DETAILED ACTION
This action is responsive to amendments filed on 8/26/2025.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
Claims 7-13 were pending for examination in previous Office Action mailed 5/27/2025.
Independent Claims 7, 11, 12, and 13 have been amended and Claim 9 cancelled.
Claims 7-8 and 10-13 remain pending for examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Applicant’s remarks pg. 5-9, filed 8/26/2025, with respect to Claims 7 and 11-13 have been fully considered but are not persuasive.
In response to Applicant’s argument that in substance the prior art of record does not disclose “a medium access control control element (MAC CE) including information regarding the beam failure detection reference signal (BFD-RS) set corresponding to the transmission and reception point in which the beam failure is detected and a serving cell corresponding to the transmission and reception point in which the beam failure is detected,” Examiner respectfully disagrees. The elements must be arranged as required by the claim, but this is not an ipsissimis verbis test, i.e., identity of terminology is not required. In re Bond, 910 F.2d 831, 15 USPQ2d 1566 (Fed. Cir. 1990). See MPEP § 2131.
Zhou et al. (US 2022/0104302 A1; hereinafter Zhou) was relied upon to disclose previously presented dependent Claim 9 which has been incorporated into independent Claims 7 and 11-13. As provided in the previous office action, Zhou discloses that a medium access control (MAC)-control element (MAC-CE) is a MAC layer communication structure that may be used for control command exchange between wireless nodes (¶48), that a beam failure may be detected by monitoring a beam failure detection reference signal (BFD-RS) (¶77), and that a UE may be configured to provide per-TRP (transmission-reception point) beam failure recovery (BFR) (¶78). Zhou further discloses that each TRP may transmit one or more BFD-RS associated with their respective control resource set (CORSET) pool index value and that this may include 2 sets of BFD-RSs being configured and further that the UE may configure an access message (BFR MAC-CE) to indicate the CORSET pool index value associated with the detected beam failure as well as transmit a BFR MAC-CE which may carry an indication of which cell the beam failure has occurred (¶ 86-88; ¶ 100; ¶ 112-113; ¶117-119; Fig. 9-10). Further clarifying information can be seen in Zhou ¶124-125 Fig. 11A/B which depicts the MAC CE structure used for BFR purposes.
Therefore, the prior art of record still discloses the claimed invention of the independent claims, and the prior art rejection is maintained below and altered as required by the amendments.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 7-8, 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Zhou et al. (US 2022/0104302 A1; hereinafter Zhou).
Regarding Claim 7, Zhou discloses:
A terminal comprising:
a transmitter that transmits, using a medium access control control element (MAC CE), information regarding a new candidate beam for beam failure detected for each of multiple transmission and reception points; [Zhou discloses a communications device with a transceiver (¶171; Fig. 14) and that a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) is a MAC layer communication structure that may be used for control command exchange between wireless nodes (¶47-48; Fig. 2 Item 220). Zhou also discloses that the beam failure recovery (BFD) procedure includes candidate beam detection (CBD) where a UE may detect and measure candidate beams within a cell and report a good beam to a transmission-reception point (TRP) upon detection of a beam failure, and that in a multi-TRP scenario the UE may be configured to provide per-TRP BFR, which enables separate BFD and CBD for the beams (¶77-78; ¶ 88). Furthermore, Zhou discloses that before sending the BFR response indicating the MAC-CE, the UE may identify a candidate new beam (perform CBD) and that the BFR MAC-CE may carry or otherwise convey an indication of which cell the beam failure has occurred and identify potential new candidate beams (¶116-117; Fig. 10 Item 1012 and 1014).]
a receiver that receives a response signal for the MAC CE; and [Zhou discloses a communications device with a transceiver (¶ 171; Fig. 14) and that a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) is a MAC layer communication structure that may be used for control command exchange between wireless nodes (¶47-48; Fig. 2 Item 220). Zhou further discloses that the UE may receive a BFR response to the MAC-CE (¶ 120; Fig. 10 Item 1016).]
