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
The amendment to the claims filed on 06/17/2026 complies with the requirements of 37 CFR 1.121(c) and has been entered. Claims 1, 5-6, 9, 12-13, 16, 20-21, 24, and 27-28 are amended.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's Arguments/Remarks filed 06/17/2026 (hereinafter Resp.) have been fully considered as follows.
Applicant’s main argument revolves around Park et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0292335 (hereinafter Park) not disclosing that a “subset of the first number of activated TCI codepoints includes both an uplink TCI state and a downlink TCI state" – Resp., p.10:¶3, because “Park discloses that its first plurality of TCIs is "for downlink (beam) indication," and its second plurality of TCIs is "for uplink (beam) indication"” – See id.:¶5. Examiner respectfully disagrees noting that the amendment requires a “subset of the first number of activated TCI” to indicate both UL/DL TCI states and that the Applicant should have noted that the cited paragraph of Park also discloses “a first mode based on individual TCI-states, based on examples of FIG. 23, or a second mode based on joint TCI(s), based on examples of FIG. 24” – See [¶0458] and further explains that “the mode for TCI indication may be pre-determined (e.g., identified, defined, or pre-set) for the wireless device, e.g., based on a pre-defined (or pre-specified) rule, or based on the wireless device's capability related information (and based on the wireless device's capability reporting, etc.),” explicitly or implicitly – See [¶0459]. Park clearly discloses joint TCI states specific to the Unified TCI states Framework already specified by the 3GPP technical specifications, as further explained in this Office Action, before the effective filing date of the present application – See, e.g., [¶0467] (“the TCI-indication MAC-CE of N octets indicates (e.g., activates, updates, down-selects) third TCI(s) of a third plurality of TCIs ( e.g., for joint/common/unified DL/UL beam indication)”).
In addition, the argument is moot because the new ground of rejection necessitated by amendment does not rely on the reference applied in the prior rejection of record for the matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
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.
Claim(s) 1-30, as amended, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0292335 (hereinafter Park) further in view of 3GPP TSG-RAN WG1 Meeting #110, R1-2206255, Title: "Corrections on activated TCI state in Unified TCI framework -CR to 38.214," Source: OPPO, August 2022 (hereinafter 3GPP R1-2206255) and 3GPP documents referenced therein.
Regarding Amended Claim 1, Park teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and, based at least in part on information stored in the memory, the at least one processor (e.g., “Wireless Device 1502” of Fig. 15, comprising “[t]he processing system 1508 and the processing system 1518 may be associated with a memory 1514 and a . . . memory 1524 (e.g., one or more non-transitory computer readable mediums) may store computer program instructions or code that may be executed by the processing system 1508 and/or the processing system 1518 to carry out one or more of the functionalities discussed in the present application” – See [¶0209]; and “[t]he processing system 1508 and/or the processing system 1518 may comprise one or more controllers and/or one or more processors)” – See [¶0210]) is configured to:
receive an activation of a first number of activated transmission configuration indicator (TCI) codepoints (“[a] base station may configure a wireless device with a list of one or more TCI-state configurations by a higher layer parameter PDSCH-Config for a serving cell,” – See [¶0237] via RRC1 or “a MAC entity of a base station may transmit one or more MAC CEs to a MAC entity of a wireless device” e.g., “a transmission configuration indication (TCI) State Indication for UE specific PDCCH MAC CE, a TCI State Indication for UE-specific PDSCH MAC CE,” – See [¶0224] and the “wireless device may receive an activation command. The activation command may be used to map one or more TCI-states (e.g., up to 8) to one or more codepoints of a DCI field ‘Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI),’” – See [¶0241]; furthermore, a “TCI-indication MAC-CE of N octets may comprise at least a first number of Tk fields and a link indicator (field)” – See [¶0466] and Fig. 26 wherein a “Tk field may be set to 1 (e.g., by the base station, or by the second wireless device) indicating the TCI (Tk) with TCI-ID k is activated . . . and mapped to a codepoint (of one or more codepoints) of a TCI field in a DCI” – See [¶0468]; but see § 6.1.3.47, 3GPP TS 38.321 V17.3.0 (2022-12), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification (Release 17)” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.321) specifying, as further explained infra, the Unified TCI Framework and the unified TCI States Activation/Deactivation MAC-CE in Figure 6.1.3.47-1, at page 201-202, and that “[t]he maximum number of activated TCI states is 16” and the link indicator is the “D/U” bit indicating “whether the TCI state ID in the same octet is for joint/downlink or uplink TCI state”);
receive a downlink control information (DCI) comprising one or more bits that indicate a TCI state associated with at least one DCI format (“The wireless device may receive a DCI in the CORESET of a scheduling component carrier. The DCI may comprise a TCI field. In response to the higher layer parameter TCI-PresentinDCI being set as 'enabled', the TCI field in the DCI in the scheduling component carrier may point to one or more activated TCI states (e.g., after receiving the activation command)” – See [¶0246] and Fig. 27, showing a 3-bit TCI field in DCI encoding up to 8 TCI codepoints, whereby the DCI formats, “may comprise a DL grant scheduling a downlink data reception (e.g., DCI format 1_1, DCI format 1_2, . . .)” or “a UL-grant scheduling an uplink data transmission (e.g., DCI format 0_1, DCI format 0_2, DCI format 0_0, and/or the like),” and “the wireless device may determine a first set of codepoints of a TCI field in a DCI” – See [¶0461]; See, e.g., DCI format 1_2 defined in § 7.3.1.2.3 of 3GPP TS 38.212:178-83 V17.4.0 (2022-12), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Multiplexing and channel coding (Release 17)” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.212) which provides, at page 181, that DCI format 1_2 contains the field “Transmission configuration indication” (TCI) which is “1 or 2 or 3 bits determined by higher layer parameter tci-PresentDCI-1-2 as defined in Clause 5.1.5 of [6, TS38.214]”– See id., at page 166; see also 3GPP TS 38.331 specifying, at page 854 and 858, the unifiedTCI-StateType-r17 field indicating to the UE, for the serving cell, “the unified TCI state type the UE is configured for this serving cell. The value separate means this serving cell is configured with dl-OrJointTCI-StateList for DL TCI state and ul-TCI-ToAddModList for UL TCI state. The value joint means this serving cell is configured with dl-OrJointTCI-StateList for joint TCI state for UL and DL operation.”)
