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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
Acknowledgment is made of the information disclosure statement filed on November 4, 2025. U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, and non-patent literature documents have been considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Prior to the amended claim, Claim 15 contained alternative language (“(a) or (b)”). Claim 15 is now amended to require conditions (a) and (b), but also continually states, “[I]n response to determine that at least one of (a) or (b) applies” (emphasis added). Furthermore, while the conditional language is supported in the specification per paragraph [00131] and Figure 18, the “(a) and (b)” requirement is not supported in the specification.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Where applicant acts as his or her own lexicographer to specifically define a term of a claim contrary to its ordinary meaning, the written description must clearly redefine the claim term and set forth the uncommon definition so as to put one reasonably skilled in the art on notice that the applicant intended to so redefine that claim term. Process Control Corp. v. HydReclaim Corp., 190 F.3d 1350, 1357, 52 USPQ2d 1029, 1033 (Fed. Cir. 1999). The term “DCI” in claims 2, 3, 9, 10, 15 is used by the claim to mean “dynamic control information,” while the accepted meaning is “downlink control information.” The term is indefinite because the specification does not clearly redefine the term.
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 1-4, 6-11, and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et. al. (U.S. Pat. Pub. 2023/0291525), herein referred to as “Zhou”, in view of Rong et. al. (U.S. Pat. Pub. 2023/0269041), herein referred to as “Rong.” The Zhou reference is the U.S.-based counterpart to the WIPO reference (WO 2022052954 A1) that was provided in the information disclosure statement dated March 21, 2024. The Rong reference was provided in the information disclosure statement dated November 4, 2025.
Regarding Claim 1,
Zhou discloses: A method of communicating with multiple transmission and reception points (multi-TRPs), the method comprising: receiving, by a user equipment (UE), transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state information specifying an indicated TCI state set including one or more activated TCI states
[0069] FIG. 4 is a call-flow diagram 400 illustrating activation of joint DL/UL TCI states in association with a single scheduling DCI 414 from one TRP 406 scheduling a UE 402 with DL/UL with multiple TRPs 406, 408, 410 of the base station (BS) 404. The UE 402 receives, from a TRP 406, a MAC-CE 412 activating at least one set of joint DL/UL TCI states for a plurality of TRPs (e.g., two or more of 406, 408, 410).
receiving, by the UE, an indication of association
[0138] In one configuration, the UE 402 may receive, from a base station 404 associated with the TRP 406 and the plurality of TRPs, a configuration indicating the mapping between the activated at least one set of joint DL and UL TCI states and the scheduled communication through the DL and the UL with the plurality of TRPs. The configuration may be received through one of RRC signaling, a MAC-CE, or DCI.
and identifying, by the UE and based on the indication of association, the one or more TRPs of the multi-TRPs to apply a configuration of the indicated TCI state set
[0138] In one configuration, the activated at least one set of joint DL and UL TCI states are applied to the scheduled communication through the DL and the UL with the plurality of TRPs based on a preconfiguration. That is, the UE 402 may be preconfigured to apply the activated sets of joint DL/UL TCI states C.sub.0, C.sub.1, . . . , C.sub.N to scheduled UL/DL communication with a plurality of TRPs.
Zhou does not disclose an indication of association that is TRP-specific.
However, Rong discloses an indication of association that is TRP-specific.
[0106] In another embodiment, the base station uses DCI message of an existing format, for example, DCI formats 1_1 or 1_2 for TCI state update/beam indication. In one alternative, the DCI formats 1_1 or 1_2 comprises DL assignment information. In another alternative, the DCI formats 1_1 or 1_2 does not comprise DL assignment information. In this embodiment, no new RNTI is required to indicate that the DCI is used for UL beam indication. Depending on the TCI state(s) indicated by the TCI field of the DCI message, the DCI message may be used to indicate DL TCI state, UL TCI state, joint DL/UL TCI state, both DL TCI and UL TCI states, and multiple TCI states. By joint DL/UL TCI state, it refers to TCI state that may be used for beam indication for both DL channels and UL channels for the UE. By multiple TCI states, it refers to cases where multiple DL TCI states, multiple UL TCI states, or multiple joint DL/UL TCI states are indicated in one instance of DCI. The mapping between TCI state(s) and codepoint(s) of the TCI field of the DCI message is indicated by the base station to the UE in UE-specific TCI states activation/deactivation MAC CE. For reference convenience, codepoint of the TCI field of the DCI message may be referred to as TCI codepoint throughout the document.
