Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim 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.
Claims 1, 3, 8-9, 11, 16-17, and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang et. al. (U.S. Pat. Pub. 2022/0360398), herein referred to as “Zhang”, in view of Ma (U.S. Pat. Pub. 2023/0275719), herein referred to as “Ma.”
Regarding Claim 1,
Zhang discloses: A data transmission method, comprising: receiving first indication information, wherein the first indication information indicates a terminal device to perform data transmission based on a first parameter, wherein the first parameter indicates transmit beam information for uplink transmission and receive beam information for downlink transmission
[0135] One possible way to reduce beam reporting latency is to support an SRS-based downlink beam indication, or downlink TCI. The UE may transmit multiple SRSs with different beams, and in turn the base station may indicate one of the SRSs to the UE in a TCI. Based on the SRS indication, the UE may use the same beam to receive the downlink signal as the beam that the UE used to transmit the SRS. This means that the UE does not need to report the beam quality; instead, the base station may perform the necessary beam measurement(s). Thus, when SRS is indicated, the UE may apply the same beam to receive the downlink signal as that used to transmit the uplink signal.
Note: The UE uses the same beams for uplink and downlink based on the SRS indication simultaneously, which is the “first parameter”.
and performing data transmission based on the at least one of transmit beam information or the receive beam information indicated by the first parameter
[0135] One possible way to reduce beam reporting latency is to support an SRS-based downlink beam indication, or downlink TCI. The UE may transmit multiple SRSs with different beams, and in turn the base station may indicate one of the SRSs to the UE in a TCI. Based on the SRS indication, the UE may use the same beam to receive the downlink signal as the beam that the UE used to transmit the SRS. This means that the UE does not need to report the beam quality; instead, the base station may perform the necessary beam measurement(s). Thus, when SRS is indicated, the UE may apply the same beam to receive the downlink signal as that used to transmit the uplink signal.
Zhang does not disclose the final limitation.
However, Ma discloses: wherein the first parameter comprises a plurality of target reference signal resources, and a first target reference signal resource of the plurality of target reference signal resources indicates the transmit beam information for the uplink transmission and a second target reference signal resource of the plurality of target reference signal resources indicates the receive beam information for the downlink transmission.
[0090] Referring to FIG. 5, the apparatus 5 may include: a first transmitting circuitry 51 configured to transmit SRS scheduling information, wherein the SRS scheduling information indicates at least one SRS resource set triggered by a current uplink channel measurement; a second transmitting circuitry 52 configured to control a plurality of TRPs to jointly transmit at least one CSI-RS resource associated with the at least one SRS resource set, wherein the at least one CSI-RS resource is used to measure a downlink channel state of the plurality of TRPs; a receiving circuitry 53 configured to receive a preset number of precoded SRS resources, wherein the preset number is determined based on a number of SRS resources included in the at least one SRS resource set, and the precoded SRS resources are determined by calculation based on the at least one CSI-RS resource; and an acquiring circuitry 54 configured to acquire quality information of an uplink channel based on the preset number of precoded SRS resources.
Note: “At least one” is indicative of a plurality of resources.
Zhang and Ma are considered to be analogous because they involve wireless communications. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhang to include the concept of having the a plurality of target reference signals include for the uplink and downlink as taught by Ma so as to aid in performing efficient uplink and downlink beam indication.
Regarding Claim 3,
Zhang does not explicitly disclose the limitations of claim 3.
However, Ma discloses: The method according to claim 1, wherein the first parameter further indicates a type of the first target reference signal resource and a type of the second target reference signal resource in the first parameter, and the type of the first target reference signal indicates the transmit beam information for the uplink transmission and the type of the second target reference signal resource indicates the receive beam information for the downlink transmission.
[0090] Referring to FIG. 5, the apparatus 5 may include: a first transmitting circuitry 51 configured to transmit SRS scheduling information, wherein the SRS scheduling information indicates at least one SRS resource set triggered by a current uplink channel measurement; a second transmitting circuitry 52 configured to control a plurality of TRPs to jointly transmit at least one CSI-RS resource associated with the at least one SRS resource set, wherein the at least one CSI-RS resource is used to measure a downlink channel state of the plurality of TRPs; a receiving circuitry 53 configured to receive a preset number of precoded SRS resources, wherein the preset number is determined based on a number of SRS resources included in the at least one SRS resource set, and the precoded SRS resources are determined by calculation based on the at least one CSI-RS resource; and an acquiring circuitry 54 configured to acquire quality information of an uplink channel based on the preset number of precoded SRS resources.
Note: “Jointly” has both types of first and second target reference signal resources, respectively.
Zhang and Ma are considered to be analogous because they involve wireless communications. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhang to include the concept of having the target reference signal include beam information for the uplink and downlink as taught by Ma so as to aid in performing efficient uplink and downlink beam indication.