wherein the one or more bits support a second number of codepoints that is less than the first number of activated TCI codepoints (“in response to receiving the one or more indications, e.g., via a (TCI-indication) MAC-CE” – See [¶0494] indicating a value for a link indicator and activating a plurality of TCI states – See [¶¶0495-96] and the Unified TCI framework in 3GPP TS 38.321, “[t]he wireless device may determine that the TCI field of a DCI comprises at least two parts of information contents. The determining may be based on the mode (e.g., enabler, feature enabler, at least one parameter, configuration parameter) for TCI indication” whereby “[a] first part (e.g., Part 1) of the at least two parts may comprise a selector e.g., indicator, flag) indicating ( e.g., selecting) a value of one or more values ( e.g., comprising the first value and the second value) of the link indicator,” and “based on the length (bit-width) of the second part (Part 2) as 2 bits,” i.e., fewer than the maximum 3 bits, “[t]he wireless device may determine that the second part (Part 2) may comprise the first, second, third, fourth activated TCIs of the second plurality of TCIs,” e.g., as shown in Fig. 28A – See [¶0497]; in addition, “a first length (bitwidth, e.g., 1-bit) of the first part (Part 1) plus a second length (bitwidth, e.g., 2-bit) of the second part (Part 2) may be equal (or less than) a length (bitwidth, e.g., 3-bit) of the DCI field (e.g., TCI field)” – See [¶0498])
interpret the TCI state indicated by the one or more bits based on a type of the at least one DCI format and the second number of codepoints being less than the first number of activated TCI codepoints (when the DCI format is 0_X, then “the DCI may comprise a UL-grant scheduling an uplink data transmission (e.g., DCI format 0_1, DCI format 0_2, DCI format 0_0, and/or the like),” – See [¶0461] and “[t]he wireless device may transmit, based on a value of the TCI field indicating a codepoint of the second set of codepoints, uplink signals using one of the second TCI(s)” – See [¶0462] whereby, e.g., the “wireless device may receive, e.g., from a base station or from a second wireless device, one or more messages comprising configuration parameters for a first plurality of TCIs for downlink (beam) indication ( e.g., a first TCI pool for DL) and a second plurality of TCIs for uplink (beam) indication (e.g., a second TCI pool for UL)” – See [¶0458] and the “wireless device may determine that the second part (Part 2) [of the TCI in DCI field] may comprise [one of] the first, second, third, fourth activated TCIs of the second plurality of TCIs, in response to determining a value (e.g., set to '0') indicated by the first part (in the same DCI) indicates the second value (e.g., set to 0 for UL) of the link indicator, e.g., based on the length (bit-width) of the second part (Part 2) as 2 bits,” i.e., fewer than 3 bits because “[t]he wireless device may determine that the first activated TCI as Ukl is mapped to a codepoint value '00', the second activated TCI as Uk2" is mapped to a codepoint value '01', the third activated TCI as Uky is mapped to a codepoint value '10', and the fourth activated TCI as Uk4" is mapped to a codepoint value '11 ', in the Part 2 of the TCI field, e.g., based on the increasing order of codepoints” and “a value (e.g., '1') indicated by the first part (in the same DCI) indicates the first value (e.g., set to 1 for DL) of the link indicator” – See [¶0500]; furthermore, “embodiments may increase an efficiency (and flexibility) in dynamically selecting (e.g., indicating, switching) between the first TCI (s) and the second TCI(s), based on a value indicated by the first part (Part 1) of the TCI field” and “on sharing (e.g., re-using) bit(s) for the second part (Part 2)” – See id., wherein the first TCIs and second TCIs have been previously activated – See [¶¶0495-96])
wherein the one or more bits indicate at least one joint downlink/uplink TCI state (e.g., where the “first part (e.g., Part 1) of the at least two parts may comprise a selector ( e.g., indicator, flag) indicating ( e.g., selecting) a value of one or more values ( e.g., comprising the first value and the second value) of the link indicator” – See [¶0497], “the link indicator may further indicate 'both downlink and uplink', e.g., a joint/common (downlink and uplink) TCI” – See [¶0467] and Fig. 24 showing a 1st DCI indicating “1st joint TCI to be applied to multiple target signals/channels”; furthermore “a (joint) TCI of the at least one joint (e.g., common or unified) TCI (state), e.g., indicated by the control command, may be used (e.g., applied) for downlink TCI indication and/or uplink TCI indication e.g., based on an indication (e.g., configuration (by configuration parameters), command, or activation) from the base station,” – See [¶0441], i.e., the DCI indicates a TCI codepoint in a Unified TCI State framework as further explained in 3GPP TS 38.214 with reference to 3GPP TS 38.321 infra)