Note: Applicant’s specification paragraph [0054] states that a specific RRC parameter configuration can indicate a specific TRP. This RRC parameter can also comprise a unified TCI state based on codepoint mapping in MAC CE. Here, since there are UE-specific TCI states based on MAC CE, it is TRP-specific.
Zhou and Rong 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 Zhou to include the concept of an indication of association that is TRP-specific as taught by Rong so as to improve communication between TRPs.
Regarding Claim 2,
Zhou discloses: The method of claim 1, wherein the UE receives the TCI state information and the indication of association via a dynamic control information (DCI) message that includes a single TCI field conveying a codepoint value specifying the indicated TCI state set and the indication of association.
[0143] In one configuration, the UE receives, from the TRP, DCI scheduling the communication through the DL and the UL with the plurality of TRPs. The DCI excludes TCI codepoint information. In such a configuration, the scheduled communication through DL and UL with the plurality of TRPs is based on a default TCI codepoint indicated in the MAC-CE. The default TCI codepoint is associated with a set of default joint common DL and UL beams.
[0149] In one configuration, the reception component 1730 is configured to receive, from a base station 102/180/404 associated with the TRP and the plurality of TRPs, a configuration indicating a mapping between the activated at least one set of joint DL and UL TCI states and the scheduled communication through the DL and the UL with the plurality of TRPs. In one configuration, the configuration is received through one of RRC signaling, a MAC-CE, or DCI. In one configuration, the MAC-CE includes a bitmap indicating at least one TCI codepoint. Each TCI codepoint of the at least one TCI codepoint includes a set of TCI state IDs corresponding to at least one of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states, the activated DL TCI states, or the activated UL TCI states. In one configuration, one TCI codepoint of the at least one TCI codepoint is associated with a set of default joint common DL and UL beams.
Regarding Claim 3,
Zhou discloses: The method of claim 1, wherein the UE receives the indication of association based on at least one of radio resource control (RRC) signaling, a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) command, or a dynamic control information (DCI) message.
[0143] In one configuration, the UE receives, from the TRP, DCI scheduling the communication through the DL and the UL with the plurality of TRPs. The DCI excludes TCI codepoint information. In such a configuration, the scheduled communication through DL and UL with the plurality of TRPs is based on a default TCI codepoint indicated in the MAC-CE. The default TCI codepoint is associated with a set of default joint common DL and UL beams.
[0149] In one configuration, the reception component 1730 is configured to receive, from a base station 102/180/404 associated with the TRP and the plurality of TRPs, a configuration indicating a mapping between the activated at least one set of joint DL and UL TCI states and the scheduled communication through the DL and the UL with the plurality of TRPs. In one configuration, the configuration is received through one of RRC signaling, a MAC-CE, or DCI. In one configuration, the MAC-CE includes a bitmap indicating at least one TCI codepoint. Each TCI codepoint of the at least one TCI codepoint includes a set of TCI state IDs corresponding to at least one of the activated joint DL and UL TCI states, the activated DL TCI states, or the activated UL TCI states. In one configuration, one TCI codepoint of the at least one TCI codepoint is associated with a set of default joint common DL and UL beams.
Regarding Claim 4,
Zhou discloses: The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the one or more TRPs includes applying a pre-determined, order-based rule to associate the indicated TCI state set with the one or more TRPs.
[0137] In one configuration, the at least one set of activated joint DL and UL TCI states includes one set of activated joint DL and UL TCI states, and the activated one set of joint DL and UL TCI states are applied sequentially to the scheduled communication through the DL and the UL with the plurality of TRPs. For example, of the 0.sup.th set of joint DL/UL TCI states is activated with C.sub.0 and the optional R joint DL/UL TCI state, the joint DL/UL TCI states corresponding to the TCI state IDs TCI state ID.sub.0,1, TCI state ID.sub.0,2 may be mapped sequentially to the scheduled DL/UL communication with the TRPs 406, 408, respectively.
[0138] In one configuration, the activated at least one set of joint DL and UL TCI states are applied to the scheduled communication through the DL and the UL with the plurality of TRPs based on a preconfiguration. That is, the UE 402 may be preconfigured to apply the activated sets of joint DL/UL TCI states C.sub.0, C.sub.1, . . . , C.sub.N to scheduled UL/DL communication with a plurality of TRPs.
