DETAILED ACTION
Response to Remark
This communication is considered fully responsive to the amendment filed on 09/15/26.
a. No claims have been amended.
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 of this title, 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 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Faxer et al. (US 2020/0389883, which is equivalent to the WO 2019/097478, published on 05/23/2019, hereinafter “Faxer”) in view of Matsumura et al. (US 2023/0072323, “Matsumura”).
Regarding claim 7, Faxer discloses a method implemented by a network node that is configured to communicate with a wireless device, the method comprising:
- causing triggering, at a wireless device, a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state update (See ¶.89, when a set of aperiodic CSI-RS resources are triggered, the triggering DCI includes a TCI state index which provides spatial QCL reference for the triggered set of CSI-RS resources. Following the measurement, the spatial QCL reference in the RS set corresponding to the indicated TCI state is updated based on the preferred CSI-RS determined by the UE; See further 608 Fig.6 and ¶.98) that is based on at least one quasi co-located (QCL) property of at least one reference signal (RS) (See ¶.50, the QCL reference associated with the active TCI state should be updated in accordance with the radio measurement report; See ¶.83, QCL is one way to describe the relation between two different signals originating from the same TRP that can be received using the same spatial receiver parameters. As an example, a UE should be able to assume it can use the same receive beam when receiving the two difference signals that have spatial QCL. The spatial QCL relations between different types of reference RS; See ¶.89, the spatial QCL reference in the RS set corresponding to the indicated TCI state is updated based on the preferred CSI-RS determined by the UE; See Fig.4, ‘DL RS(s) in the RS set in each TCI state provide QCL reference(s): QCL reference is dynamically update; See 710 & 720 Fig.7, receive measurement reports and determine a QCL reference update; See ¶.98, one of the RSs associated with each TCI state will be used as a QCL reference for the corresponding TCI state at a given time; See ¶.76, some measurement is propagation delay, power-based or channel quality measurements, CSI; Examiner’s Note: As indicated in ¶.76 and ¶.83, propagation delay, power-based or channel quality measurements, CSI, and spatial QCL are considered as QCL property), measured and reported by the wireless device while a previous TCI state is active (See ¶.42, the wireless device can transmit a radio measurement report to a network node; See ¶.98, based on dynamic layer-1 measurement reports sent by the UE to the gNB, the gNB can be made aware that a different set of Tx and/or Rx beams have become more appropriate to be used for downlink transmission (e.g. as opposed to/compared to the currently used set of Tx and/or Rx beams). This implies that the RS that is being currently used as the spatial QCL reference within a given TCI state should be updated to the new QCL reference RS which corresponds to the new set of Tx and/or Rx beams which have become more appropriate; See 604 Fig.6 and ¶.114, UE sends measurement report(s) to a network node; See 614 Fig.6 and ¶.115, before updating QCL reference associated with a TCI state 608, i.e. a previous TCI state).
Faxer does not explicitly disclose the newly added claim limitations “before a further occurrence of a reference signal associated with the updated TCI state” and “determining when to temporarily store the at least one QCL property associated with the at least one RS based at least in part on whether the RS is transmitted periodically, semi-persistently or aperiodically.”
However, Matsumura discloses,
- before a further occurrence of a reference signal associated with the updated TCI state (Matsumura, See ¶.129, for accurate path loss measurement for transmit power control, for the UE of Rel. 15, up to 4 PL-RSs are configured by RRC signaling. As shown in FIG. 5, even when the UL transmit beam (spatial relation) is updated by the MAC CE, the PL-RS cannot be updated by the MAC CE; See ¶.133, Measurement for the higher layer filtered RSRP requires time, and thus the updated PL-RS cannot be applied immediately after update of the TCI state); and
- determining when to temporarily store the at least one QCL property associated with the at least one RS based at least in part on whether the RS is transmitted periodically, semi-persistently or aperiodically (Matsumura, See ¶.40, the TCI state may be, for example, information related to QCL between a channel as a target (in other words, a reference signal (RS) for the channel) and another signal (for example, another RS). See ¶.92, Here, the SRS resource type may indicate any one of a periodic SRS (P-SRS), a semi-persistent SRS (SP-SRS), and an aperiodic SRS (A-SRS or AP-SRS). Note that the UE may periodically (or periodically after activation) transmit the P-SRS and the SP-SRS, and transmit the A-SRS, based on an SRS request of the DCI; See further ¶.45 and ¶.48 for the relationship of QCL and RS).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to apply the method of “before a further occurrence of a reference signal associated with the updated TCI state and determining when to temporarily store the at least one QCL property associated with the at least one RS based at least in part on whether the RS is transmitted periodically, semi-persistently or aperiodically” as taught by Matsumura into the system of Faxer, so that it provides a way for accurate path loss measurement for transmit power control (Matsumura, See ¶.129).