wherein an interpretation of at least one bit in the one or more bits differs based on whether a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) is scheduled by the DCI (“wireless device may receive a first DCI (e.g., scheduling downlink data [i.e., a PDSCH]) comprising the TCI field (e.g., which comprises the Part 1 and the Part 2 as a joint encoding across codepoints of the TCI field), . . . the wireless device may determine that a codepoint value '010' of the TCI field of the first DCI is indicated and the codepoint value '010' is mapped to the third activated TCI (Tk3)” – See [¶0515] whereby the “third activated TCI (Tk3) . . . is being used so far (currently being used) as a joint ( e.g., common, unified) TCI for downlink reception” – See [¶0506], i.e., the UE does not interpret Part 1 as a link indicator when the DCI schedules a PDSCH, but interprets it jointly with Part 2, e.g., because “embodiments may increase an efficiency (and flexibility) in selecting (e.g., indicating, configuring, operating, switching) between a first mode ( e.g., enabler, feature enabler, at least one parameter, configuration parameter) for TCI indication based on the DCI field (e.g., 3-bit) shown in examples of FIG. [28A] and a second mode for TCI indication based on a TCI field comprising the first part and the second part, e.g., using the same DCI format (with the same field size of the TCI field between the first mode and the second mode)” – See [¶0511] and Fig. 28B).
Although Park teaches a joint (e.g., common, unified) TCI state, i.e., when the DCI schedules a PDSCH and/or a PUSCH, Park does not teach the joint downlink/uplink TCI state for the case where the DCI does not schedule PDSCH and the ensuing different “interpretation of at least one bit in the one or more bits” limitation required by Amended Claim 1.
However, 3GPP R1-2206255 presents a problem with interpreting the unified TCI state “In Rel-17 unified TCI framework” wherein “the UE can be configured with separate TCI states, i.e., DL TCI state and UL TCI state,” including “one pair of DL TCI state and UL TCI state for one DCI codepoint,” specifically, “the method could cause issue to DCI-based TCI state indication in Rel-17 unified TCI framework since the same codepoint might correspond to different types of TCI state(s) in the slot with the DCI and in the slot with the scheduled PDSCH.” 3GPP R1-2206255 illustrates the problem as reproduced below, and “[t]he issue is which one(s) of the activated states the indicated TCI state on the PDSCH/PUSCH/PUCCH should be based on” when the DCI indicates a TCI codepoint of “001” but that codepoint may be interpreted as either two TCI states at the first activation time or one TCI state at the second activation state.
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Therefore, the problem illustrated in 3GPP R1-2206255 teaches wherein to interpret the TCI state indicated by the one or more bits in the DCI, the at least one processor is configured to:
determine the TCI state from a subset of the first number of activated TCI codepoints, wherein the subset of the first number of activated TCI codepoints includes both an uplink TCI state and a downlink TCI state (“The first MAC CE activation command maps 001 to {DL TCI state-1 and UL TCI state-2},” whereby the subset is just one TCI codepoint here, but the same issue multiplies with number of TCI codepoints in the subset); and
communicate based on the TCI state interpreted from the one or more bits in the DCI (“When the UE is configured with DLorJoint-TCIState-r17 and UL-TCIState-r17, the indicated TCI state(s) should be based on the activated TCI states in the slot with the TCI state indication DCI,” i.e., in the figure above, the TCI codepoint corresponding to both an uplink TCI state and a downlink TCI state – See change to § 5.1.5, 3GPP TS 38.214 V17.4.0 (2022-12) “3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical layer procedures for data (Release 17)” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.214), specifying, at page 43, that the “UE receives an activation command, as described in clause 6.1.3.14 of [10, TS 38.321] or 6.1.3.47 of [10, TS 38.321], used to map up to 8 TCI states and/or pairs of TCI states, with one TCI state for DL channels/signals and/or one TCI state for UL channels/signals to the codepoints of the DCI field 'Transmission Configuration Indication'” whereby §6.1.3.47, 3GPP TS 38.321 specifically provides the framework for the Unified TCI States Activation/Deactivation MAC CE showing at page 202, in Figure 6.1.3.47-1 reproduced below that the TCI state ID in the same octet may be for joint/downlink or uplink TCI state based on one bit indication, like the first part of the TCI state indication in Park supra , whereby the indicator may be interpreted based on “an enabler, feature enabler, at least one parameter,