Regarding Claim 6,
Zhou discloses: The method of claim 1, wherein: a target resource for carrying out UL transmission to the one or more TRPs includes a sounding reference signal (SRS) target resource, and the indication of association includes a radio resource control (RRC) parameter that associates the SRS target resource to the indicated TCI state set or to the one or more TRPs.
[0071] At least in case of a single activated set, each of the multiple activated joint DL/UL TCI states may be sequentially applied to DL receptions or UL transmissions associated with each of the multiple scheduled TRPs. The channel types or resources for DL receptions associated with a TRP may be such as PDSCH, PDCCH or COREST, CSI-RS, and the channel types or resources for UL transmission associated with a TRP may be such as PUSCH, PUCCH, SRS, or PRACH.
The mapping between joint TCI state and resources of DL receptions or UL transmissions associated with each TRP may be determined in the specification (i.e., predetermined) or dynamically by BS 404 via RRC/MAC-CE/DCI.
Regarding Claim 7,
Zhou discloses: The method of claim 1, wherein: a target resource for carrying out DL reception from the one or more TRPs includes a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) target resource, and the indication of association includes an RRC parameter that associates the CSI-RS target resource to the indicated TCI state set or to the one or more TRPs.
[0071] At least in case of a single activated set, each of the multiple activated joint DL/UL TCI states may be sequentially applied to DL receptions or UL transmissions associated with each of the multiple scheduled TRPs. The channel types or resources for DL receptions associated with a TRP may be such as PDSCH, PDCCH or COREST, CSI-RS, and the channel types or resources for UL transmission associated with a TRP may be such as PUSCH, PUCCH, SRS, or PRACH.
The mapping between joint TCI state and resources of DL receptions or UL transmissions associated with each TRP may be determined in the specification (i.e., predetermined) or dynamically by BS 404 via RRC/MAC-CE/DCI.
Regarding Claim 8,
Claim 8 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 1.
Zhou discloses: A user equipment (UE) device comprising: a processor;
a memory including instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the UE device to: receive transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state information specifying an indicated TCI state set including one or more activated TCI states
[0069] FIG. 4 is a call-flow diagram 400 illustrating activation of joint DL/UL TCI states in association with a single scheduling DCI 414 from one TRP 406 scheduling a UE 402 with DL/UL with multiple TRPs 406, 408, 410 of the base station (BS) 404. The UE 402 receives, from a TRP 406, a MAC-CE 412 activating at least one set of joint DL/UL TCI states for a plurality of TRPs (e.g., two or more of 406, 408, 410).
receive an indication of association
[0138] In one configuration, the UE 402 may receive, from a base station 404 associated with the TRP 406 and the plurality of TRPs, a configuration indicating the mapping between the activated at least one set of joint DL and UL TCI states and the scheduled communication through the DL and the UL with the plurality of TRPs. The configuration may be received through one of RRC signaling, a MAC-CE, or DCI.
and identify, based on the indication of association, the one or more TRPs of the multi-TRPs to apply a configuration of the indicated TCI state set.
[0138] In one configuration, the activated at least one set of joint DL and UL TCI states are applied to the scheduled communication through the DL and the UL with the plurality of TRPs based on a preconfiguration. That is, the UE 402 may be preconfigured to apply the activated sets of joint DL/UL TCI states C.sub.0, C.sub.1, . . . , C.sub.N to scheduled UL/DL communication with a plurality of TRPs.
Zhou does not disclose an indication of association that is TRP-specific.
However, Rong discloses an indication of association that is TRP-specific.
[0106] In another embodiment, the base station uses DCI message of an existing format, for example, DCI formats 1_1 or 1_2 for TCI state update/beam indication. In one alternative, the DCI formats 1_1 or 1_2 comprises DL assignment information. In another alternative, the DCI formats 1_1 or 1_2 does not comprise DL assignment information. In this embodiment, no new RNTI is required to indicate that the DCI is used for UL beam indication. Depending on the TCI state(s) indicated by the TCI field of the DCI message, the DCI message may be used to indicate DL TCI state, UL TCI state, joint DL/UL TCI state, both DL TCI and UL TCI states, and multiple TCI states. By joint DL/UL TCI state, it refers to TCI state that may be used for beam indication for both DL channels and UL channels for the UE. By multiple TCI states, it refers to cases where multiple DL TCI states, multiple UL TCI states, or multiple joint DL/UL TCI states are indicated in one instance of DCI. The mapping between TCI state(s) and codepoint(s) of the TCI field of the DCI message is indicated by the base station to the UE in UE-specific TCI states activation/deactivation MAC CE. For reference convenience, codepoint of the TCI field of the DCI message may be referred to as TCI codepoint throughout the document.
