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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/30/2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendment to the claims filed on 12/30/2025 complies with the requirements of 37 CFR 1.121(c) and has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's Arguments/Remarks filed 12/30/2025 (Resp.) are fully considered hereinafter.
Applicant’s main argument is Park et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0292335 (hereinafter Park) fails to disclose “wherein the one or more bits indicate at least one joint downlink/uplink TCI state” as now required by the amended independent claims – See Resp., at page 10-11. Examiner respectfully disagrees and references Fig. 24 showing a 1st DCI indicating “1st joint TCI to be applied to multiple target signals/channels” and [¶0467] (stating that “the link indicator may further indicate 'both downlink and uplink', e.g., a joint/common (downlink and uplink) TCI”) whereby the link indicator may be “first part (e.g., Part 1) of the at least two parts” where “[t]he wireless device may determine that the TCI field of a DCI comprises at least two parts of information contents” – See [¶0497]. Furthermore, 3GPP TS 38.214 V17.4.0 (2022-12), "Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical layer procedures for data (Release 17)" (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.214), cited as secondary reference in the previous Office Action, disclose, at page 43, that “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 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) teaches activation of Unified TCI states by MAC-CE and their mapping to TCI codepoints in a DCI.
Therefore, the argument against Park and the 3GPP specification is not persuasive.
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.
Claims 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), and further in view of 3GPP TS 38.214 V17.4.0 (2022-12), "Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical layer procedures for data (Release 17)" (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.214).
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] or, “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] and rely on “a MAC-CE activation command for at least one of the at least two TCI-states for the CORESET” configured to the UE so the UE can decode a DCI on the PDCCH – See [¶0320]; 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]);
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 field2 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]);
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], “[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 (in a reasonable interpretation the “type of DCI format” has the meaning given in § 7.3.1, 3GPP TS 38.212 – See Note 2, supra, 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] “[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), and
communicate based on an interpretation of the TCI state interpreted from the one or more bits in the DCI (e.g., when “[t]he wireless device may determine that the TCI field of a DCI comprises at least two parts of information content” and “may determine that the second part (Part 2) may comprise” one of “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] and “[t]he wireless device may transmit, based on a value of the second TCI field indicating a second TCI of the second TCIs” – See [¶0530]).
Although Park teaches a joint (e.g., common, unified) TCI state for downlink reception, i.e., when the DCI schedules a PDSCH, 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.
Section 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) referenced in Note 1 supra, describes, 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'” and further teaches the role of the tci-PresentInDCI field configured for the CORESET the UE searches for the DCI – See 3GPP TS 38.331:554-555 (providing that tci-PresentInDCI “field indicates if TCI field is present or absent in DCI format 1_1 and DCI format 4_2;” and that tci-PresentDCI-1-2 field “[c]onfigures the number of bits for ‘Transmission configuration indicator’ in DCI format 1_2” and can be 0, 1, 2, or 3 bits, i.e., a DCI may indicate maximum 8 different TCI codepoints, as defined in 3GPP TS 38.212 referenced in Note 2 supra). Therefore, 3GPP TS 38.214 teaches that, when the higher-level parameter TCI-PresentinDCI is set as 'enabled,' the relationship between the activated TCI states and the TCI codepoint in the DCI is explained in 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) “clause 6.1.3.14 of [10, TS 38.321] or 6.1.3.47 of [10, TS 38.321].” For example, § 6.1.3.14, 3GPP TS 38.321 teaches at page 14, in Figure 6.1.3.14-1, similar to Fig. 26 of Park, that “[t]he codepoint to which the TCI State is mapped is determined by its ordinal position among all the TCI States with Ti field set to 1, i.e. the first TCI State with Ti field set to 1 shall be mapped to the codepoint value 0, second TCI State with Ti field set to 1 shall be mapped to the codepoint value 1 and so on” and that these are states for DL transmission, the reason why Park teaches the link indicator in Fig. 26.
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 PUSCH/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 TS 38.214 each teaches a wireless device receiving one or more messages, e.g. MAC-CEs, activating up to a number of 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 “as described in clause 6.1.3.14 of [10, TS 38.321] or 6.1.3.47 of [10, TS 38.321]” as taught by 3GPP TS 38.214 could have been combined with the TCI-indication MAC-CE disclosed in Fig. 26 of Park, because 3GPP TS 38.321 provides not only for the TCI-indication of Park but also for additional activation commands that apply to UL and UL/DL joint TCI states. 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 TS 38.214 referencing 3GPP TS 38.321.