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[AltContent: textbox (Figure 6.1.3.47-1)]configuration parameter,” as taught in Park, and the enabler/parameter is the DLorJoint-TCIState-r17 parameter configured to the UE for the serving cell as specified in 3GPP TS 38.331 supra; furthermore, Section 6.1.3.47, 3GPP TS 38.321 further teaches, at page 201, Unified TCI States, shown in Figure 6.1.3.47-1, wherein for each possible TCI codepoint, there is an indication Pi “whether the TCI codepoint has multiple TCI states or single TCI state. If Pi field is set to 1, it indicates that ith TCI codepoint includes the DL TCI state and the UL TCI state. If Pi field is set to 0, it indicates that ith TCI codepoint includes only the DL/joint TCI state or the UL TCI state. The codepoint to which a TCI state is mapped is determined by its ordinal position among all the TCI state ID fields;” and that each TCI state corresponding to a TCI codepoint has an indicator “whether the TCI state ID in the same octet is for joint/downlink or uplink TCI state.” Therefore, the P1-P8 bitmap in Figure 6.1.3.47-1 distinguishes between TCI states that are joint downlink/uplink TCI states and can be used for PDSCH/DL scheduling DCIs and the UL only TCI states that cannot be used for the PUSCH/DL scheduling DCIs. Therefore, in the unified TCI state case, the interpretation of at least one bit in the one or more bits indicating the TCI codepoint, differs based on a PDSCH being or not being scheduled by the DCI).
Thus, Park and 3GPP R1-2206255 each teaches a wireless device receiving one or more messages, e.g. MAC-CEs, activating up to a number of TCI states, including joint TCI states, of which one or more may be indicated in a subsequent DCI when tci-PresentInDCI field is configured as “enabled” for the device. A person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have understood that the activation command configuring a DL TCI state-1 and UL TCI state-2 associated with the same TCI codepoint as taught by 3GPP R1-2206255 could have been combined with the TCI activation MAC-CE disclosed in Park, because both provide for an indicator indicating how to interpret the TCI codepoint in a received DCI. Furthermore, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have been able to carry out the combination through techniques known in the art. Finally, the combination achieves the predictable result of following the standard specifications for indicating multiple TCI states activation as taught by 3GPP R1-2206255 referencing 3GPP TS 38.214.
Therefore, Amended Claim 1 is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP R1-2206255.
Regarding Claim 2, dependent from Amended Claim 1, Park further teaches the UE apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a transceiver coupled to the at least one processor (“the transmission processing system 1510, the transmission processing system 1520, the reception processing system 1512, and/or the reception processing system 1522 may be coupled to a memory (e.g., one or more non-transitory computer readable mediums) storing computer program instructions or code that may be executed to carry out one or more of their respective functionalities” – See [¶0209]).
Therefore, Claim 2 is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP R1-2206255.
Regarding Claim 3, dependent from Amended Claim 1, Park further teaches the apparatus of claim 1 wherein the DCI comprises DCI format 1_2 (“The DCI may comprise a DL grant scheduling a downlink data reception (e.g., DCI format 1 1, DCI format 1_2, DCI format 1_0, and/or the like)” – See [¶0461]), wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
update the TCI state if the interpretation indicates a new TCI state (“the value indicated by the TCI field may be mapped to the one of the second TCI(s), e.g., via the one or more indications,” whereby “the mapping between the value and the one of the second TCI(s) is indicated (e.g., . . . updated . . . ) by the one or more indications” received in the DCI – See [¶0462]); and
communicate without a TCI state update if the interpretation indicates a currently used TCI codepoint (“[t]he wireless device may receive downlink data (e.g., via a PDSCH) scheduled by the DCI, e.g., using a third TCI . . . which is being used so far (e.g., currently being used) as a joint (e.g., common, unified) TCI for downlink reception, e.g., one of the M (joint) TCIs (based on examples of FIG. 24),” i.e., without TCI state update – See id.).
Furthermore, § 5.1.5 of 3GPPP TS 38.214, amended by 3GPP R1-2206255, provides at page 43-44 that in the case where “the DCI format 1_1/1_2/ is without DL assignment”:
“If a UE receives a higher layer configuration of dl-OrJoint-TCIStateList with a single TCI-State . . . that can be used as an indicated TCI state, the UE determines an UL TX spatial filter, if applicable, from the configured TCI state for dynamic-grant and configured-grant based PUSCH and PUCCH, and SRS applying the indicated TCI state,” i.e., an updated TCI is applied, and “If a UE receives an initial higher layer configuration of dl-OrJoint-TCIStateList with more than one TCI-State,” the UE first “assumes that the UL TX spatial filter . . . is the same as that for a PUSCH transmission scheduled by a RAR UL grant during the initial access procedure,” before “application of an indicated TCI state from the configured TCI states,” i.e., an update is not immediately applied.