Regarding Claim 8,
Zhang discloses: The method according to claim 1, wherein the first parameter is indicated by one or more of the following signaling: downlink control information (DCI);
a media access control (MAC) control element (CE); or radio resource control (RRC) signaling.
[0137] According to a first option, the timing of the SRS and the downlink beam reception for the corresponding PDSCH may be identified. In this scenario, the UE may apply the same beam as the beam used by the UE for transmitting SRS a specified number (K) of slots prior to receiving a corresponding downlink channel, after the SRS-based TCI takes effect. The specified number, e.g. K, may be defined according to one of the following: [0138] K is predefined, e.g. 0, 4, etc.; [0139] K is configured by higher layer signaling (e.g. RRC signaling); or [0140] K is reported by UE capability signaling.
Regarding Claim 9,
Zhang discloses: A data transmission method, comprising: determining first indication information, wherein the first indication information indicates a terminal device to perform data transmission based on a first parameter, and the first parameter indicates at least one of transmit beam information for uplink transmission or receive beam information for downlink transmission; and sending the first indication information to the terminal device
[0135] One possible way to reduce beam reporting latency is to support an SRS-based downlink beam indication, or downlink TCI. The UE may transmit multiple SRSs with different beams, and in turn the base station may indicate one of the SRSs to the UE in a TCI. Based on the SRS indication, the UE may use the same beam to receive the downlink signal as the beam that the UE used to transmit the SRS. This means that the UE does not need to report the beam quality; instead, the base station may perform the necessary beam measurement(s). Thus, when SRS is indicated, the UE may apply the same beam to receive the downlink signal as that used to transmit the uplink signal.
Note: The UE uses the same beams for uplink and downlink based on the SRS indication simultaneously, which is the “first parameter”.
Zhang does not disclose the final limitation.
However, Ma discloses: wherein the first parameter comprises a plurality of target reference signal resources, and a first target reference signal resource of the plurality of target reference signal resources indicates the transmit beam information for the uplink transmission and a second target reference signal resource of the plurality of target reference signal resources indicates the receive beam information for the downlink transmission.
[0090] Referring to FIG. 5, the apparatus 5 may include: a first transmitting circuitry 51 configured to transmit SRS scheduling information, wherein the SRS scheduling information indicates at least one SRS resource set triggered by a current uplink channel measurement; a second transmitting circuitry 52 configured to control a plurality of TRPs to jointly transmit at least one CSI-RS resource associated with the at least one SRS resource set, wherein the at least one CSI-RS resource is used to measure a downlink channel state of the plurality of TRPs; a receiving circuitry 53 configured to receive a preset number of precoded SRS resources, wherein the preset number is determined based on a number of SRS resources included in the at least one SRS resource set, and the precoded SRS resources are determined by calculation based on the at least one CSI-RS resource; and an acquiring circuitry 54 configured to acquire quality information of an uplink channel based on the preset number of precoded SRS resources.
Note: “At least one” is indicative of a plurality of resources.
Zhang and Ma are considered to be analogous because they involve wireless communications. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhang to include the concept of having the a plurality of target reference signals include for the uplink and downlink as taught by Ma so as to aid in performing efficient uplink and downlink beam indication.
Regarding Claim 11,
Claim 11 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 3.
Regarding Claim 16,
Claim 16 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 8.
Regarding Claim 17,
Claim 17 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 1.
Zhang discloses: A wireless communication apparatus, comprising:
a transceiver, configured to receive first indication information, wherein the first indication information indicates a terminal device to perform data transmission based on a first parameter, and wherein the first parameter indicates at least one of transmit beam information for uplink transmission or receive beam information for downlink transmission; and at least one processor
[0135] One possible way to reduce beam reporting latency is to support an SRS-based downlink beam indication, or downlink TCI. The UE may transmit multiple SRSs with different beams, and in turn the base station may indicate one of the SRSs to the UE in a TCI. Based on the SRS indication, the UE may use the same beam to receive the downlink signal as the beam that the UE used to transmit the SRS. This means that the UE does not need to report the beam quality; instead, the base station may perform the necessary beam measurement(s). Thus, when SRS is indicated, the UE may apply the same beam to receive the downlink signal as that used to transmit the uplink signal.
Note: The UE uses the same beams for uplink and downlink based on the SRS indication simultaneously, which is the “first parameter”.
and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program to be executed by the at least one processor, the program including instructions to: perform data transmission based on the at least one of the transmit beam information or the receive beam information that is indicated by the first parameter
[0135] One possible way to reduce beam reporting latency is to support an SRS-based downlink beam indication, or downlink TCI. The UE may transmit multiple SRSs with different beams, and in turn the base station may indicate one of the SRSs to the UE in a TCI. Based on the SRS indication, the UE may use the same beam to receive the downlink signal as the beam that the UE used to transmit the SRS. This means that the UE does not need to report the beam quality; instead, the base station may perform the necessary beam measurement(s). Thus, when SRS is indicated, the UE may apply the same beam to receive the downlink signal as that used to transmit the uplink signal.