Regarding claim 13, Faxer discloses a wireless device comprising:
- processing circuitry configured to (See Fig.9, processing circuitry): at least temporarily store at the least one QCL property of the at least one RS (See 950 Fig.10 and ¶.137, a QCL update module for updating a QCL reference for an active TCI state; See further the paragraphs cited in claim 7), the at least one RS being measured and reported while a previous Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state is active (See 604 Fig.6 and ¶.114, UE sends measurement report(s) to a network node; See 614 Fig.6 and ¶.115, before updating QCL reference associated with a TCI state 608, i.e. a previous TCI state; See further the rejection of claim 7); and
- apply a TCI state update based on the at least temporarily stored at least one QCL property of the at least one RS (See ¶.40, the indication of a reference signal indicates at least one of a reference signal type and a reference signal to be used as the updated QCL reference. In some embodiments, the indication of a reference signal indicates a reference signal index to be used as the updated QCL reference. In some embodiments, the indicated reference signal is one of the candidate reference signals for the active TCI state).”
Faxer does not explicitly disclose what Matsumura discloses,
- before a further occurrence of a reference signal associated with the updated TCI State (Matsumura, as rejected in claim 7).
- determining when to temporarily store the at least one QCL property associated with the at least one RS based at least in part on whether the RS is transmitted periodically, semi-persistently or aperiodically (Matsumura, as rejected in claim 7). Therefore, this claim is rejected with the similar reasons and motivation set forth in the rejection of claim 7.
Regarding claim 14, Faxer discloses “the at least one QCL property of a plurality of QCL properties associated with the at least one RS (See ¶.50, the QCL reference associated with the active TCI state should be updated in accordance with the radio measurement report; See ¶.83, QCL is one way to describe the relation between two different signals originating from the same TRP that can be received using the same spatial receiver parameters. As an example, a UE should be able to assume it can use the same receive beam when receiving the two difference signals that have spatial QCL. The spatial QCL relations between different types of reference RS) is based on a QCL type of the at least one RS (See ¶.83 and Table#1, the spatial QCL relations between different types of reference RS and target RS are shown in Table 1 below).”
Regarding claim 15, Faxer discloses “the at least temporarily storing of the at least one QCL property corresponds to storing of the at least one QCL property for a predefined quantity of time (See ¶.98, one of the RSs associated with each TCI state will be used as a QCL reference for the corresponding TCI state at a given time).”
Regarding claim 16, Faxer discloses “the at least one RS is a plurality of RSs, the at least one QCL property corresponds to a plurality of QCL properties for the plurality of RSs that were measured and reported while the previous TCI is active (See ¶.83, Table #1, a plurality of RSs associated with QCL parameters related with spatial QCL).”
Regarding claim 17, Faxer discloses “the at least temporarily storing of at least one QCL property associated with the at least one RS is based on a time domain behavior of at least the at least one RS (See ¶.18, wherein such a burst consists of a number of SS Block transmissions following close after each other in time. Furthermore, a set of SS Bursts may be grouped together (denoted as “SS Burst Set”), where the SS Bursts in the SS Burst Sets are assumed to have some relation to each other. Both SS Bursts and SS Burst Sets have their respective given periodicity; See ¶.19, in single beam scenarios, the network could configure time-repetition within one SS Burst in a wide beam. Also show in FIG. 3, in multi-beam scenarios, at least some of these signals and physical channels (e.g. SS Block); See ¶.84, the UE can assume that PDSCH DMRS is QCL with the CSI-RS indicated by PQI with respect to time parameters).”
Regarding claim 18, Faxer discloses “further configured receive a channel state information (CSI) report configuration indicating QCL properties of at least one RS measurement to be reported (See ¶.83, Table#1, CSI-RS related with QCL parameters; See ¶.86, due to UE movement/rotation, the CSI-RS in a TCI state that is used for the purposes of spatial QCL indication may need to be updated, or configured, on a continuous basis; See ¶.9, an enhanced CSI-RS reporting called Class B for beamformed CSI-RS; See ¶.10, in addition to MAC CE activation, a DCI trigger is sent to the UE so that one of the activated CSI-RS resources is selected by the UE for CSI computation and subsequent reporting. In the case of semi-persistent CSI-RS, once the CSI-RS resources are activated by MAC CE, the UE can use the activated CSI-RS resources for CSI computation and reporting).”
Regarding claim 19, Faxer discloses “further configured to transmit wireless device capability information indicating that the wireless device is capable of storing information related to the at least one QCL property of the at least one RS that is measured and reported while the previous TCI state is active (See ¶.40, the indication of a reference signal indicates at least one of a reference signal type and a reference signal to be used as the updated QCL reference. In some embodiments, the indication of a reference signal indicates a reference signal index to be used as the updated QCL reference. In some embodiments, the indicated reference signal is one of the candidate reference signals for the active TCI state).”
Regarding claim 20, Faxer discloses “the at least one QCL property includes at least one of power, at least one property associated with a channel state information, CSI, report, signal delay, doppler property and spatial property (See ¶.76, some measurement is propagation delay, power-based, channel quality measurement, CSI).”
Regarding claim 21, Faxer discloses “the at least one QCL property corresponds to at least one spatial QCL property (See ¶.83, spatial QCL).”
