DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
This Office action is in response to amendment filed 8/27/2025. Accordingly, claims 1, 8 and 13 were amended and claims 1-16 are pending for examining.
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.
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 1-5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Muruganathan et al. (US 2019/0223161 B2, hereinafter Muruganathan) in view of Etemad et al. (US 2014/0036796 A1, hereinafter Etemad).
Regarding claim 1, Muruganathan discloses a communication apparatus (figure 4, UE) comprising: at least one processor (figure 15, 1502); and a non-transitory computer readable medium (figure 15, 1504) configured to store non-transitory instructions, the at least one processor being configured to execute the non-transitory instructions thereby causing the communication apparatus to perform operations ([0124]-[0125]) comprising: receiving first information from a first network device (figure 4 TRP1), wherein the first information is useable to indicate a first time-frequency resource ([0057] and [0059], UE is currently being served by TRP1 and receives PDSCH from TRP1, and ZP CSI-RS can be used to indicate that the UE shall rate match, e. g. PDSCH resource mapping, its PDSCH around a (beamformed) NZP CSI-RS intended for another UE to measure upon); receiving second information from a second network device (figure 4, TRP 2) on the first time-frequency resource ([0059], the UE is configured with NZP CSI-RS2 and CSI-IM2 to measure the desired channel from TRP2 and the interference from TRP1 for CSI measurement) and reporting first interference information to the first network device, wherein the first interference information is obtained through measurement of interference from based on the second information ([0067]-[0070], activation of a SP CSI-RS with QCL reference for channel measurement, activation of a SP IMR for interference measurement, and activation of SP CSI reporting on PUCCH). Muruganathan differs from the claimed invention in not specifically that the second information indicates to the first terminal to measure the interference. However, Etemad teaches ZP CSI-RSs can be used to improve the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) on NZP CSI-RS resources of neighboring cells having interference measurement resources being a subset of ZP CSI-RS to indicate a subset of than that should be used by the UE for interference measurements, such that RRC configuration message may include an indication that one or more particular NZP CSI-RS resources is an interference measurement (IM) resource for use by the UE in making interference measurements ([0022] and [0032]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Muruganathan in having that he second information indicates to the first terminal to measure the interference, as per teaching of Etemad, to improve the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio.
Regarding claim 2, Muruganathan discloses that the second information is useable to indicate a second time-frequency resource for interference measurement, and the first interference information is obtained through measurement on the second time-frequency resource ([0056] and [0059], two types of resources are defined, non-zero power (NZP) CSI-RS and CSI-IM. NZP CSI-RS is transmitted by a network node (or gNB) for UEs to estimate the downlink channels to the network node and the UE is configured with NZP CSI-RS2 and CSI-IM2 to measure the desired channel from TRP2 and the interference from TRP1for CSI measurements corresponding to TRP2).
Regarding claim 3, Muruganathan discloses that the second information comprises: an index of the second time-frequency resource; an index of a first reporting configuration, and the first reporting configuration is associated with the second time-frequency resource; or an index of a first measurement resource set, and the first measurement resource set comprises the second time-frequency resource ([0029]-[0030], UE reports the CSI-RS index).
Regarding claim 4, Muruganathan discloses that the second time-frequency resource is an interference measurement resource corresponding to a first interference pattern of the second network device; and the reporting the first interference information obtained through measurement to the first network device comprises reporting at least one or more of: an identifier of the first interference pattern, the index of the second time-frequency resource, the index of the first reporting configuration, or the index of the first measurement resource set, wherein the first reporting configuration is a reporting configuration corresponding to the first interference pattern, and the first measurement resource set comprises the second time-frequency resource ([0059], the UE is configured with NZP CSI-RS1 and CSI-IM1 to measure the desired channel from TRP1 and the interference from TRP2, respectively, for CSI measurement and the PDSCH from TRP1 that is currently received by the UE serves as the interference when the UE measures CSI corresponding to TRP2).