Zhang does not disclose the final limitation.
However, Ma discloses: wherein the first parameter comprises a plurality of target reference signal resources, and a first target reference signal resource of the plurality of target reference signal resources indicates the transmit beam information for the uplink transmission and a second target reference signal resource of the plurality of target reference signal resources indicates the receive beam information for the downlink transmission.
[0090] Referring to FIG. 5, the apparatus 5 may include: a first transmitting circuitry 51 configured to transmit SRS scheduling information, wherein the SRS scheduling information indicates at least one SRS resource set triggered by a current uplink channel measurement; a second transmitting circuitry 52 configured to control a plurality of TRPs to jointly transmit at least one CSI-RS resource associated with the at least one SRS resource set, wherein the at least one CSI-RS resource is used to measure a downlink channel state of the plurality of TRPs; a receiving circuitry 53 configured to receive a preset number of precoded SRS resources, wherein the preset number is determined based on a number of SRS resources included in the at least one SRS resource set, and the precoded SRS resources are determined by calculation based on the at least one CSI-RS resource; and an acquiring circuitry 54 configured to acquire quality information of an uplink channel based on the preset number of precoded SRS resources.
Note: “At least one” is indicative of a plurality of resources.
Zhang and Ma are considered to be analogous because they involve wireless communications. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhang to include the concept of having the a plurality of target reference signals include for the uplink and downlink as taught by Ma so as to aid in performing efficient uplink and downlink beam indication.
Regarding Claim 21,
Claim 21 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 3.
Claims 4, 12, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang in view of Ma, held further in view of Lin et. al. (U.S. Pat. Pub. 2023/0224874), herein referred to as “Lin.” The Lin reference claims priority to, and has support in, provision application 63/057229.
Regarding Claim 4,
Zhang in view of Ma does not explicitly disclose all the limitations of Claim 4.
However, Lin discloses: The method according to claim 3, wherein the first parameter further comprises a first quasi-colocation (QCL) type of first the target reference signal resource and a second QCL type of the second target reference signal resource, the first QCL type indicates that the first target reference signal resource indicates the transmit beam information for the uplink transmission, and the second QCL type indicated that the second target reference signal resource indicates receive beam information for the downlink transmission.
[0162] QCL (Quasi Co-Location): Two antenna ports are said to be quasi co-located if properties of the channel over which a symbol on one antenna port is conveyed can be inferred from the channel over which a symbol on the other antenna port is conveyed. The “properties of the channel” above may include Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread, and spatial RX parameters. These properties are categorized into different QCL types in NR specifications. For example, QCL-TypeD refers to a spatial RX parameter. QCL-TypeD is also referred to as “beam” in this document.
[0163] TCI state: A TCI state contains parameters for configuring a QCL relationship between one or two reference signals and a target reference signal set. For example, a target reference signal set may be the DM-RS ports of PDSCH, PDCCH, Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), or PUSCH. The one or two reference signals maybe UL or DL reference signals. In NR Rel-15/16, TCI state is used for DL QCL indication, whereas spatial relation information is used for providing UL spatial transmission filter information for UL signal(s) or UL channel(s). Here, a TCI state may refer to information provided that is similar to spatial relation information, which could be used for UL transmission. In other words, from the UL perspective, a TCI state provides UL beam information which may provide the information for a relationship between a UL transmission and DL or UL reference signals (e.g., CSI-RS, Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), SRS, Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS)).
Zhang in view of Ma and Lin are considered to be analogous because they involve wireless communications. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhang in view of Ma to include the concept of having a QCL type D in the uplink and downlink as taught by Lin so as to aid in performing efficient uplink and downlink beam indication.
Regarding Claim 12,
Claim 12 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 4.
Regarding Claim 22,
Claim 22 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 4.
Claims 5, 13, and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang in view of Ma and Lin, held further in view of Matsumura and Nagata (U.S. Pat. Pub. 2022/0131668), herein referred to as “Matsumura”.
Regarding Claim 5,
Zhang in view of Ma and Lin does not explicitly disclose the limitations of Claim 5.
However, Matsumura discloses: The method according to claim 4, further comprising: sending first capability information, wherein the first capability information indicates that the terminal device supports use of the first QCL type to indicate the transmit beam information for the uplink transmission or the second QCL type to indicate the receive beam information for the downlink transmission.