Note: Applicant’s specification paragraph [0054] states that a specific RRC parameter configuration can indicate a specific TRP. This RRC parameter can also comprise a unified TCI state based on codepoint mapping in MAC CE. Here, since there are UE-specific TCI states based on MAC CE, it is TRP-specific.
Zhou and Rong 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 Zhou to include the concept of an indication of association that is TRP-specific as taught by Rong so as to improve communication between TRPs.
Regarding Claim 9,
Claim 9 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 2.
Regarding Claim 10,
Claim 10 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 3.
Regarding Claim 11,
Claim 11 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 4.
Regarding Claim 13,
Claim 13 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 6.
Regarding Claim 14,
Claim 14 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 7.
Claims 5 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou in view of Matsumura et. al. (WO 2022079813 A1), herein referred to as “Matsumura”. This reference was provided in the information disclosure statement dated March 21, 2024.
Regarding Claim 5,
Zhou does not disclose all the limitations of Claim 5.
However, Matsumura discloses: The method of claim 1, further comprising:
receiving, by the UE, a beam failure recovery (BFR) response including an updated indicated TCI state set and an updated indication of association between the updated indicated TCI state set and an updated one or more TRPs of the multi-TRPs;
[0218] This makes it possible to selectively update the beam (TCI state / spatial relationship) used for UL transmission / DL reception in the TRP where the beam failure is detected when the beam failure is detected independently for each TRP. Will be. As a result, the BFR procedure can be appropriately performed in TRP units.
and applying a configuration of the updated indicated TCI state set to the updated one or more TRPs X symbols after reception of the BFR response, wherein X is based on the smallest of a subcarrier spacing (SCS) configuration per TRP or among all the multi-TRPs
[0221] The base station transmits a response signal (or DL signal) to the MAC CE transmitted from the UE. The DL signal may be a DCI / PDCCH (eg, a PDCCH having a predetermined DCI format) that schedules PUSCH transmission. The PUSCH transmission may have the same HARQ process number as the first PUSCH (eg, the PUSCH used to transmit the MAC CE) and may have a toggled NDI field value.
[0222] When the UE receives the DL signal transmitted from the base station, the UE may apply a predetermined UE operation to the TRP that has detected a beam failure in the predetermined SCell after a predetermined period (for example, 28 symbols). On the other hand, it is not necessary to apply the predetermined UE operation to the TRP in which the beam failure is not detected in the predetermined SCell. The predetermined UE operation may be at least one of the above-mentioned UE operation 1 to UE operation 3.
[0229] In FIG. 19, the UE detects beam faults in TRP # 0 and TRP # 1, respectively, and one or both of the information on the new candidate RS index corresponding to TRP # 0 and the information on the new candidate RS index corresponding to TRP # 1. Is shown when transmitting using MAC CE.
[0240] After receiving the DL signal, the UE sets the TCI state / spatial relationship corresponding to the TRP index (for example, the control resource pool index (CORESETPoolindex)) that transmitted the information about the new candidate RS index using MAC CE to a predetermined value (for example). For example, it may be controlled to update to qnew).
[0244] For example, the UE may apply a predetermined UE operation (or qnew) to the PDCCH / PUCCH associated with each TRP index (or corresponding CORESET pool index). That is, the UE may control to change (or update) the TCI state / spatial relationship corresponding to the plurality of TRPs that have detected the beam failure.
Note: The 28 symbols represents the smallest of the SCS configurations, since it occurs over a predetermined period/time.
Zhou 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 Zhou to include the concept of receiving a BFR response with an updated TCI set, indication of association, and TRPs, while applying the configuration of said updated entities to TRP symbols based on the smallest SCS as taught by Matsumura so as to improve communication between TRPs.