Regarding claim 5, Muruganathan discloses that the second information is useable to indicate a first time range ([0045]-[0046], CSI-RS transmissions are supported: Periodic CSI-RS (P CSI-RS): CSI-RS is transmitted periodically in certain slots). Muruganathan differs from the claimed invention in not specifically teaching that the operations further comprise in the first time range, failing to detect indication information from the second network device, wherein the indication information is useable to indicate to the communication apparatus to measure interference. However, Etemad teaches if common-RI-Report-r11, common-SB-Report-r11, common-RI-PMI-Report-r11 are configured for a particular CSI, then the rank indicator, preferred set of subbands, and precoding matrix indicator/rank indicator, respectively, are dropped and not transmitted in the channel state information report for that CSI process to save signaling overhead ([0027]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Muruganathan in have that the operations further comprise in the first time range, failing to detect indication information from the second network device, wherein the indication information is useable to indicate to the communication apparatus to measure interference, as per teaching of Etemad, in order to save signaling overhead.
Claims 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Muruganathan et al. (US 2019/0223161B2, hereinafter Muruganathan) in view of Etemad et al. (US 2014/0036796 A1, hereinafter Etemad) as applied in claim 1 above, and further in view of Wu et al. (US 2020/0067612 A1, hereinafter Wu).
Regarding claim 6, Muruganathan discloses that the second information is useable to indicate a third time-frequency resource, and the third time-frequency resource is an interference measurement resource corresponding to a second interference pattern of the second network device ([0059]). The combination of Muruganathan and Etemad differs from the claimed invention in not specifically teaching that the reporting the first interference information to the first network device comprises: reporting second interference information to the first network device, wherein the second interference information is obtained through measurement on the third time-frequency resource. However, Wu teaches first terminal device reports, to the first network side device, an interference measurement result obtained based on the first interference measurement and the second interference measurement ([0195]-[0197]) in order to ensure the measurement accuracy. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Muruganathan and Etemad, in having the reporting the first interference information to the first network device comprises: reporting second interference information to the first network device, wherein the second interference information is obtained through measurement on the third time-frequency resource, in order to ensure the measurement accuracy.
Regarding claim 7, Wu discloses that the first interference information is comprised in a first measurement report; and the reporting the first interference information to the first network device comprises: sending the first measurement report to the first network device; and the first measurement report further comprises first indication information, and the first indication information is usable to indicate the second network device ([0196]-[0197], the first terminal device reports, to the first network side device, an interference measurement result obtained based on the first interference measurement and the second interference measurement) in order to ensure the measurement accuracy.
Claims 8-10 and 12-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al. (US 2020/0067612 A1, hereinafter Wu) in view of Qi et al. (WO 2023/248961 A1, hereinafter Qi).
Regarding claim 8, Wu discloses a communication apparatus (figure 3, first network device) comprising: at least one processor (figure 13, 503); and a non-transitory computer readable medium (figure 13, 504) configured to store non-transitory instructions, the at least one processor being configured to execute the non-transitory instructions thereby causing the communication apparatus to perform operations comprising: sending second information (figure 11, 310) to a first terminal (figure 11, second terminal device) on the first time-frequency resource, wherein the second information is useable by the first terminal to measure interference ([0189]-[0190], the second network side device sends configuration information of a measurement signal resource, and the second terminal device receives the configuration information of the measurement signal resource). Wu differs from the claimed invention in not specifically teaching to receive first information from a first network device, wherein the first information is usable to indicate a first time-frequency resource. However, Qi teaches a victim base station (figure 8, 5B) needs to identify the source of the interference (figure 8, base station 5A) to mitigate the interference from that particular aggressor such that the base stations 5A and 5B may be configured to exchange, over the Xn interface, appropriate information to assist the other base station in mitigating CLI (pages 12-13, paragraphs [0065]-[0067]) in order to mitigate or alleviate harmful remote interference. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Wu in receiving first information from a first network device, wherein the first information is usable to indicate a first time-frequency resource, as per teaching of Qi, in order to mitigate or alleviate harmful remote interference.
Regarding claim 9, Wu discloses that the second information indicates is useable to indicate a second time-frequency resource, and the second time-frequency resource is an interference measurement resource corresponding to a first interference pattern of the second network device ([0087]-[0088], the second network side device may send configuration information of a measurement signal resource, where the configuration information of the measurement signal resource is used to configure a resource for sending the measurement signal, and the second terminal device may determine, based on the configuration information of the measurement signal resource).
