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 Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed October 21, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Examiner respectfully disagrees with Applicants’ assertion that-Applicant respectfully traverses the rejections. Independent claim 1 is amended to recite a method comprising, inter alia, the features of: receiving downlink control information indicating: ... a redundancy version (RV) indication for the plurality of repetitions of the PUSCH transmission; ... determining, based on the RV indication, RVs for the plurality of transmission occasions, wherein each RV, of the plurality of RVs, are for a respective transmission occasion of the plurality of transmission occasions; .... Applicant respectfully submits that the above-recited features of amended independent claim 1 are neither disclosed nor suggested by Matsumura, Jung, Bagheri, or MolavianJazi, alone or in combination-Section 0086 of Bagheri teaches that the higher layers deliver information to the UE, which would be on the downlink, therefore the redundancy version (RV) information delivered to the UE via the higher layers (Section 0088) is downlink information. Additionally, upon applying the broadest reasonable interpretation to control information, RV information reads on downlink control information. Bagheri therefore teaches the limitation in question.
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.
Claim(s) 1 – 3, 8 – 11, 16 – 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumura et al. (US 2022/0408371) in view of Jung et al. (US 2019/0261281) in view of Bagheri et al. (US 2020/0146034) and in further view of MolavianJazi et al. (US 2021/0184812), hereafter Jazi
Regarding Claim 1, Matsumura teaches a method comprising: receiving, by a wireless device, one or more messages comprising one or more configuration parameters indicating an association between one or more transmission configuration indication (TCI) states and one or more power control parameter sets (Section 0201, the association between the TCI states and the power control parameters is indicated by higher layer signaling, one or more candidates for the power control parameter make up the power control parameter set), wherein each power control parameter set comprises a pathloss factor, a received power value, and a closed-loop index (Section 0228, association between the TCI and the P0-alpha set and path loss reference RS and the closed loop index (Section 0235), P0-alpha set is the received power value); receiving a downlink control information indicating a first TCI state among the one or more TCI states (Section 0034, TCI indicated by higher layer signaling comprising RRC (Section 0035) or physical layer signaling comprising DCI (Section 0037)), wherein the first TCI state is associated with a first power control parameter set, among the one or more power control parameter sets, comprising a first pathloss factor, a first received power value, and a first closed-loop index (Section 0228, association between the TCI and the P0-alpha set and path loss reference RS and the closed loop index (Section 0235)); and transmitting an uplink signal using a first transmission power that is determined based on: the first pathloss factor; the first received power value; and the first closed-loop index (Section 0159, P0-alpha, path loss reference RS and closed loop index (Section 0235, enable power control of the uplink).
Matsumura does not teach a plurality of repetitions of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission, transmitting a first repetition, of the plurality of repetitions, using a first transmission power determined based on: the first pathloss factor; the first received power value; and the first closed-loop index; a plurality of transmission occasions for the plurality of repetitions of the PUSCH transmission and a redundancy version (RV) indication for the plurality of repetitions of the PUSCH transmission; determining a spatial domain transmission filter based on the first TCI state of the one or more TCI states; determining, based on the RV indication, RVs for the plurality of transmission occasions, wherein each RV, of the plurality of RVs, are for a respective transmission occasion of the plurality of transmission occasions; and transmitting, via a first transmission occasion of the plurality of transmission occasions and using the spatial domain transmission filter, a first repetition, of the plurality of repetitions, based on: a first RV, of the RVs, for the transmission occasion.
Jung, which also teaches a wireless communication system, teaches a plurality of repetitions of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission (Section 0032, the PUSCH is repeated in K consecutive slots/subframes, which is K repetitions) and transmitting a first repetition, of the plurality of repetitions, using a first transmission power (Section 0032, transmit power offset is applied to the repetitions thus the repetitions are transmitted using a transmission power).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Matsumura with the above features of Jung for the purpose of enabling a user equipment to implement varying power levels that allow for different ones of the user equipment to be better capable of establishing a connection with the network at different times, even though multiple users may be attempting to simultaneously access the resources associated with the shared space as taught by Jung. The combination of Matsumura and Jung teaches transmitting a first repetition, of the plurality of repetitions, using a first transmission power determined based on: the first pathloss factor; the first received power value; and the first closed-loop index.