Regarding Claim 12,
Claim 12 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 5.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #102-e, “Remaining issues on Multi-TRP operation”, R1-2005354, August 17th-28th, 2020, herein referred to as “R1-2005354”, in view of Kang et. al. (U.S. Pat. Pub. 2022/0053544), herein referred to as “Kang” . The R1-2005354 reference was provided in the information disclosure statement dated July 22, 2024.
Regarding Claim 15,
R1-2005354 discloses: A method of communicating with multiple transmission and reception points (multi-TRPs), the method comprising: receiving, by a user equipment (UE) and from a TRP of the multi-TRPs, a dynamic control information (DCI) message scheduling reception of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH);
(Section 2.1.1, page 1)
The issue of default QCL assumption for PDSCH in single-PDCCH-based multi-TRP when tci-PresentInDCI is not configured, i.e ., TCI field not present in the DCI, was addressed in [3] but no consensus was reached.
determining, by the UE, that (a) and (b) applies:
(a) the DCI message does not include transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state information, and
(b)
(Section 2.1.1, page 2)
When at least one TCI codepoint indicates two TCI states, if the PDSCH is scheduled by a DCI format not having the TCI field present, and the offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH is less than the threshold timeDurationForQCL, the UE assumes that the default TCI state of the PDSCH is the first one of the two TCI states corresponding to the lowest codepoint among the TCI codepoints containing two different TCI states.
in response to determining that at least one of (a) or (b) applies, determining, by the UE, a default TCI state
(Section 2.1.1, page 2)
When at least one TCI codepoint indicates two TCI states, if the PDSCH is scheduled by a DCI format not having the TCI field present, and the offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH is less than the threshold timeDurationForQCL, the UE assumes that the default TCI state of the PDSCH is the first one of the two TCI states corresponding to the lowest codepoint among the TCI codepoints containing two different TCI states.
and applying, by the UE, a configuration of the default TCI state to carry out at least one of uplink (UL) transmissions or downlink (DL) receptions with one or more TRPs of the multi-TRPs
(Section 2.1.1, page 2)
When at least one TCI codepoint indicates two TCI states, if the PDSCH is scheduled by a DCI format not having the TCI field present, and the offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the corresponding PDSCH is less than the threshold timeDurationForQCL, the UE assumes that the default TCI state of the PDSCH is the first one of the two TCI states corresponding to the lowest codepoint among the TCI codepoints containing two different TCI states.
R1-2005354 does not disclose the DCI message schedules the PDSCH before a time duration for applying quasi co-location (QCL) information received in the DCI for PDSCH processing.
However, Kang discloses the DCI message schedules the PDSCH before a time duration for applying quasi co-location (QCL) information received in the DCI for PDSCH processing.
[0438] The proposal 1-1 is described below by being divided into a case of setting tci-PresentInDCI=ON while the PDSCH is scheduled after a fixed time threshold compared to a PDCCH transmission time point in consideration of a time required for DCI decoding, a time required for a beam change, etc. (proposal 1-1-1), a case of setting tci-PresentInDCI=OFF while the PDSCH is scheduled after the fixed time threshold compared to the PDCCH transmission time point (proposal 1-1-2), and a case in which even one of all the PDSCHs is scheduled before the fixed time threshold (proposal 1-1-3). For example, the threshold may refer to a time or a minimum time required to apply spatial QCL information.
Note: While DCI in this reference refers to downlink control information, dynamic control information is also present because of having uplink and downlink control information in one slot, as shown here:
[0246] That is, uplink control information and downlink control information may be transmitted in one self-contained slot. On the other hand, in the case of data, uplink data or downlink data is transmitted in one self-contained slot.
R1-2005354 and Kang 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 R1-2005354 to include the concept of the DCI message scheduling the PDSCH before a time duration for applying quasi co-location (QCL) information received in the DCI for PDSCH processing as taught by Kang so as to improve communication between TRPs.
Claims 16 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over R1-2005354 in view of Kang, held further in view of Zhang et. al. (U.S. Pat. Pub. 2023/0078059), herein referred to as “Zhang”.
Regarding Claim 16,
R1-2005354 in view of Kang does not disclose all the limitations of Claim 16.
However, Zhang discloses: The method of claim 15, further comprising:
receiving, by the UE, a list of one or more TCI states via radio resource control (RRC) signaling; and receiving, by the UE, a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) command activating one or more TCI states from the list of TCI states, wherein each of the activated TCI states is associated with a physical cell ID (PCI) value that is different from a PCI value of a serving cell.