a processor that applies the new candidate beam to a quasi co-location of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in a transmission and reception point in which the beam failure is detected, after a certain period from reception of the response signal. [Zhou discloses that the UE may transmit an indication of a value associated with the beam failure and the UE may reset the active beam associated with the TRP and that the UE may update the quasi co-location (QCL) relationships corresponding to the QCL configuration of the new candidate beam for example 28 symbols after the last symbol carrying PDCCH and that downlink control information is transmitted in PDCCH (¶83; ¶91-94; Fig. 7)]
wherein the MAC CE includes information regarding the BFD-RS set corresponding to the transmission and reception point in which the beam failure is detected and a serving cell corresponding to the transmission and reception point in which the beam failure is detected. [Zhou discloses that each TRP may transmit one or more BFD reference signal associated with their respective control resource set (CORSET) pool index value and that this may include 2 sets of BFD reference signals being configured and further that the UE may configure an access message (BFR MAC CE) to indicate the CORSET pool index value associated with the detected beam failure as well as transmit a BFR MAC-CE which may carry an indication of which cell the beam failure has occurred (¶ 86-88; ¶ 100; ¶ 112-113; ¶117-125; Fig. 9-11).
Regarding Claim 8, Zhou discloses:
The terminal according to claim 7, wherein the response signal includes downlink control information (DCI) scheduling a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) for transmitting the MAC CE, and transmission of the PUSCH has a same HARQ process number is a HARQ process number of the PUSCH for transmitting the MAC CE and further has a toggled NDI field. [Zhou discloses a BFR response to the MAC-CE from a PCell to the UE which may be an uplink (UL) grant scheduling a new transmission with a toggled/changed new data indicator (NDI) for the same hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process as the PUSCH carrying the MAC-CE such that the DCI may indicate which HARQ process is to be used by the UE (¶120; Fig. 10 Item 1016). Zhou also discloses that the based on the beam failure recovery request (BFRQ) received via a beam group specific beam failure recovery (BFR) MAC-CE, the response is transmitted in a DCI scheduling a new physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) with a same HARQ ID as a PUSCH carrying the beam group specific BFR MAC-CE and the new PUSCH is indicated via an NDI (¶138-142; Fig. 13)]
Regarding Claim 11, Zhou discloses:
A radio communication method for a terminal, comprising:
transmitting, using a medium access control control element (MAC CE), information regarding a new candidate beam for beam failure detected for each of multiple transmission and reception points; [Zhou discloses a communications device with a transceiver (¶171; Fig. 14) and that a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) is a MAC layer communication structure that may be used for control command exchange between wireless nodes (¶47-48; Fig. 2 Item 220). Zhou also discloses that the beam failure recovery (BFD) procedure includes candidate beam detection (CBD) where a UE may detect and measure candidate beams within a cell and report a good beam to a transmission-reception point (TRP) upon detection of a beam failure, and that in a multi-TRP scenario the UE may be configured to provide per-TRP BFR, which enables separate BFD and CBD for the beams (¶77-78; ¶ 88). Furthermore, Zhou discloses that before sending the BFR response indicating the MAC-CE, the UE may identify a candidate new beam (perform CBD) and that the BFR MAC-CE may carry or otherwise convey an indication of which cel the beam failure has occurred and identify potential new candidate beams (¶116-117; Fig. 10 Item 1012 and 1014).]
receiving a response signal for the MAC CE; and [Zhou discloses a communications device with a transceiver (¶ 171; Fig. 14) and that a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) is a MAC layer communication structure that may be used for control command exchange between wireless nodes (¶47-48; Fig. 2 Item 220). Zhou further discloses that the UE may receive a BFR response to the MAC-CE (¶ 120; Fig. 10 Item 1016).]