Therefore, Claim 3 is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP R1-2206255.
Regarding Claim 4, dependent from Claim 3, Park further teaches the apparatus of claim 3 wherein the UE determines an error based on the first number of activated TCI codepoints being more than the second number of codepoints that are supported by the one or more bits of the DCI (“improve[d] flexibility in assigning (e.g., allocating, comprising), in the TCI field, how many first activated TCIs (e.g., the first number) from the first plurality of TCIs and how many second activated TCIs ( e.g., the second number) from the second plurality of TCIs” wherein “one or more (MAC-CE) indications may indicate independent values of the first number and the second number, e.g., based on a restriction that the first number plus the second number is equal to (or less than) the length ( e.g., the number of codepoints/states) of the TCI field” – See [¶0455]; therefore, it is an error when the number of activated TCI codepoints is more than the second number of codepoints that are supported by the one or more bits of the DCI field).
Therefore, Claim 4 is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP R1-2206255.
Regarding Amended Claim 5, dependent from Claim 3, Park further teaches the apparatus of claim 3 wherein
the subset of the first number of activated TCI codepoints is one less than the second number of codepoints supported by the one or more bits (“[t]he wireless device may determine that the fourth activated TCI of the second plurality of TCIs is absent” – See [¶0510], i.e., the subset is only 3 activated TCI codepoints, one less than the number (4) that can be represented on the 2 bits of Part 2) and
a remaining TCI codepoint is reserved to indicate a lack of the update to the currently used TCI codepoint (“the wireless device may determine a codepoint of Part 2, on which the fourth activated TCI of the second plurality of TCIs may be mapped, as being interpreted as 'no change' from a current (e.g., previous, so far being used, currently-used) mapping” – See id.)
Therefore, Amended Claim 5 is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP R1-2206255.
Regarding Amended Claim 6, dependent from Claim 3, Park further teaches the apparatus of claim 3, wherein
the subset of the first number of activated TCI codepoints including a group of the activated TCI codepoints that includes a current used TCI codepoint (“the wireless device may determine that a second value indicated by the Part 2 of the TCI field of the (same) first DCI is the codepoint value '10' being mapped to the third activated TCI (Tk3) of the first TCI(s) of the first plurality of TCIs, based on the first value indicated by the Part 1 of the TCI field of the first DCI” and “may receive downlink data ( e.g., via a PDSCH) scheduled by the first DCI, using the third activated TCI (Tk3),” wherein Tk3 is the a currently used TCI codepoint included in the 1st -4th activated TCIs, i.e., the group, which is part of the first TCI(s) subset – See [¶0501]).
Therefore, Amended Claim 6 is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP R1-2206255.
Regarding Amended Claim 7, dependent from Amended Claim 6, Park further teaches the apparatus of Claim 6 wherein the first number of activated TCI codepoints are grouped into one or more groups (“[t]he wireless device may receive one or more indications indicating (e.g., activating, updating, down-selecting) first TCI(s) of the first plurality of TCIs and second TCI(s) of the second plurality of TCIs,” i.e., two groups – See [¶0460]; whereby “wireless device may receive, e.g., from a base station or from a second wireless device, one or more messages comprising configuration parameters for a first plurality of TCIs for downlink (beam) indication ( e.g., a first TCI pool for DL) and a second plurality of TCIs for uplink (beam) indication (e.g., a second TCI pool for UL)” and “may further [receive] configuration parameters for a mode ( e.g., behavior, configuration mode, (feature) enabler, feature (by RRC enabler(s )), (feature) operation, method, scheme, ( configuration) parameter, option, state, type, indication mechanism, and/or the like) for TCI indication ( e.g., a first mode based on individual TCI-states, based on examples of FIG. 23, or a second mode based on joint TCI(s), based on examples of FIG. 24)” – See [¶0458]),
wherein a first group of the one or more groups comprises the current used TCI codepoint (e.g., the first activated TCIs of the first plurality of TCIs comprise Tk3, the currently used TCI codepoint, as explained in Regarding Amended Claim 6, supra).
Therefore, Amended Claim 7 is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP R1-2206255.
Regarding Claim 8, dependent from Claim 3, Park further teaches the apparatus of claim 3 wherein the TCI state indicated in the DCI is not considered when the DCI schedules the PDSCH (e.g., “when the higher layer parameter TCI-PresentlnDCI is absent, the wireless device may consider that a TCI field is absent/disabled in the DCI format” – See [¶0314] as in a case where “a base station may not configure a CORESET with a higher layer parameter TCI-PresentlnDCI” and “the CORESET may schedule a PDSCH,” i.e., the UE received a DCI in a PDCCH while searching in the CORESET, and “in response to the base station not configuring the CORESET with the higher layer parameter TCI-PresentlnDCI and the time offset between the reception of the DCI and the PDSCH being equal or greater than the threshold, the wireless device may perform a default PDSCH RS selection,” i.e., “the wireless device may assume . . . that a first TCI state or a first QCL assumption for the PDSCH is identical to the second TCI state or the second QCL assumption applied for the CORESET” instead of the TCI codepoint indicated in the DCI – See [¶0244]).