[0124] The UE may report specific UE capability information. The specific UE capability information may indicate support of the assumption that the RS of the spatial relation of the specific UL transmission is the same as the RS of QCL type D in the TCI state of the specific DL channel, or may indicate support of the certain function. The specific UE capability information may be default spatial relation information (default spatial relation info). When the UE reports the specific UE capability information, the UE may assume that the RS of the spatial relation of the specific UL transmission is the same as the RS of QCL type D in the TCI state of the specific DL channel. When the UE reports the specific UE capability information and the spatial relation of the specific UL transmission is not configured, the UE may assume that the RS of the spatial relation of the specific UL transmission is the same as the RS of QCL type D in the TCI state of the specific DL channel. When the UE does not report the specific UE capability information, the UE may assume that the spatial relation of the specific UL transmission is configured.
Zhang in view of Ma, Lin, and Matsumura are considered to be analogous because they involve wireless communications. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhang in view of Ma and Lin to include the concept of having capability information indicating use of QCL type D in uplink or downlink as taught by Matsumura so as to aid in performing efficient uplink and downlink beam indication.
Regarding Claim 13,
Claim 13 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 5.
Regarding Claim 23,
Claim 23 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 5.
Claims 6, 14, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang in view of Ma, held further in view of Cirik et. al. (U.S. Pat. Pub. 2021/0051710), herein referred to as “Cirik.”
Regarding Claim 6,
Zhang in view of Ma does not explicitly disclose the limitations of claim 6.
However, Cirik discloses: The method according to claim 1, wherein the first parameter comprises at least one of the following information: a component carrier/cell identifier of a cell to which a target reference signal belongs, a bandwidth part (BWP) identifier of the target reference signal, a target reference signal resource, a quasi-colocation (QCL) type, type information of the first parameter, type information of the target reference signal resource, a path loss measurement reference signal resource, a power control parameter, an identifier of a terminal antenna panel, an identifier of a transmission site, a physical cell identifier (PCI), or a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource for the uplink transmission.
[0230] An antenna port quasi co-location property may comprise/indicate a reference signal (e.g., downlink RS 1 for CORESET 1912-1, uplink RS 1 for CORESET 1912-2). The antenna port quasi co-location property may comprise/indicate a reference signal indicator/index (e.g., ssb-index, csi-rs index, srs, etc) of the reference signal. Receiving/detecting a PDCCH transmission, via a CORESET based on an antenna port quasi co-location property, may comprise that the wireless device receives/detects the PDCCH transmission using a spatial receiving filter that is same as a spatial transmission (or receiving) filter used to transmit (or receive) a reference signal indicated by (or in) the antenna port quasi co-location property.
Zhang in view of Ma and Cirik are considered to be analogous because they involve wireless communications. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhang in view of Ma to include the concept of having the target reference signal include beam information for the uplink and downlink as taught by Cirik so as to aid in performing efficient uplink and downlink beam indication.
Regarding Claim 14,
Claim 14 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 6.
Regarding Claim 19,
Claim 19 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 6.
Claims 7, 15, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang in view of Ma, held further in view of Kakishima et. al. (U.S. Pat. Pub. 2020/0287677), herein referred to as “Kakishima”.
Regarding Claim 7,
Zhang in view of Ma does not explicitly disclose all the limitations of claim 7.
However, Kakishima teaches: The method according to claim 1, further comprising: sending third capability information, wherein the third capability information indicates that the terminal device supports use of the first parameter to indicate the transmit beam information for the uplink transmission and the receive beam information for the downlink transmission.
[0093] As shown in FIG. 8, at step S201, the UE 10 may transmit UE capability information including UE Rx beam information. For example, the UE Rx beam information includes the number of UE Rx beams and/or the maximum number of UE Rx beams. For example, the UE Rx beam information includes information indicating candidates of the UE Rx beams associated with candidates of the TRP Rx beams. For example, all or part of TRP Tx beams may be common to the UE Rx beams.
Zhang in view of Ma and Kakishima are considered to be analogous because they involve wireless communications. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Zhang in view of Ma to include the concept of sending capability information from the UE to indicate that certain parameters are supported to indicate beam information as taught by Kakishima so as to aid in performing efficient uplink and downlink beam indication.
Regarding Claim 15,
Claim 15 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 7.
Regarding Claim 20,
Claim 20 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 7.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s response filed on July 17, 2026 is acknowledged.
The following claims were amended: 1, 3-5, 7, 9, 11-13, 15, 17, and 20-23.
The following claims are canceled: 2, 10, and 18.
The are no new claims.
Claims 1, 3-9, 11-17, and 19-23 are pending.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to independent claims 1, 9, and 17 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JESSE P. SAMLUK whose telephone number is (571)270-5607. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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/JESSE P. SAMLUK/Examiner, Art Unit 2411
/DERRICK W FERRIS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2411