applying the new candidate beam to a quasi co-location of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in a transmission and reception point in which the beam failure is detected, after a certain period from reception of the response signal. [Zhou discloses that the UE may transmit an indication of a value associated with the beam failure and the UE may reset the active beam associated with the TRP and that the UE may update the quasi co-location (QCL) relationships corresponding to the QCL configuration of the new candidate beam for example 28 symbols after the last symbol carrying PDCCH and that downlink control information is transmitted in PDCCH (¶83; ¶91-94; Fig. 7)]
wherein the MAC CE includes information regarding the BFD-RS set corresponding to the transmission and reception point in which the beam failure is detected and a serving cell corresponding to the transmission and reception point in which the beam failure is detected. [Zhou discloses that each TRP may transmit one or more BFD reference signal associated with their respective control resource set (CORSET) pool index value and that this may include 2 sets of BFD reference signals being configured and further that the UE may configure an access message (BFR MAC CE) to indicate the CORSET pool index value associated with the detected beam failure as well as transmit a BFR MAC-CE which may carry an indication of which cell the beam failure has occurred (¶ 86-88; ¶ 100; ¶ 112-113; ¶117-125; Fig. 9-11).
Regarding Claim 12, Zhou discloses:
A base station comprising:
a receiver that receives, using a medium access control control element (MAC CE), information regarding a new candidate beam for beam failure detected for each of multiple transmission and reception points; [Zhou discloses a communications device with a transceiver (¶171; Fig. 14) and that a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) is a MAC layer communication structure that may be used for control command exchange between wireless nodes (¶47-48; Fig. 2 Item 220). Zhou also discloses that the beam failure recovery (BFD) procedure includes candidate beam detection (CBD) where a UE may detect and measure candidate beams within a cell and report a good beam to a transmission-reception point (TRP) upon detection of a beam failure, and that in a multi-TRP scenario the UE may be configured to provide per-TRP BFR, which enables separate BFD and CBD for the beams (¶77-78; ¶ 88). Furthermore, Zhou discloses that before sending the BFR response indicating the MAC-CE, the UE may identify a candidate new beam (perform CBD) and that the BFR MAC-CE may carry or otherwise convey an indication of which cel the beam failure has occurred and identify potential new candidate beams (¶116-117; Fig. 10 Item 1012 and 1014).]
a transmitter that transmits a response signal for the MAC CE; and [Zhou discloses a communications device with a transceiver (¶ 171; Fig. 14) and that a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) is a MAC layer communication structure that may be used for control command exchange between wireless nodes (¶47-48; Fig. 2 Item 220). Zhou further discloses that the UE may receive a BFR response to the MAC-CE (¶ 120; Fig. 10 Item 1016).]
a processor that applies the new candidate beam to a quasi co-location of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in a transmission and reception point in which the beam failure is detected, after a certain period from transmission of the response signal. [Zhou discloses that the UE may transmit an indication of a value associated with the beam failure and the UE may reset the active beam associated with the TRP and that the UE may update the quasi co-location (QCL) relationships corresponding to the QCL configuration of the new candidate beam for example 28 symbols after the last symbol carrying PDCCH and that downlink control information is transmitted in PDCCH (¶83; ¶91-94; Fig. 7)]
wherein the MAC CE includes information regarding the BFD-RS set corresponding to the transmission and reception point in which the beam failure is detected and a serving cell corresponding to the transmission and reception point in which the beam failure is detected. [Zhou discloses that each TRP may transmit one or more BFD reference signal associated with their respective control resource set (CORSET) pool index value and that this may include 2 sets of BFD reference signals being configured and further that the UE may configure an access message (BFR MAC CE) to indicate the CORSET pool index value associated with the detected beam failure as well as transmit a BFR MAC-CE which may carry an indication of which cell the beam failure has occurred (¶ 86-88; ¶ 100; ¶ 112-113; ¶117-125; Fig. 9-11).