Bagheri, which also teaches a wireless communication system, teaches a plurality of transmission occasions for the plurality of repetitions of the PUSCH transmission (Sections 0117, 0118, repletion bundle comprises a plurality of repetitions); and a redundancy version (RV) indication for the plurality of repetitions of the PUSCH transmission (Section 0088); determining, based on the RV indication, RVs for the plurality of transmission occasions, wherein each RV, of the plurality of RVs, are for a respective transmission occasion of the plurality of transmission occasions (Section 0088, transmission occasions of K repetitions are associated with an RV thus rendering a scenario wherein each RV, of the plurality of RVs, are for a respective transmission occasion of the plurality of transmission occasions); and transmitting, via a first transmission occasion of the plurality of transmission occasions, a first repetition, of the plurality of repetitions, based on: a first RV, of the RVs, for the transmission occasion (Section 0088).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of the Matsumura combination with the above features Bagheri for the purpose of effectively transmitting a transport block in a transmission occasion as taught by Bagheri.
Jazi, which also teaches a wireless communication system, teaches determining a spatial domain transmission filter based on the first TCI state of the one or more TCI states (Sections 0177, 0179, multiple TCI states as the spatial transmission filter) and transmitting, using the spatial domain transmission filter, a first repetition, of the plurality of repetitions (Section 0218, repetitions corresponding to spatial transmission filters).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of the Matsumura combination with the above features of Jazi for the purpose of coverage enhancement for semi-persistent and configured grant transmissions as taught by Jazi.
Regarding Claim 9, Matsumura teaches a wireless device comprising: one or more processors; and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the wireless device to: receive one or more messages comprising one or more configuration parameters indicating an association between one or more transmission configuration indication (TCI) states and one or more power control parameter sets (Figure 10, Section 0293, typical mobile terminals comprise memory that stores executable code run by processors, Section 0201, the association between the TCI states and the power control parameters is indicated by higher layer signaling, one or more candidates for the power control parameter make up the power control parameter set), wherein each power control parameter set comprises a pathloss factor, a received power value, and a closed-loop index (Section 0228, association between the TCI and the P0-alpha set and path loss reference RS and the closed loop index (Section 0235), P0-alpha set is the received power value); receive a downlink control information indicating a first TCI state among the one or more TCI states (Section 0034, TCI indicated by higher layer signaling comprising RRC (Section 0035) or physical layer signaling comprising DCI (Section 0037)), wherein the first TCI state is associated with a first power control parameter set, among the one or more power control parameter sets, comprising a first pathloss factor, a first received power value, and a first closed-loop index (Section 0228, association between the TCI and the P0-alpha set and path loss reference RS and the closed loop index (Section 0235)); and transmit an uplink signal using a first transmission power determined based on: the first pathloss factor; the first received power value; and the first closed-loop index (Section 0159, P0-alpha, path loss reference RS and closed loop index (Section 0235, enable power control of the uplink).
Matsumura does not teach a plurality of repetitions of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission, transmitting a first repetition, of the plurality of repetitions, using a first transmission power determined based on: the first pathloss factor; the first received power value; and the first closed-loop index; a plurality of transmission occasions for the plurality of repetitions of the PUSCH transmission and a redundancy version (RV) indication for the plurality of repetitions of the PUSCH transmission; determining a spatial domain transmission filter based on the first TCI state of the one or more TCI states; determining, based on the RV indication, RVs for the plurality of transmission occasions, wherein each RV, of the plurality of RVs, are for a respective transmission occasion of the plurality of transmission occasions; and transmitting, via a first transmission occasion of the plurality of transmission occasions and using the spatial domain transmission filter, a first repetition, of the plurality of repetitions, based on: a first RV, of the RVs, for the transmission occasion.
Jung, which also teaches a wireless communication system, teaches a plurality of repetitions of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission (Section 0032, the PUSCH is repeated in K consecutive slots/subframes, which is K repetitions) and transmitting a first repetition, of the plurality of repetitions, using a first transmission power (Section 0032, transmit power offset is applied to the repetitions thus the repetitions are transmitted using a transmission power).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Matsumura with the above features of Jung for the purpose of enabling a user equipment to implement varying power levels that allow for different ones of the user equipment to be better capable of establishing a connection with the network at different times, even though multiple users may be attempting to simultaneously access the resources associated with the shared space as taught by Jung. The combination of Matsumura and Jung teaches transmitting a first repetition, of the plurality of repetitions, using a first transmission power determined based on: the first pathloss factor; the first received power value; and the first closed-loop index.