Therefore, Claim 8 is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP R1-2206255.
Regarding Amended Claim 9, Park teaches a method of wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) (“wireless devices in a coverage area which perform according to disclosed methods” – See [¶ 0028]). Park in view of 3GPP R1-2206255 further teaches wherein the disclosed method comprises each of the steps which the at least one processor of the UE apparatus of Amended Claim 1 is configured to execute, recited with the same language, as explained in Regarding Amended Claim 1, supra.
Therefore, Amended Claim 9 is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP R1-2206255.
Regarding Claims 10-15, as amended, dependent from Amended Claim 9, each merely recites the limitations disclosed by each of the Claims 3-8, respectively, as amended, with no additional limitations. Because Amended Claims 9 and Claims 3-8 are obvious over Park in view of 3GPP R1-2206255, each of the Claims 10-15, as amended, is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP R1-2206255.
Regarding Amended Claim 16, Park discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a network node, comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and, based at least in part on information stored in the memory (as shown in Fig. 15, the “base station 1504 may be part of a mobile communication network” – See [¶0203], and comprises “the processing system 1508 [that] may be associated with a memory 1514 . . . (e.g., one or more non-transitory computer readable mediums) may store computer program instructions or code that may be executed by the processing system 1508 to carry out one or more of the functionalities discussed in the present application” – See [¶0209]; and “[t]he processing system 1508 . . . may comprise one or more controllers and/or one or more processors” – See [¶0210]), the at least one processor is configured to:
provide an activation of a first number of activated transmission configuration indicator (TCI) codepoints (the “base station may configure a wireless device with (a list of) one or more TCI-state configurations,” i.e., codepoints – See [¶0422], and send “an activation command (e.g., via a MAC-CE)” to “be used to map one or more TCI-states to one or more codepoints of a DCI field (e.g., TCI field)” – See [¶0423], as shown also in Figs. 23 and 25-26);
configure a downlink control information (DCI) comprising one or more bits that indicate a TCI state associated with at least one DCI format (“The base station may configure a CORESET with a higher layer parameter (e.g., TCI-PresentlnDCI)” which “may be enabled (e.g. set as ‘enabled’, or turned on, etc.)” and send “a DCI (e.g., DCI format 1_1) via the CORESET” wherein “a TCI field may be present in the DCI” – See [¶0423]; see also “one or more codepoints of a DCI field ‘Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI)’” – See [¶0241]; whereby the DCI formats are defined by 3GPP and contain the "Transmission Configuration Indication" field indicating the number of bits associated with each DCI format 2)
wherein the one or more bits support a second number of codepoints that is less than the first number of activated TCI codepoints (e.g., out of 3 bits to encode maximum 8 TCI codepoint values in the DCI "Transmission Configuration Indication" field, “the TCI field of a DCI comprises at least two parts of information contents” whereby “[a] first part (e.g., Part 1) of the at least two parts may comprise a selector e.g., indicator, flag) indicating ( e.g., selecting) a value of one or more values ( e.g., comprising the first value and the second value) of the link indicator” in Fig. 27, and “based on the length (bit-width) of the second part (Part 2) as 2 bits,” i.e., fewer than 3 bits, and “the second part (Part 2) may comprise the first, second, third, fourth activated TCIs of the second plurality of TCIs,” i.e., 4 TCI codepoints – See [¶0497]; in addition, “a first length (bitwidth, e.g., 1-bit) of the first part (Part 1) plus a second length (bitwidth, e.g., 2-bit) of the second part (Part 2) may be equal (or less than) a length (bitwidth, e.g., 3-bit) of the DCI field (e.g., TCI field) shown in examples of FIG. 23” – See [¶0498])
provide, to a user equipment (UE), the DCI comprising the one or more bits that indicate the TCI state associated with the at least one DCI format (e.g., as shown in Figs. 24 and 25 and further explained in 3GPP TS R1-2206255 infra),
wherein the one or more bits support the second number of codepoints that is less than the first number of activated TCI codepoints (e.g., when “the DCI may comprise the first part (Part 1) separately (e.g., independently) from the TCI field, e.g., where the TCI field comprises the second part (without comprising the first part within the TCI field) and the first part is being comprised (outside of the TCI field) in the DCI,” as shown in Fig. 28A, whereby a DCI format for PDSCH indicates a 2-bit second part of a TCI field encoding maximum 4 TCI codepoints, “the second part (Part 2) may comprise the first, second, third, fourth activated TCIs of the first plurality of TCIs, in response to determining a value (e.g., set to '1 ') indicated by the first part (in the same DCI) indicates the first value ( e.g., set to 1 for DL) of the link indicator, e.g., based on the length (bit-width) of the second part (Part 2) as 2 bits” and, in case of a DCI format for PUSCH, “determine that the second part (Part 2) may comprise the first, second, third, fourth activated TCIs of the second plurality of TCIs, in response to determining a value (e.g., set to '0') indicated by the first part (in the same DCI) indicates the second value (e.g., set to 0 for UL) of the link indicator, e.g., based on the length (bit-width) of the second part (Part 2) as 2 bits” – See [¶0498]);
