: “For explicit information, the UE can explicitly report a pre-notification message to indicate to the NW/gNB that the event occurred”; [0005]: “elect a beam from the N UL transmit beams based on whether the event is detected or not”; based at least in part on transmitting the first message or transmitting the second message, network device may receive an indication for activating or deactivating the uplink beam selection procedure by the UE). However, Rahman fails to expressly teach a UE preference.
However, Zhao teaches UE may have a preference on uplink beam selection procedure (Zhao: [0038]: “the wireless device may be set in a specific mode with autonomous selection of UL beam (e.g. DL based estimation mode) or in another mode with UL beam sweeping (e.g. UL beam sweep mode). In addition, the wireless device may have its preference and capability limitation on a certain choice; for example, the uplink beam sweeping procedure (or UL beam sweep mode) usually causes a severe delay in the communication. A wireless device may for example prefer to operate its uplink beam autonomously instead of going to uplink beam sweep mode due to delay impact”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Zhao’s teaching with that of Rahman for network device to receive, based at least in part on transmitting the first message or transmitting the second message, an indication of a UE preference for activating or deactivating the uplink beam selection procedure by the UE in order to choose proper uplink beam selection procedure with consideration of delay impact (see refence quotes above).
Claims 7 and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over combination of Rahman and Zhao, in view of Goldin et al. (US 20240023186 A1), hereinafter “Goldin”.
Per claim 7 and 25:
Regarding claim 7, combination of Rahman and Zhao teaches the apparatus of claim 6 (discussed above).
Combination of Rahman and Zhao teaches ‘a power headroom report, or both’ (this is optional);
‘the indication of the preference’ (Rahman: [0130]: “For explicit information, the UE can explicitly report a pre-notification message to indicate to the NW/gNB that the event occurred”. Zhao: [0038]: “the wireless device may be set in a specific mode with autonomous selection of UL beam (e.g. DL based estimation mode) or in another mode with UL beam sweeping (e.g. UL beam sweep mode). In addition, the wireless device may have its preference and capability limitation on a certain choice; for example, the uplink beam sweeping procedure (or UL beam sweep mode) usually causes a severe delay in the communication. A wireless device may for example prefer to operate its uplink beam autonomously instead of going to uplink beam sweep mode due to delay impact”);
‘indicated via the power headroom report, or both’ (this is optional);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Zhao’s teaching of UE preference with that of Rahman in order for UE to choose a proper uplink beam selection procedure with consideration of delay impact (see reference quotes above).
Combination of Rahman and Zhao does not expressly teach, but Godin in the same field of endeavor teaches ‘transmit a buffer status report’ (Goldin: [0053]: “the UE sends … a buffer status report (BSR)”); ‘the preference is indicated via the buffer status report’ (Goldin: [0129]: “the BSR index indicating a pre-defined value (e.g: 0 bytes) can convey the indication of a UE preference”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Goldin’s teach with that of combination of Rahman and Zhao in order for UE to indicate its preference of uplink beam selection procedure with consideration of amount of UL data to send (see reference quotes in element above).
Regarding claim 25, Rahman teaches the apparatus of claim 24 (discussed above).
Combination of Rahman and Zhao teaches ‘a power headroom report, or both’ (this is optional);
‘the indication of the UE preference’ (Rahman: [0130]: “For explicit information, the UE can explicitly report a pre-notification message to indicate to the NW/gNB that the event occurred”. Zhao: [0038]: “the wireless device may be set in a specific mode with autonomous selection of UL beam (e.g. DL based estimation mode) or in another mode with UL beam sweeping (e.g. UL beam sweep mode). In addition, the wireless device may have its preference and capability limitation on a certain choice; for example, the uplink beam sweeping procedure (or UL beam sweep mode) usually causes a severe delay in the communication. A wireless device may for example prefer to operate its uplink beam autonomously instead of going to uplink beam sweep mode due to delay impact”);
‘is implicitly indicated via the power headroom report, or both’ (this is optional).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Zhao’s teaching of UE preference with that of Rahman in order for UE to choose a proper uplink beam selection procedure with consideration of delay impact (see reference quotes above).
Combination of Rahman and Zhao does not expressly teach, but Godin teaches ‘receive a buffer status report’ (Goldin: [0053]: “the UE sends … a buffer status report (BSR)”, may receive BSR from UE); ‘is implicitly indicated via the buffer status report’ (Goldin: [0129]: “the BSR index indicating a pre-defined value (e.g: 0 bytes) can convey the indication of a UE preference”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Goldin’s teach with that of combination of Rahman and Zhao in order for UE to indicate its preference of uplink beam selection procedure with consideration of amount of UL data to send (see reference quotes in element above).
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Rahman, in view of Shin et al. (US 20190387547 A1), hereinafter “Shin”.
Regarding claim 12, combination of Rahman and Zhao teaches the apparatus of claim 11 (discussed above).
Rahman teaches ‘wherein: the uplink control information is transmitted via a physical uplink control channel resource using a set of parameters’ (Rahman: [0160]: “the UE can include/report the information of the selected beam (either B or B′), or UL TCI state … this information can be included/reported concurrently with the UL control on PUCCH within the same slot (either as a standalone information or multiplexed with other UCI or HARQ-ACK)”);
‘the set of parameters comprises a third transmission configuration indicator state’ (Rahman: [0145]: “UE configured to receive an UL TX beam indication indicating N beams (B1, B2, …, BN)”; [0080]: “UCI includes Hybrid Automatic Repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information … scheduling request (SR) … rank indicator (RI), and channel state information (CSI)”; the set of parameters may indicate a third TCI state);
‘or any combination thereof’ (this is optional).
Rahman does not expressly teach, but Shin in the same field of endeavor teaches ‘a polar code’ (Shin: [0089]: “in the NR, the PBCH is transmitted every 80 ms using a polar code”); ‘a modulation scheme’ (Shin: [0072]: “modulation scheme”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Shin’s teaching with that of Rahman in order to support NR (see reference quotes in element above).
Conclusion
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/G.F./Examiner, Art Unit 2462
/YEMANE MESFIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2462