Regarding claim 22, Faxer discloses “the at least one RS is at least one downlink RS, the at least one downlink RS being one of a periodic, semi-persistent and aperiodic RS; and the processing circuitry is configured to transmit a CSI report based on the TCI state update, the report being one of a periodic, semi-persistent and aperiodic report (See ¶.98, each RS within a TCI state can be associated with a set of Tx (transmit) and/or Rx (receive) beams. Note that one of the RSs associated with each TCI state will be used as a QCL reference for the corresponding TCI state at a given time. Based on dynamic layer-1 measurement reports sent by the UE to the gNB, the gNB can be made aware that a different set of Tx and/or Rx beams have become more appropriate to be used for downlink transmission; See ¶.23, periodic CSI reporting by the UE; See ¶.25, semi-persistent CSI reporting; See ¶.28, periodic CSI-RS and a single semi-persistent CSI-RS; See ¶.30, semi-persistent CSI-RS).”
Regarding claim 23, it is a method claim corresponding to the device claim 13 and is therefore rejected for the similar reasons set forth in the rejection of the claim.
Regarding claims 24-32, they are claims corresponding to claims 14-22, respectively and are therefore rejected for the similar reasons set forth in the rejection of the claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
At pages 3-4, with respect to claim 7, applicant argues that “any combination of Faxer and Matsumura fail to disclose “"at least one reference signal, RS, measured and reported by the wireless device while a previous TCI state is active, before a further occurrence of a reference signal associated with the updated TCI state" by asserting that:
“Matsumura merely discloses that a reference signal update cannot be applied immediately after update of a TCI state. Matsumura does not disclose or suggest updating a QCL property based on a reference signal measurement made before occurrence of a reference signal associated with an updated TCI state. Determining that an update related to a reference signal cannot be applied based on the timing of another update that relates to the timing of a TCI state update as in Matsumura is not the same as updating a property based on the timing of when a reference signal occurs as claimed by Applicant.” [added applicant’s emphasis].
In reply, the argued limitations “updating a QCL property based on a reference signal measurement made before occurrence of a reference signal associated with an updated TCI state” explicitly read on:
[Fig.7] of Faxer discloses,
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¶.[0119]-[0120] of Faxer discloses “the network node receives a radio measurement report from a wireless device. [0120] Step 720 (optional): Determining that a QCL reference associated with an active TCI state should be updated. This can include determining that a beam modification is needed for the wireless device. This determination can be made in accordance with the received measurement report(s). The determination can be that beams, other than the current beams, should be used for transmission reception by the wireless device. The beams can be associated with an active TCI state.” [emphasis added].
¶.[0121] of Faxer disclose “the control message can be a MAC CE. The control message can indicate one or more of a TCI state to be updated, a reference signal identifier, a reference signal type, a reference signal index and/or a reference signal. In some embodiments, the control message can indicate a set of candidate reference signals. In some embodiments, the control message can indicate multiple reference signals associated with multiple TCI states to be updated.” [emphasis added].
In other words, the network node updates a QCL property such as a beam modification based on the received measurement report and then the network node generates the control message indicating reference signal associated with TCI state to be updated. That is, as shown Fig.7 and the cited paragraphs above, Faxer meets the limitations “updating a QCL property based on a reference signal measurement made before occurrence of a reference signal associated with an updated TCI state.”
Applicant’s Figure 2 shows that the network node sends ‘trigger L1-RSRP report and sends MAC CE to wireless device and then apply new TCI state.
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[Fig.10] of Matsumura similarity shows that “the UE may use TCI state #1 for the PL-RS in the next slot of the fifth L1-RSRP measurement after the elapse of 3 ms+T.sub.L1-RSRP since ACK transmission for the MAC CE.” [See ¶.211 of Matsumura].
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¶.[0212] of Matsumura discloses “when the MAC CE for the TCI state referred to by at least one of the default spatial relation and the default PL-RS activates/updates the target TCI state, and the target TCI state is unknown, the UE may count the L1-RSRP measurement samples after the elapse of 3 ms since ACK transmission for the MAC CE, and switch at least one of the default spatial relation and the default PL-RS to the target TCI state in the next slot after the elapse of T.sub.L1-RSRP since measurement of the N-th sample. Instead of T.sub.L1-RSRP, the time T.sub.L1-SINR for L1-SINR measurement may be used, or any one of offsets 1 to 5 according to the third embodiment may be used.”
¶.[0174] of Matsumura discloses “the UE may switch the default spatial relation to the target TCI state after the elapse of 3 ms since the ACK transmission for the MAC CE for updating the TCI state, and switch the default PL-RS to the target TCI state afterwards.” [emphasis added].
In other words, Matsumura discloses the method of switching/updating the default spatial relation to the target TCI state after the elapse of 3 ms and then switching or updating the default reference signal afterwards.”
In conclusion, Faxer and Matsumura, either in combination or individually, teach or suggest the argued claim limitations and therefore, the examiner respectfully disagrees.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jung H Park whose telephone number is 571-272-8565. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 7:00 AM-3:00 PM.
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/JUNG H PARK/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411