wherein the one or more bits indicate at least one joint downlink/uplink TCI state (e.g., where the “first part (e.g., Part 1) of the at least two parts may comprise a selector ( e.g., indicator, flag) indicating ( e.g., selecting) a value of one or more values ( e.g., comprising the first value and the second value) of the link indicator” – See [¶0497], “the link indicator may further indicate 'both downlink and uplink', e.g., a joint/common (downlink and uplink) TCI” – See [¶0467] and Fig. 24 showing a 1st DCI indicating “1st joint TCI to be applied to multiple target signals/channels”; see also the 3GPP R1-2206255 referencing § 6.1.3.47, 3GPP TS 38.321 as explaining the TCI state to TCI codepoint mapping for Unified TCI framework); and
communicate, with the UE, based on an interpretation of the TCI state in the DCI (send “a first DCI (e.g., scheduling downlink data) comprising the TCI field (which comprises the Part 1 and the Part 2)” and “[i]n response to receiving the first DCI, the wireless device may determine that a second value indicated by the Part 2 of the TCI field of the (same) first DCI is the codepoint value '10' being mapped to the third activated TCI of the first TCI(s) of the first plurality of TCIs, based on the first value indicated by the Part 1”; then base station my send and the UE “may receive downlink data (e.g., via a PDSCH) scheduled by the first DCI, using the third activated TCI” – See [¶0501])
wherein an interpretation of at least one bit in the one or more bits differs based on whether a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) is scheduled by the DCI (“[t]he wireless device may receive a first DCI (e.g., scheduling downlink data) comprising the TCI field (e.g., which comprises the Part 1 and the Part 2 as a joint encoding across codepoints of the TCI field)” – See [¶0515], e.g., when “a codepoint value '010' of the TCI field of the first DCI is indicated and the codepoint value '010' is mapped to the third activated TCI (Tk3)” and the “third activated TCI (Tk3) . . . is being used so far (currently being used) as a joint (e.g., common, unified) TCI for downlink reception” – See [¶0506], e.g., because Tk3 is a unified TCI state – See 3GPP TS 38.214 infra, and the UE is configured with “a first mode ( e.g., enabler, feature enabler, at least one parameter, configuration parameter) for TCI indication based on the DCI field (e.g., 3-bit) shown in examples of FIG. [28A] – See [¶0511]; on the opposite, when the UE is configured with “a second mode for TCI indication based on a TCI field comprising the first part and the second part, e.g., using the same DCI format (with the same field size of the TCI field between the first mode and the second mode)” and Fig. 28B – See id., “[t]he wireless device may determine that the second part (Part 2) may comprise the first, second, third activated TCIs of the second plurality of TCis, in response to determining a value (e.g., set to '0') indicated by the first part (in the same DCI) indicates the second value (e.g., set to 0 for UL) of the link indicator” – See [¶0510], e.g., when the DCI schedules uplink transmission),
wherein the TCI state indicated by the one or more bits includes the TCI state from a subset of the first number of activated TCI codepoints, wherein the subset of the first number of activated TCI codepoints includes both an uplink TCI state and a downlink TCI state; and
communicate, with the UE, based on an interpretation of the TCI state in the DCI, wherein an interpretation of at least one bit in the one or more bits differs based on whether a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) is scheduled by the DCI, as explained in Regarding Amended Claim 1 supra wherein the same limitation is recited using the same language only from the perspective of the UE.
Because Amended Claim 1 is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP R1-2206255, Amended Claim 16 is also is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP R1-2206255.
Regarding Claim 17, dependent from Amended Claim 16, Park discloses the base station further comprising a transceiver coupled to the at least one processor (e.g., modules 1510 and 1512 coupled with the processing system 1508, as shown in Fig. 15).
Therefore, Claim 17 is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP R1-2206255.
Regarding Claims 18-23, as amended, dependent from Amended Claim 16, each claim recites the same limitations to the DCI and the TCI state and codepoints as disclosed by Claims 3-8, respectively, as amended, with no other limitations that could be related to the base station of the Amended Claim 16. Because each of Claims 3-8, as amended, and Amended Claim 18 is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP R1-2206255, each of Claims 18-23 is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP R1-2206255.
Regarding Amended Claim 24, it merely recites the steps executed by the at least one processor of the base station disclosed in Amended Claim 16. Because each step executed by the base station of Amended Claim 16 is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP R1-2206255, Amended Claim 24 is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP R1-2206255.
Regarding Claims 25-30, as amended, dependent from Amended Claim 24, each claim recites the same limitations as disclosed in Claims 18-23, respectively, as amended, with no additional limitation. Because each limitation in Claims 18-23, as amended, and in Amended Claim 24, is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP R1-2206255, each of the Claims 25-30 is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP R1-2206255.