[0129] The multiple PCIs corresponding to one serving cell include one of the following: multiple PCIs configured for one serving cell through an RRC signaling; multiple PCIs activated for one serving cell through a MAC-CE signaling; multiple PCIs included in a TCI state configured to one serving cell through the RRC signaling; multiple PCIs included in a TCI state activated for one serving cell through the MAC-CE signaling; multiple PCIs included in a TCI state configured for one BWP of one serving cell through the RRC signaling; or, multiple PCIs included in a TCI state activated for one BWP of one serving cell through the MAC-CE signaling; where the multiple PCIs included in the configured or activated TCI state are included in TCI states with the same TCI state index, or the multiple PCIs are included in TCI states with different TCI state indexes. The mobility measurement result may be included in one of the following: the RRC signaling, the MAC-CE signaling or the UCI.
R1-2005354 in view of Kang and Zhang 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 R1-2005354 in view of Kang to include the concept of receiving a list of one or more TCI states via (RRC) signaling, as well as a MAC CE command activating a TCI state from a list, where the TCI state is associated with a PCI value different than a PCI value of a serving cell as taught by Zhang so as to improve communication between TRPs.
Regarding Claim 18,
Claim 18 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 16.
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over R1-2005354 in view of Kang, held further in view of Sun et. al. (U.S. Pat. Pub. 2024/0163065), herein referred to as “Sun”.
Regarding Claim 17,
R1-2005354 in view of Kang does not disclose all the limitations of Claim 17.
However, Sun discloses: The method of claim 16, wherein each of the activated TCI states are mapped to a codepoint value, and the UE determines the default TCI state based on a lowest codepoint value among codepoint values mapped to multiple, activated TCI states.
[0157] In a twenty fourth example, the processor of the twenty second example, wherein the default TCI state parameters are determined based on a TCI codepoint activated for the PDSCH having a lowest ID amongst all TCI codepoints activated for the PDSCH.
R1-2005354 in view of Kang and Sun 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 R1-2005354 in view of Kang to include the concept of having an activated TCI state mapped to a codepoint value, where the default TCI state is based on a the lowest codepoint value as taught by Sun so as to improve communication between TRPs.
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over R1-2005354 in view of Kang, held further in view of Matsumura et. al. (U.S. Pat. Pub. 2025/0254748), herein referred to as “Matsumura II”, and held further in view of Cosma et. al. (U.S. Pat. Pub. 20240188015), herein referred to as “Cosma”.
Regarding Claim 19,
R1-2005354 in view of Kang does not disclose all the limitations of Claim 19.
However, Matsumura II discloses: The method of claim 15, further comprising:
receiving, by the UE, a list of one or more TCI states via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, each of the TCI states corresponding to a control resource set (CORESET) belonging to at least one of a first CORESET pool or a second CORESET pool; and
receiving, by the UE, a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) command activating a first TCI state corresponding to CORESETs in the first CORESET pool and a second TCI state corresponding to CORESETs in the second CORESET pool
[0308] For multi-DCI based multi-TRP, in a case of joint TCI states, configuration by RRC, activation by a MAC CE, and indication by DCI for TCI states may be performed for a UE for a CORESET pool index having a first value (for example, 0) (see FIG. 11A). An indicated TCI state corresponding to the CORESET pool index having the first value may be referred to as a first TCI state.
[0310] For multi-DCI based multi-TRP, in a case of joint TCI states, configuration by RRC, activation by a MAC CE, and indication by DCI for TCI states may be performed for a UE for a CORESET pool index having a second value (for example, 1) (see FIG. 12A). An indicated TCI state corresponding to the CORESET pool index having the second value may be referred to as a second TCI state.
R1-2005354 in view of Kang and Matsumura II 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 R1-2005354 in view of Kang to include the concept of receiving a list of TCI states via RRC which correspond to CORSET pools, as well as receiving a MAC CE command activating a TCI state corresponding to different CORESET pools as taught by Matsumura II so as to improve communication between TRPs.