Regarding claim 10, Wu discloses that the second information comprises: an index of the second time-frequency resource; an index of a first reporting configuration, and the first reporting configuration is associated with the second time-frequency resource; or an index of a first measurement resource set, and the first measurement resource set comprises the second time-frequency resource ([0088], the measurement signal may be a reference signal, for example, an SRS, a DMRS, a PTRS, or another RS or another data signal).
Regarding claim 12, Wu discloses that the second information is useable to indicate a third time-frequency resource, and the third time-frequency resource is an interference measurement resource corresponding to a second interference pattern of the second network device ([0189]-[0190], second network side device sends configuration information of a measurement signal resource, and the second terminal device receives the configuration information of the measurement signal resource, wherein the configuration information of the measurement signal resource may be used by the second terminal device to determine a first measurement signal resource).
Regarding claim 13, Wu discloses a communication apparatus (figure 11, first network device) comprising: at least one processor (figure 13, 503); and a non-transitory computer readable medium (figure 12, 504) configured to store non-transitory instructions, wherein the communication apparatus is a first network device, and the at least one processor being configured to execute the non-transitory instructions thereby causing the communication apparatus to perform operations comprising: sending first information to a first terminal, wherein the first information indicates is useable to indicate a first time-frequency resource ([0193], first network side device sends configuration information of an interference measurement resource based on the first measurement signal resource); and receiving first interference information reported by from the first terminal, wherein the first interference information is obtained by the first terminal by measuring interference, based on second information, that is received from the second network device on the first time-frequency resource ([0196]-[0197], the first terminal device reports, to the first network side device, an interference measurement result obtained based on the first interference measurement and the second interference measurement). Wu differs from the claimed invention in not specifically in sending second information to a second network device, wherein the second information indicates is useable to indicate the first time-frequency resource. However, Qi teaches a victim base station (figure 8, 5B) needs to identify the source of the interference (figure 8, base station 5A) to mitigate the interference from that particular aggressor such that the base stations 5A and 5B may be configured to exchange, over the Xn interface, appropriate information to assist the other base station in mitigating CLI (pages 12-13, paragraphs [0065]-[0067]) in order to mitigate or alleviate harmful remote interference. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Wu in sending second information to a second network device, wherein the second information indicates is useable to indicate the first time-frequency resource, as per teaching of Qi, in order to mitigate or alleviate harmful remote interference.
Regarding claim 14, the limitations of the claim are rejected as the same reasons as set forth in claims 9-10.
Regarding claim 15, the limitations of the claim are rejected as the same reasons as set forth in claim 12.
Regarding claim 16, Wu discloses that the receiving the first interference information from the first terminal comprises: receiving a first measurement report from the first terminal, wherein the first measurement report comprises the first interference information, and first indication information, and the first indication information indicates is usable to indicate the second network device ([0196]-[0197], the first terminal device reports, to the first network side device, an interference measurement result obtained based on the first interference measurement and the second interference measurement).
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wu et al. (US 2020/0067612 hereinafter Wu) in view of Qi et al. (WO 2023/248961 A1, hereinafter Qi) as applied in claim 8 above, and further in view of Etemad et al. (US 2014/0036796 hereinafter Etemad).
Regarding claim 11, Wu discloses that the second information is useable to indicate a first-time range ([0093], the time-frequency location corresponding to the first measurement resource is the same as all or some time-frequency locations corresponding to the first measurement signal resource, and the first measurement resource). The combination of Wu and Qi differs from the claimed invention in not specifically disclosing the second information is useable to indicate a first-time range in which the first terminal fails to detect indication information that is from the second network device, and the indication information is useable to indicate to measure interference. However, Etemad teaches if common-RI-Report-r11, common-SB-Report-r11, common-RI-PMI-Report-r11 are configured for a particular CSI, then the rank indicator, preferred set of subbands, and precoding matrix indicator/rank indicator, respectively, are dropped and not transmitted in the channel state information report for that CSI process to save signaling overhead ([0027]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination of Wu and Qi in having the second information is useable to indicate a first-time range in which the first terminal fails to detect indication information that is from the second network device, and the indication information is useable to indicate to measure interference, as per teaching of Etemad, in to save signaling overhead.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-16 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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GEORGE ENG whose telephone number is (571)272-7495. The examiner can normally be reached Flex M to F, 7 am to 3 pm.
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/GEORGE ENG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2699
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