Therefore, Amended Claim 1 is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP TS 38.214.
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 TS 38.214.
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 38.214:43-44 further teaches 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 TS 38.214.
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 TS 38.214.
Regarding Amended Claim 5, dependent from Claim 3, Park further teaches the apparatus of claim 3 wherein to interpret the TCI state indicated by the one or more bits, the processor is configured to:
determine the TCI state from a subset of the first number of activated TCI codepoints (when the “second part (e.g., Part 2) of the at least two parts [DCI field] may comprise the first, second, third, fourth activated TCIs of either the first plurality of TCIs or the second plurality of TCIs . . . The 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 first 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 [¶0510], i.e., determine a UL TCI state from the second plurality of TCI that were activated for UL, e.g., by using “a first mapping pattern,” i.e., “by its ordinal position among all the TCIs with Tk field set to 1” – See [¶0499]),
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 anticipated is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP TS 38.214.
Regarding Amended Claim 6, dependent from Claim 3, Park further teaches the apparatus of claim 3, wherein to interpret the TCI state indicated by the one or more bits, the at least one processor is configured to:
determine the TCI state from a subset of the first number of activated TCI codepoints (“[i]n response to receiving the first DCI, the wireless device may determine that a first value (e.g., selector, flag) indicated by the Part 1 of the TCI field of the first DCI is the codepoint '1' indicating (e.g., selecting) the first TCI(s), e.g., for DL” – See [¶0501], wherein the first TCIs are a subset of the first number of activated TCI codepoints as shown in Part 1 of Fig. 28A),
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 id.).
Therefore, Amended Claim 6 is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP TS 38.214.
Regarding 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, Claim 7 is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP TS 38.214.
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 TS 38.214.
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 TS 38.214 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 TS 38.214.
Regarding Claims 10-15, dependent from Amended Claim 9, each merely recites the limitations disclosed by each of the Claims 3-8, respectively, with no additional limitations. Because Amended Claims 9 and Claims 3-8 are obvious over Park in view of 3GPP TS 38.214, each of the Claims 10-15 is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP TS 38.214.
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 3)
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 38.214 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 3GPP TS 38.214 infra explaining the TCI state 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).
Although Park teaches a joint (e.g., common, unified) TCI state for downlink reception, i.e., when the DCI schedules a PDSCH, 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 16. However, § 5.1.5, 3GPP TS 38.214: indicates how 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'” and 3GPP TS 38.321 further supports the case of unified TCI state codepoints whereby the TCI codepoint indication is interpreted differently based on whether a PDSCH is scheduled by the DCI or not, as explained in detail in Regarding Amended Claim 1, supra. Because the limitation is recited with the same language in Amended Claim 1, and the MAC-CE configuration indications in 3GPP specifications are combinable with the configuration disclosed in Park – See, e.g., [¶0224], a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have understood that the disclosed specification of unified TCI configurations in 3GPP documents could have been combined with the configuration of TCI states in Park. 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 expanding Park with the new MAC-CE TCI activation including the Unified TCI states, as taught by 3GPP TS 38.214 referencing 3GPP TS 38.321.
Therefore, Amended Claim 16 is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP TS 38.214.
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 TS 38.214.
Regarding Claims 18-23, 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 TS 38.214, each of Claims 18-23 is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP TS 38.214.
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 TS 38.214, Amended Claim 24 is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP TS 38.214.
Regarding Claims 25-30, 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 TS 38.214, each of the Claims 25-30 is obvious over Park in view of 3GPP TS 38.214.
In sum, Claims 1-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103 as obvious over Park in view of 3GPP TS 38.214.
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 38.331:713-20 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUCIA GHEORGHE GRADINARIU whose telephone number is (571)272-1377. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00am - 5:00pm EST.
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, Joseph AVELLINO can be reached at (571)272-3905. 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.
/L.G.G./ Examiner, Art Unit 2478
/KODZOVI ACOLATSE/ 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 38.331:713-20 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), teaching at page 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;” further indicating the ServingCellConfig IE, teaching, at page 858, that when a UE is configured with a serving cell, the UE may receive the tci-ActivatedConfig indicating “the UE shall consider the TCI states provided in this field as the activated TCI states for PDCCH/PDSCH reception on this serving cell” and the unifiedTCI-StateType indicating “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.”
2 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]” or 3 bits for DCI format 1_1 – See id., at page 166.
3 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]”.