DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to claims filed on 3/22/2023.
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 § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 9-10, 13, 18, 24 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Kim et al. (WO 2021/162522 A1).
Regarding claims 1 and 18; Kim discloses transmit an indication of whether the UE has a capability to report multiple transmit receive point (mTRP) Layer 1 (L1) measurements for both mTRP beam management and single TRP (sTRP) beam management (the UE may report the related UE capability that the UE can simultaneously receive signals through a plurality of spatial domain receive filters based on different RSs; the base station may configure RSs in resources for CSI calculation in consideration of multi-TRP transmission; mTRP CSI has a higher priority than sTRP CSI; the UE calculates and transmits beam management mTRP CSI (e.g. L1-RSRP); the joint CSI itself already includes channel information corresponding to different TRPs, by reporting the mTRP CSI to the base station, the effect of reporting the sTRP CSI corresponding to each TRP is obtained; see paragraph 2 of page 40 and paragraph 4 of page 45); and transmit an L1 measurement report that includes mTRP L1 measurements (reporting the mTRP CSI to the base station; see paragraph 4 of page 45).
Specifically for claim 1; Kim discloses a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: a memory (memories 104; see paragraph 6 of page 82); and one or more processors, coupled to the memory (processors 102; see paragraph 6 of page 82).
Regarding claim 9; Kim discloses wherein the L1 measurement report includes L1 reference signal receive power measurements (beam management mTRP CSI includes L1-RSRP; see paragraph 4 of page 45).
Regarding claims 10 and 24; Kim discloses receive an indication of whether a user equipment (UE) has a capability to report multiple transmit receive point (mTRP) Layer 1 (L1) measurement values for both mTRP beam management and single TRP (sTRP) beam management (the UE may report the related UE capability that the UE can simultaneously receive signals through a plurality of spatial domain receive filters based on different RSs; the base station may configure RSs in resources for CSI calculation in consideration of multi-TRP transmission; mTRP CSI has a higher priority than sTRP CSI; the UE calculates beam management mTRP CSI (e.g. L1-RSRP); the joint CSI itself already includes channel information corresponding to different TRPs, by reporting the mTRP CSI to the base station, the effect of reporting the sTRP CSI corresponding to each TRP is obtained; see paragraph 2 of page 40 and paragraph 4 of page 45); transmit a configuration for L1 measurement reporting that is based at least in part on whether the UE has the capability (CSI considering multi-TRP transmission may be configured the UE through reportQuantity of CSI-ReportConfig; it may be defined as a value including joint RSRP; see paragraph 6 of page 42); and receive an L1 measurement report (reporting the mTRP CSI (e.g. L1-RSRP) to the base station; see paragraph 4 of page 45).
Specifically for claim 10; Kim discloses a network entity for wireless communication, comprising: a memory (memories 104; see paragraph 6 of page 82); and one or more processors, coupled to the memory (processors 102; see paragraph 6 of page 82).
Regarding claims 13 and 27; Kim discloses interpret mTRP L1 measurements in the L1 measurement report to apply to both mTRP beam management and sTRP beam management (the joint CSI itself already includes channel information corresponding to different TRPs, by reporting the MTRP CSI to the base station, the effect of reporting the sTRP CSI corresponding to each TRP is obtained by the base station; see paragraph 4 of page 45).
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.
Claims 2, 5-6, 11, 15, 19-21, 25 and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim; in view of Matsumura et al. (WO 2022/070360 A1).
Regarding claims 2 and 19; Kim discloses a UE transmits an mTRP L1 measurement reporting to a base station.
Kim does not explicitly disclose receiving a configuration indicating performing mTRP measurement only.
Matsumura discloses receive, based at least in part on the UE having the capability, a configuration that indicates that an mTRP L1 measurement reporting is to be performed and that an sTRP L1 measurement reporting is to not be performed (Fig. 4 shows an example of CSI report settings for joint CSI feedback (mTRP CSI) only; the CSI include L1 measurement; see paragraph 9 of page 3, paragraph 1 and 4 of page 11).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Kim and Matsumura to receiving a configuration indicating performing mTRP measurement only to be suitable for a different transmission scheme (see paragraph 6 of page 11 of Matsumura).
Regarding claims 5 and 20; Kim discloses a UE transmits a capability to a base station.
Kim does not explicitly disclose when the UE does not have the capability to report mTRP L1 measurement for both mTRP and sTRP, using separate beams for the mTRP measurement sTRP measurement.