Regarding Claim 13, Zhou discloses:
A system comprising a terminal and a base station, wherein
the terminal comprises:
a transmitter that transmits, using a medium access control control element (MAC CE), information regarding a new candidate beam for beam failure detected for each of multiple transmission and reception points; [Zhou discloses a communications device with a transceiver (¶171; Fig. 14) and that a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) is a MAC layer communication structure that may be used for control command exchange between wireless nodes (¶47-48; Fig. 2 Item 220). Zhou also discloses that the beam failure recovery (BFD) procedure includes candidate beam detection (CBD) where a UE may detect and measure candidate beams within a cell and report a good beam to a transmission-reception point (TRP) upon detection of a beam failure, and that in a multi-TRP scenario the UE may be configured to provide per-TRP BFR, which enables separate BFD and CBD for the beams (¶77-78; ¶ 88). Furthermore, Zhou discloses that before sending the BFR response indicating the MAC-CE, the UE may identify a candidate new beam (perform CBD) and that the BFR MAC-CE may carry or otherwise convey an indication of which cel the beam failure has occurred and identify potential new candidate beams (¶116-117; Fig. 10 Item 1012 and 1014).]
a receiver that receives a response signal for the MAC CE; and [Zhou discloses a communications device with a transceiver (¶ 171; Fig. 14) and that a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) is a MAC layer communication structure that may be used for control command exchange between wireless nodes (¶47-48; Fig. 2 Item 220). Zhou further discloses that the UE may receive a BFR response to the MAC-CE (¶ 120; Fig. 10 Item 1016).]
a processor that applies the new candidate beam to a quasi co-location of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in a transmission and reception point in which the beam failure is detected, after a certain period from reception of the response signal, [Zhou discloses that the UE may transmit an indication of a value associated with the beam failure and the UE may reset the active beam associated with the TRP and that the UE may update the quasi co-location (QCL) relationships corresponding to the QCL configuration of the new candidate beam for example 28 symbols after the last symbol carrying PDCCH and that downlink control information is transmitted in PDCCH (¶83; ¶91-94; Fig. 7)]
wherein the MAC CE includes information regarding the BFD-RS set corresponding to the transmission and reception point in which the beam failure is detected and a serving cell corresponding to the transmission and reception point in which the beam failure is detected, and [Zhou discloses that each TRP may transmit one or more BFD reference signal associated with their respective control resource set (CORSET) pool index value and that this may include 2 sets of BFD reference signals being configured and further that the UE may configure an access message (BFR MAC CE) to indicate the CORSET pool index value associated with the detected beam failure as well as transmit a BFR MAC-CE which may carry an indication of which cell the beam failure has occurred (¶ 86-88; ¶ 100; ¶ 112-113; ¶117-125; Fig. 9-11).
the base station comprises:
a transmitter that transmits the response signal. [Zhou discloses a communications device with a transceiver (¶ 171; Fig. 14) and that a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) is a MAC layer communication structure that may be used for control command exchange between wireless nodes (¶47-48; Fig. 2 Item 220). Zhou further discloses that the UE may receive a BFR response to the MAC-CE (¶ 120; Fig. 10 Item 1016).]
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 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou in view of Jang et al. (US 2023/0006727 A1; hereinafter Jang).
Regarding Claim 10, Zhou discloses:
The terminal according to claim 7.
Zhou does not explicitly disclose:
further comprising a transmitter that reports UE capability information indicating that multiple BFD-RS sets are supported in beam failure detection.
However Jang, analogous art also disclosing beam failure recovery procedure, does disclose:
further comprising a transmitter that reports UE capability information indicating that multiple BFD-RS sets are supported in beam failure detection. [Jang discloses that the terminal may report to the base station that it can perform BFR operation as a UE capability through UE capability reporting including the number of BFD RS sets that can be configured (¶ 252-253).]
It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the communication system of Zhou with that of Jang to include a UE capability report so that the base station may be aware of the number of BFD-RS sets that can be configured, as per Jang (¶ 252), with reasonable expectation of success.
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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/RKF/Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2468 /MARCUS SMITH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2468