In sum, Claims 1-30, as amended, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103 as obvious over Park in view of 3GPP R1-2206255.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Li., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0253993 teaches each set of TCI state includes at least one of an uplink TCI state or a downlink TCI state, or each set of TCI state includes a joint TCI state, the joint TCI state is applied to both uplink transmission and downlink transmission;
Park et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0294575 teaches Unified TCI states for mTRPs;
Park et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0430891 discloses apparatus and method for wireless communication based on individual and joint TCI indications;
Park et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0323969 discloses apparatus and method for uplink wireless communication based on DCI with multiple TCI codepoints;
Jang et al., WIPO Patent Application Publication No. WO 2023/132579 discloses DCI format 1_2 including the S field;
Khoshnevisan et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0260034 teaches separate DL/UL beam indicators for separate DL/UL TCI state;
Lim et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0179705 teaches the TCI state field of DCI format 1_1 or 1_2 including the case that the UL TCI state of the separate TCI state uses the same higher layer signaling structure as the DL TCI state of the separate TCI state and the joint TCI state;
Lim et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0049235 discloses UL control using DCI scheduling PUSCH with simultaneous transmissions across multi panels (STxMP);
Jang et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0106927 method and an apparatus for applying a plurality of unified transmission configuration indicators (TCIs) in a wireless communication system for IoTs;
Xu et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0328641 discloses apparatus and method for wireless communication based on TCI states and multiple antenna panels;
Sun et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0312449 discloses method and apparatus for wireless communication for decoding a single-DCI, multi-TRP scheduling based on the TCI field being configured or not in the DCI;
Yu et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0132550 discloses apparatus and method for wireless communication based on TCI states decoded from the DCI and activated by the MAC-CE;
Muruganathan et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0396375 discloses method and apparatus for wireless communication with TCI configured in the DCI and TCI states updates at the UE;
Zhu et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0180331 discloses methods and apparatuses for beam failure detection, request, and recovery under a unified transmission configuration indication (TCI) framework in a wireless communication system;
Zhu et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20240147490, discloses methods and apparatuses for beam indication and association for control and data channels comprising a first radio resource control (RRC) configuration related to one or more transmission configuration indication (TCI) states for reception of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH); receiving a second RRC configuration related to one or more TCI states for reception of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH); receiving, in downlink control information (DCI), an indicator related to the one or more TCI states for reception of the PDSCH; and receiving a timing threshold for reception of the PDSCH;
Cirik et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0056563 discloses methods and apparatuses for wireless communication based on TCI states in DCI and DCI without the tci-PresentlnDCI;
Guo, WIPO Patent Application Publication No. WO 2023/031720 discloses method and systems that implement DCl-based unified TCI state and determine the time when the terminal device should start to apply a newly indicated TCI state.
3GPP TS 38.212 V17.4.0 (2022-12) “3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Multiplexing and channel coding (Release 17)” teaches in §7.3.1 DCI Formats;
3GPP TS 38.214 V17.4.0 (2022-12), "Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical layer procedures for data (Release 17)";
3GPP TS 38.331:713-20 V17.3.0 (2022-12), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol specification (Release 17)”
3GPP TS 38.321 V17.3.0 (2022-12), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification (Release 17)”;
3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #111, R1-2212740, Agenda Item: 8.2, Title: “Discussion Summary #1 of Beam Management for new SCSs,” Source: InterDigital (moderator); November 2022; disclosing that applied TCI states can be updated using unified TCI framework within the span of multi-PDSCH, and the DLorJointTCIState parameter;
3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #111, R1- 2212878, Title: “Moderator summary on extension of unified TCI framework (Round 2),” Source: MediaTek (moderator), November 2022;
Final Report of 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #111 v1.0.0, R1-2300001, Agenda Item:9.1.1.1, referencing company contributions on the Unified TCI framework extension for multi-TRP published November 2022.
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/L.G.G./ Examiner, Art Unit 2478
/JAY L VOGEL/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2478
1 A person of ordinary skills in the art would look for the PDSCH-Config Information Element in 3GPP TS 38.331 V17.3.0 (2022-12), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol specification (Release 17)” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.331), specifying PDSCH-Config at pages 713-716, providing, at page 716 and 720, that a UE may be configured with the tci-StatesToAddModList comprising “[a] list of Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) states indicating a transmission configuration which includes QCL-relationships between the DL RSs in one RS set and the PDSCH DMRS ports (see TS 38.214 [19], clause 5.1.5). If unifiedTCI-StateType is configured for the serving cell, no element in this list is configured,” meaning that when the Unified TCI framework is used, a dl-OrJointTCI-StateList-r17 is used instead.
2 E.g., DCI format 1_1/1_2 are defined in § 7.3.1.2.2 of 3GPP TS 38.212 V17.4.0 (2022-12) which provides that the DCI contains the field “Transmission configuration indication – 0 bit if higher layer parameter tci-PresentInDCI is not enabled; otherwise [up to] 3 bits as defined in Clause 5.1.5 of [6, TS 38.214]”.
Prosecution Insights