Matsumura discloses based at least in part on the UE not having the capability (a WTRU may report a particular UE capability to a base station; the particular capability may indicate supporting both sTRP CSI and mTRP CSI in one CSI report; see paragraph 1 of page 3, paragraph 5 of page 4, paragraphs 12-13 of page 13 and paragraph 1 of page 14), using a first beam for the mTRP L1 measurements and a second beam for sTRP L1 measurements (the WTRU uses CSI_A for S-TRP; and CSI pair {CSI_C, CSI_D} for MTRP; see last paragraph of page 11, first paragraph of page 12 and Fig. 5), wherein the first beam and the second beam are separate beams (CSI_A assuming STRP transmission; {CSI_C, CSI_D} assuming NCJT transmission of MTRP; see paragraph 4 of page 7 and paragraphs 6-7 of page 7), and wherein the L1 measurement report includes the mTRP L1 measurements and the sTRP L1 measurements (a base station receives a CSI report including at least one of the CSI for the sTRP and the CSI for the mTRP by the user terminal; the CSI includes L1-RSRP; see paragraph 1 of page 3, paragraph 4 of page 17 and paragraph 6 of page 19).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Kim and Matsumura to report both sTRP and mTRP in one CSI report so that CSI can be appropriately measured (see ABSTRACT of Matsumura).
Regarding claims 6 and 21; Kim discloses a UE transmits a capability to a base station.
Kim does not explicitly disclose receiving a configuration to perform both an mTRP and a sTRP measurement reporting.
Matsumura discloses receive a configuration that indicates that the UE is to perform both an mTRP L1 measurement reporting and an sTRP L1 measurement reporting (the base station transmits CSI report settings; Fig. 5 shows an example of CSI report settings are CSI report settings for both sTRP CSI and mTRP CSI; CSI_A for S-TRP; and CSI pair {CSI_C, CSI_D} for MTRP; see last paragraph of page 11, first paragraph of page 12, paragraph 4 of page 17 and paragraph 3 of page 19).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Kim and Matsumura to receive a configuration to perform both an mTRP and a sTRP measurement reporting to suppress the overhead of CSI reporting setting (see paragraph 3 of page 12 of Matsumura).
Regarding claims 11 and 25; Kim discloses a UE transmits an mTRP L1 measurement reporting to a base station.
Kim does not explicitly disclose receiving a configuration indicating performing mTRP measurement only.
Matsumura discloses generate, based at least in part on the UE having the capability, the configuration to indicate that an mTRP L1 measurement reporting is to be performed and that an sTRP L1 measurement reporting is to not be performed (Fig. 4 shows an example of CSI report settings for joint CSI feedback (mTRP CSI) only; the CSI include L1 measurement; see paragraph 9 of page 3, paragraph 1 and 4 of page 11).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Kim and Matsumura to receiving a configuration indicating performing mTRP measurement only to be suitable for a different transmission scheme (see paragraph 6 of page 11 of Matsumura).
Regarding claims 15 and 29; Kim discloses a UE transmits an mTRP L1 measurement report for both mTRP and sTRP to a base station.
Kim does not explicitly disclose the base station generates a configuration indicating the UE is to perform both mTRP reporting and sTRP reporting.
Matsumura discloses generate, based at least in part on the UE not having the capability (a WTRU may report a particular UE capability to a base station; the particular capability may indicate supporting both sTRP CSI and mTRP CSI in one CSI report; see paragraph 1 of page 3, paragraph 5 of page 4, paragraphs 12-13 of page 13 and paragraph 1 of page 14), the configuration to indicate that the UE is to perform both an mTRP L1 measurement reporting and an sTRP L1 measurement reporting (Fig. 5 illustrates CSI reporting settings are CSI reporting settings for both sTRP CSI and mTRP CSI; see last paragraph of page 11), that a first beam is to be used for mTRP L1 measurements the WTRU uses CSI_A for S-TRP; and CSI pair {CSI_C, CSI_D} for MTRP; see last paragraph of page 11, first paragraph of page 12 and Fig. 5), and that a second beam is to be used for sTRP L1 measurements, wherein the first beam and the second beam are separate beams(CSI_A assuming STRP transmission; {CSI_C, CSI_D} assuming NCJT transmission of MTRP; see paragraph 4 of page 7 and paragraphs 6-7 of page 7).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Kim and Matsumura to report both sTRP and mTRP in one CSI report so that CSI can be appropriately measured (see ABSTRACT of Matsumura).
Claims 3-4, 12 and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim; in view Matsumura; and in further view of Liu et al. (US 2024/0267174 A1).
Regarding claims 3, 12 and 26; the combination of Kim and Matsumura discloses a base station transmits a CSI report configuration to a UE.
The combination of Kim and Matsumura does not explicitly disclose the configuration indicates a first CMR set for a first TRP and a second CMR set for a second TRP.
Liu discloses wherein the configuration indicates a first channel measurement resource (CMR) set for a first transmit receive point (TRP) and a second CMR set for a second TRP (for a CSI report configured with L1-RSRP reporting; a first CMR set corresponds to TRP #1, and a second CMR set corresponds to TRP#2; see paragraphs [0037] and [0039]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Kim, Matsumura and Liu to have each CMR set corresponds to one TRP to support group-based beam report for mTRP transmission (see ABSTRACT of Liu).
Regarding claim 4; the combination of Kim and Matsumura discloses a base station transmits a CSI report configuration to a UE.