Bagheri, which also teaches a wireless communication system, teaches a plurality of transmission occasions for the plurality of repetitions of the PUSCH transmission (Sections 0117, 0118, repletion bundle comprises a plurality of repetitions); and a redundancy version (RV) indication for the plurality of repetitions of the PUSCH transmission (Section 0088); determining, based on the RV indication, RVs for the plurality of transmission occasions, wherein each RV, of the plurality of RVs, are for a respective transmission occasion of the plurality of transmission occasions (Section 0088, transmission occasions of K repetitions are associated with an RV thus rendering a scenario wherein each RV, of the plurality of RVs, are for a respective transmission occasion of the plurality of transmission occasions); and transmitting, via a first transmission occasion of the plurality of transmission occasions, a first repetition, of the plurality of repetitions, based on: a first RV, of the RVs, for the transmission occasion (Section 0088).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of the Matsumura combination with the above features Bagheri for the purpose of effectively transmitting a transport block in a transmission occasion as taught by Bagheri.
Jazi, which also teaches a wireless communication system, teaches determining a spatial domain transmission filter based on the first TCI state of the one or more TCI states (Sections 0177, 0179, multiple TCI states as the spatial transmission filter) and transmitting, using the spatial domain transmission filter, a first repetition, of the plurality of repetitions (Section 0218, repetitions corresponding to spatial transmission filters).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of the Matsumura combination with the above features of Jazi for the purpose of coverage enhancement for semi-persistent and configured grant transmissions as taught by Jazi.
Regarding Claim 17, Matsumura teaches a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a wireless device, cause the wireless device to: receive one or more messages comprising one or more configuration parameters indicating an association between one or more transmission configuration indication (TCI) states and one or more power control parameter sets (Figure 10, Section 0293, typical mobile terminals comprise memory that stores executable code run by processors, Section 0201, the association between the TCI states and the power control parameters is indicated by higher layer signaling, one or more candidates for the power control parameter make up the power control parameter set), wherein each power control parameter set comprises a pathloss factor, a received power value, and a closed-loop index (Section 0228, association between the TCI and the P0-alpha set and path loss reference RS and the closed loop index (Section 0235), P0-alpha set is the received power value); receive a downlink control information indicating a first TCI state among the one or more TCI states (Section 0034, TCI indicated by higher layer signaling comprising RRC (Section 0035) or physical layer signaling comprising DCI (Section 0037), wherein the first TCI state is associated with a power control parameter set, among the one or more power control parameter sets, comprising a first pathloss factor, a first received power value, and a first closed-loop index (Section 0228, association between the TCI and the P0-alpha set and path loss reference RS and the closed loop index (Section 0235)); and transmit an uplink signal using a first transmission power determined based on: the first pathloss factor; the first received power value; and the first closed-loop index (Section 0159, P0-alpha, path loss reference RS and closed loop index (Section 0235, enable power control of the uplink).
Matsumura does not teach a plurality of repetitions of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission, transmitting a first repetition, of the plurality of repetitions, using a first transmission power determined based on: the first pathloss factor; the first received power value; and the first closed-loop index; a plurality of transmission occasions for the plurality of repetitions of the PUSCH transmission and a redundancy version (RV) indication for the plurality of repetitions of the PUSCH transmission; determining a spatial domain transmission filter based on the first TCI state of the one or more TCI states; determining, based on the RV indication, RVs for the plurality of transmission occasions, wherein each RV, of the plurality of RVs, are for a respective transmission occasion of the plurality of transmission occasions; and transmitting, via a first transmission occasion of the plurality of transmission occasions and using the spatial domain transmission filter, a first repetition, of the plurality of repetitions, based on: a first RV, of the RVs, for the transmission occasion.
Jung, which also teaches a wireless communication system, teaches a plurality of repetitions of a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission (Section 0032, the PUSCH is repeated in K consecutive slots/subframes, which is K repetitions) and transmitting a first repetition, of the plurality of repetitions, using a first transmission power (Section 0032, transmit power offset is applied to the repetitions thus the repetitions are transmitted using a transmission power).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Matsumura with the above features of Jung for the purpose of enabling a user equipment to implement varying power levels that allow for different ones of the user equipment to be better capable of establishing a connection with the network at different times, even though multiple users may be attempting to simultaneously access the resources associated with the shared space as taught by Jung. The combination of Matsumura and Jung teaches transmitting a first repetition, of the plurality of repetitions, using a first transmission power determined based on: the first pathloss factor; the first received power value; and the first closed-loop index.
Bagheri, which also teaches a wireless communication system, teaches a plurality of transmission occasions for the plurality of repetitions of the PUSCH transmission (Sections 0117, 0118, repletion bundle comprises a plurality of repetitions); and a redundancy version (RV) indication for the plurality of repetitions of the PUSCH transmission (Section 0088); determining, based on the RV indication, RVs for the plurality of transmission occasions, wherein each RV, of the plurality of RVs, are for a respective transmission occasion of the plurality of transmission occasions (Section 0088, transmission occasions of K repetitions are associated with an RV thus rendering a scenario wherein each RV, of the plurality of RVs, are for a respective transmission occasion of the plurality of transmission occasions); and transmitting, via a first transmission occasion of the plurality of transmission occasions, a first repetition, of the plurality of repetitions, based on: a first RV, of the RVs, for the transmission occasion (Section 0088).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of the Matsumura combination with the above features Bagheri for the purpose of effectively transmitting a transport block in a transmission occasion as taught by Bagheri.