Cosma discloses the final limitations:
wherein the multi-TRPs include an intra-cell TRP associated with a first physical cell ID (PCI) value of a serving cell and an inter-cell TRP associated with a second PCI value different from the first PCI value
[0277] In an embodiment, a WTRU may determine whether the received PDCCHs are from the same cell, e.g., intra-cell, or from two different cells, e.g., inter-cell, by detecting the association of CORESETPoolIndex values. [0278] In an embodiment, if CORESETPoolIndex value may take only from two values, e.g., {0, 1}, one of CORESETPoolIndex value, e.g., 0, may be always associated to a first PCI or serving cell, while the other value, e.g., 1, may be associated to one or more of PCI values that may be the serving cell or one of the neighboring cells. [0279] A WTRU may receive an indication to switch between inter-cell mTRP operation and intra-cell mTRP operation.
the UE determines the default TCI state for carrying out the DL transmissions or UL receptions with the intra-cell TRP based on CORESETs corresponding to the first TCI state
[0293] The TCI state configuration may include an index or an indicator that may be used to discriminate the serving cell related TCI states from those of intra-cell mTRP and inter-cell TRP. Using this information the following embodiments can be envisioned:
[0294] In an embodiment, it is proposed that at any moment, only intra-cell mTRP or inter-cell mTRP may operate, thus there is no simultaneous intra-cell and inter-cell mTRP operation.
[0295] Under this scenario, as TCI states may be activated by MAC, the gNB may decide which mTRP will operate by TCI state activation. Thus, if the intra-cell TCI states are active, then the WTRU may use CORESETPoolIndex 1 for intra-cell mTRP using the corresponding QCL assumption associated to the PCI of the serving cell and RSs related to the intra-cell TRP. If the inter-cell related TCI states (that are known by index or cell PCI indicator) are activated, the WTRU may use CORESETPoolIndex 1 for inter-cell mTRP reception using the correct QCL indicated by the appropriate active TCI state. It is understood that the intra-cell vs. inter-cell TRP switching using MAC TCI activation mechanism described above may have a certain latency derived from MAC operation level.
the UE determines the default TCI state for carrying out the DL transmissions or UL receptions with the inter-cell TRP based on CORESETs corresponding to the second TCI state
[0293] The TCI state configuration may include an index or an indicator that may be used to discriminate the serving cell related TCI states from those of intra-cell mTRP and inter-cell TRP. Using this information the following embodiments can be envisioned:
[0294] In an embodiment, it is proposed that at any moment, only intra-cell mTRP or inter-cell mTRP may operate, thus there is no simultaneous intra-cell and inter-cell mTRP operation.
[0295] Under this scenario, as TCI states may be activated by MAC, the gNB may decide which mTRP will operate by TCI state activation. Thus, if the intra-cell TCI states are active, then the WTRU may use CORESETPoolIndex 1 for intra-cell mTRP using the corresponding QCL assumption associated to the PCI of the serving cell and RSs related to the intra-cell TRP. If the inter-cell related TCI states (that are known by index or cell PCI indicator) are activated, the WTRU may use CORESETPoolIndex 1 for inter-cell mTRP reception using the correct QCL indicated by the appropriate active TCI state. It is understood that the intra-cell vs. inter-cell TRP switching using MAC TCI activation mechanism described above may have a certain latency derived from MAC operation level.
R1-2005354 in view of Kang and Cosma 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 R1-2005354 in view of Kang to include the concept of intra- and inter-cell TRPs containing PCIs that are different from each other, as well as determining the TCI state of the intra- and inter-cell TRPs based on CORESETs corresponding to different TCI state as taught by Cosma so as to improve communication between TRPs.
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over R1-2005354 in view of Kang, Matsumura II, and Cosma, held further in view of Zhou et. al. (U.S. Pat. Pub. 2021/0112561), herein referred to as “Zhou II”.
Regarding Claim 20,
R1-2005354 in view of Kang, Matsumura II, and Cosma does not disclose all the limitations of Claim 20.
However, Zhou II discloses: The method of claim 19, wherein the UE determines the default TCI state for carrying out the DL transmissions or UL receptions with the inter-cell TRP based on a lowest CORESET ID among CORESETs corresponding to the second TCI state set.