The combination of Kim and Matsumura does not explicitly disclose the configuration indicates a first CMR set for a first TRP and a second CMR set for a second TRP.
Liu discloses wherein the one or more processors are configured to generate the L1 measurement report based at least in part on obtaining L1 measurements for the first TRP using the first CMR set and obtaining L1 measurements for the second TRP using the second CMR set (for a CSI report configured with L1-RSRP reporting; a first CMR set corresponds to TRP #1, and a second CMR set corresponds to TRP#2; the UE transmits a CSI report including N pairs of CRIs and the measured L1-RSRP value of the resource indicated by each of the N pairs of CRIs; see paragraphs [0008] and [0039] – [0040]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Kim, Matsumura and Liu to have each CMR set corresponds to one TRP to support group-based beam report for mTRP transmission (see ABSTRACT of Liu).
Claims 7, 16 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim; in view of Matsumura; and in further view of Go et al. (WO 2023/277652 A1).
Regarding claims 7, 16 and 22; the combination of Kim and Matsumura discloses receiving a configuration for CSI reporting setting from a base station.
The combination of Kim and Matsumura does not explicitly disclose the configuration indicates one or more of a maximum quantity of beam pairs for mTRP measurement reporting.
Go discloses wherein the configuration indicates one or more of a maximum quantity of beam pairs for mTRP L1 measurement reporting or a maximum quantity of beams for sTRP L1 measurement reporting (within one M-TRP CSI-report, the UE reports N beam pairs/groups; the number N of maximum beam pairs reported within a single CSI report may be set by RRC signaling; see paragraph 6 of page 38 and last paragraph of page 35).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Kim, Matsumura and Go to receive a configuration indicating one or more of a maximum quantity of beam pairs for mTRP measurement reporting to compliance with 3GPP standard (see paragraph 6 of page 38 of Go).
Claims 8, 17, 23 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim; in view of Velasquez et al. (US 2025/0240072 A1).
Regarding claims 8 and 23; Kim discloses a UE transmits an mTRP L1 measurement report for both mTRP and sTRP to a base station.
Kim does not explicitly disclose the UE transmits either a mTRP or sTRP report to the base station.
Velasquez discloses based at least in part on the UE not having the capability (a WTRU may report different CSI resolutions, as a function of a mode of operation (sTRP or mTRP mode); see paragraph [0128]), using a first beam for the mTRP L1 measurements or a second beam for sTRP L1 measurements (the WTRU may select one of the configured CSI settings, according to whether the WTRU is operating in single or multi-TRP mode; the WTRU may indicate a number of spatial beams per TRP; CSI includes L1-RSRP; see paragraphs [0102], [0120] and [0151]), and wherein the L1 measurement report includes mTRP L1 measurements for each of one or more beam pairs or sTRP L1 measurements for each of one or more beams (the WTRU may report mTRP C-JT CSI reporting; CSI includes L1-RSRP; see paragraphs [0102] and [0128] – [0129]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Kim and Velasquez to transmit either an mTRP or a sTRP to the base station as a function of a mode of operation (see paragraph [0128] of Velasquez).
Regarding claims 17 and 30; Kim discloses a UE transmits an mTRP L1 measurement report for both mTRP and sTRP to a base station.
Kim does not explicitly disclose the UE transmits either a mTRP or sTRP report to the base station.
Velasquez discloses wherein the one or more processors are configured to generate, based at least in part on the UE not having the capability (a WTRU may report different CSI resolutions, as a function of a mode of operation (sTRP or mTRP mode); see paragraph [0128]), the configuration to indicate that the UE is to perform either an mTRP L1 measurement reporting or an sTRP L1 measurement reporting (the CSI reporting configuration indicating whether the UE is to transmit an mTRP or an sTRP measurement report; CSI includes L1-RSRP; see paragraphs [0120] and [0128] – [0129]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Kim and Velasquez to transmit either an mTRP or a sTRP to the base station as a function of a mode of operation (see paragraph [0128] of Velasquez).
Claims 14 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim; in view of Yuan et al. (CN 115333591 A).
Regarding claims 14 and 28; Kim discloses a UE transmits an mTRP L1 measurements for both mTRP and sTRP.
Kim does not explicitly disclose the mTRP report include an indicator.
Yuan discloses wherein the L1 measurement report includes an indicator that indicates that mTRP L1 measurements in the L1 measurement report apply to both mTRP beam management and sTRP beam management (the multiple TRP CSI report comprises a first indicator used for indicating the corresponding relationship of the PMI sharing; then the terminal only reports mTRPs CSI to the base station; the base station applies the PMIs to sTRP measurement hypotheses for data transmission; see paragraphs 3-4 of page 10).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Kim and Yuan to include an indicator into the mTRP CSI report to reduce the CSI report overhead (see paragraph 1 of page 10 of Yuan).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NING LI whose telephone number is (571)270-0624. The examiner can normally be reached Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 8:30am - 5:00pm.
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/N.L/Examiner, Art Unit 2415
/JEFFREY M RUTKOWSKI/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2415