Jazi, which also teaches a wireless communication system, teaches determining a spatial domain transmission filter based on the first TCI state of the one or more TCI states (Sections 0177, 0179, multiple TCI states as the spatial transmission filter) and transmitting, using the spatial domain transmission filter, a first repetition, of the plurality of repetitions (Section 0218, repetitions corresponding to spatial transmission filters).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of the Matsumura combination with the above features of Jazi for the purpose of coverage enhancement for semi-persistent and configured grant transmissions as taught by Jazi.
Regarding Claims 2, 10, 18, Matsumura combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 1, 9, 17. Matsumura further teaches wherein each of the one or more TCI states is associated with at least one power control parameter set of the one or more power control parameter sets (Section 0228).
Regarding Claims 3, 11, 19, Matsumura combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 1, 9, 17. Matsumura further teaches wherein each of the one or more TCI states is associated with one or more reference signals (Section 0228, path loss reference RS).
Regarding Claims 8, 16, Matsumura combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 1, 9. Matsumura further teaches wherein the downlink control information comprises one or more bitfields indicating the first TCI state (Section 0050, TCI field is the bit field).
Claim(s) 4, 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumura et al. (US 2022/0408371) in view of Jung et al. (US 2019/0261281) in view of Bagheri et al. (US 2020/0146034) in view of MolavianJazi et al. (US 2021/0184812), as applied to Claims 3, 11, and in further view of Nishio et al. (US 2016/0352477).
Regarding Claims 4, 12, Matsumura combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 3, 11. Matsumura further teaches path loss reference signals (Section 0228).
Matsumura combination does not teach wherein the one or more reference signals comprise at least one of: a synchronization signal block (SSB); a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS); or a sounding reference signal (SRS).
Nishio teaches a CSI-RS signal (Section 0228), which is also a path loss reference signal.
Matsumura and Nishio disclose to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention path loss reference signals.
Based on the above findings, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have substituted the CSI-RS signals of Nishio for the path loss reference signals of Matsumura according to known methods to yield the predictable result of providing path loss information and provide a channel quality indicator (CQI) that indicates achievable data rate as taught by Nishio.
Therefore, the claimed subject matter would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 6, 7, 14, 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumura et al. (US 2022/0408371) in view of Jung et al. (US 2019/0261281) in view of Bagheri et al. (US 2020/0146034) in view of MolavianJazi et al. (US 2021/0184812), as applied to Claims 1, 11 set forth above, and further in view of Bae et al. (US 2020/0045722)
Regarding Claim 6, 14, The Matsumura combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 1, 11. Matsumura combination does not teach wherein the first transmission power comprises one or more of a set of transmission powers comprising one or more different uplink transmission powers for the plurality of transmission occasions.
Bae, which also teaches the use of repetitions, teaches wherein the transmission power comprises one or more different uplink transmission powers for the plurality of transmission occasions (Section 0116, a change in power with each repetition renders different transmission powers for one or more repetitions).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Matsumura combination with the above features of Bae for the purpose of achieving the predictable result of uplink radio resources having different transmission methods and properties such as grant-free and grant-based uplink resources being efficiently utilized and reducing unnecessary signaling for resource selection between the terminal and the base station as taught by Bae.
Regarding Claims 7, 15, The Matsumura combination teaches all of the claimed limitations recited in Claims 1, 11. Matsumura combination does not teach wherein the first transmission power is one of a set of transmission powers comprising one or more different uplink transmission powers, and each uplink transmission power, of the one or more different uplink transmission powers, is for a respective transmission occasion of the plurality of transmission occasions.
Bae, which also teaches the use of repetitions, teaches one or more different uplink transmission powers, and each uplink transmission power, of the one or more different uplink transmission powers, is for a respective transmission occasion of the plurality of transmission occasions (Section 0116, a change in power with each repetition renders different transmission powers for respective repetitions).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Matsumura combination with the above features of Bae for the purpose of achieving the predictable result of uplink radio resources having different transmission methods and properties such as grant-free and grant-based uplink resources being efficiently utilized and reducing unnecessary signaling for resource selection between the terminal and the base station as taught by Bae.
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.
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/RAYMOND S DEAN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645 Raymond S. Dean
November 25, 2025