[0099] In the example of FIG. 2, the wireless communications system 200 supports communications between a UE 115-a and multiple TRPs 205. Wireless communications system 200 may support multiple-PDCCH based multi-TRP or multi-panel transmission. In some cases, multi-TRP communications may be intra-cell (e.g., where TRP 205-a and TRP 205-b are associated with a same cell ID), inter-cell (e.g., where TRP 205-a and TRP 205-b are associated with different cell IDs), or combinations thereof. In the example of FIG. 2, UE 115-a may receive an RRC configuration from a base station (e.g., via one or more TRPs 205) that may configure multi-TRP operation in which multiple concurrent downlink transmissions from multiple TRPs 205 may be transmitted to UE 115-a. In some cases, default beams may be configured for TRPs 205 that may be used when a PDCCH transmission and PDSCH transmission occur within a time threshold. In some cases, the default beam for first TRP 205-a may be based on a configured CORESET or multiple CORESETs that the first TRP may monitor for control information. For example, the default beam may be determined based on a CORESET with a lowest CORESET ID, and a transmission control indicator (TCI) state associated with the CORESET may be used to derive the corresponding beamforming parameters.
R1-2005354 in view of Kang, Matsumura II, Cosma, and Zhou II 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 R1-2005354 in view of Kang, Matsumura II, and Cosma to include the concept of determining the default TCI state for carrying out transmissions with inter-call TRP based on a lowest CORESET ID as taught by Zhou II so as to improve communication between TRPs.
Claim 21 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over R1-2005354 in view of Kang, held further in view of Nilsson et. al. (U.S. Pat. Pub. 2024/0214035), herein referred to as “Nilsson”.
Regarding Claim 21,
R1-2005354 in view of Kang does not disclose all the limitations of Claim 21.
However, Nilsson discloses: The method of claim 15, further comprising reducing, by the UE, a maximum rank of transmission supported per single TRP transmission if (b) applies.
[0050] One example of this is illustrated in FIG. 3, which show simulation results in terms of user throughput gain (in percentage) as a function of number of receive chains at the serving TRP (denoted number of BS RX chains) for different settings. The simulation results are shown for an urban microcellular (UMi) scenario for four UEs 150a:150d transmitting data in the uplink with directional antennas pointing in opposite directions with Rel-15 power scaling. As can be seen, the optimal performance (user throughput gain relative fixed rank 1) based on a max rank restriction depends on the number for receiver chains at the TRP, the traffic load in the system (top two figures show high load, and bottom two figures show low load) and if one optimizes for cell-edge user throughput or mean user throughput. For cell-edge user throughput, using a fixed rank 1 yields best performance for 2 and 4 receive chains at the TRP when there is high load in the system (as in the upper left plot). While for mean user throughput, using a maximum rank 4 yields best performance for more than 4 receive chains at the TRP when there is low load in the system.
Note: The transmission is reduced (“restricted”) at the receiver chains at the TRP.
R1-2005354 in view of Kang and Nilsson 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 R1-2005354 in view of to include the concept of reducing a maximum rank of transmission per TRP as taught by Nilsson so as to improve communication between TRPs.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s response filed on November 25, 2025 is acknowledged.
The following claims were amended as part of applicant’s response: 1, 8, 15, 19 and 20.
The claim objections are withdrawn.
The rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) is maintained.
The are no new claims and no canceled claims.
Claims 1-21 are pending.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) (i.e., “dynamic control information”) have been fully considered but is unpersuasive. At issue is “downlink control information” and “dynamic control information.” Applicant argues that “dynamic control information” has support in paragraphs [0026], [0031], [0050], [0057], [0064], and [0093]. However, “downlink control information is presented in paragraph [0004] of Applicant’s specification, whereas “dynamic control information” does not appear until paragraph [00131]. Further complicating matters is that both terms use the abbreviation of “DCI”. Hence, there are conflicting terms that Applicant must correct, and the rejection is maintained.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to independent claims 1 and 8 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.
Further, Applicant argues that Zhou has no TRP-TCI association. See generally Remarks at 12. In response, the claim language only requires an “indication of association” to which Zhou is being interpreted broadly. In similar fashion, Applicant argues that Zhou does not provide TRP identities when that also is not required in the claim language. See generally Remarks at 12 and 13.
Similarly, Applicant’s arguments with respect to independent claims 15 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. The new reference satisfies the conditional “b” statement, and, as such, the arguments are moot.
Additionally, Applicant alleges that R1-2005354 has no disclosure of multi-TRP. This statement is inaccurate, as a plain reading of the document contends with issues of multi-TRP operation. See generally Remarks at 15.
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
/HARRY H KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411