DETAILED ACTION
This office action is a response to the Request for Continued Examination (RCE) filed on January 6, 2026.
Claims 25-41 are pending.
Claims 25-41 are rejected.
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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on January 6, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 25-41 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 rejection has been revised and set forth below according to the amended claims (See Office Action).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claim 25-32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding Claim 25, Claim 25 recites the limitation "the downlink reception" in Line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Claim 25 is independent and receipts a correspondence of uplink transmission and downlink transmission but make no mention of downlink reception. It is not clear what the downlink reception corresponds to.
Claims 26-32 are also rejected since they depend upon rejected base claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 25, 27, 33, 35 and 41, as best understood, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Islam et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2019/0215220, hereinafter Islam, in view of Jain et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2011/0287796, hereinafter Jain, and Wang et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2020/0221423, hereinafter Wang.
Regarding Claim 25, Islam discloses a radio apparatus (Abstract; Figure 1, 3, 4, 6-10 and 17), comprising:
a transmitter, which, in operation, transmits sensing capability information relating to a correspondence of uplink transmission and downlink transmission (Figure 3 and 6; Paragraph [0134] At 605, UE 115-e may transmit an indication of capabilities for UE 115-e. In some cases, these UE capabilities may include a maximum number of reference signals that UE 115-e may detect or receive from one or more base stations 105 simultaneously (e.g., at a receive strength greater than some static or dynamic reference signal receive strength threshold). In some cases, these UE capabilities may include a number of sub-arrays, a number of receive panels, a number of UE diversity branches, a number of downlink receive beams, a number of uplink transmit beams, a level of beam correspondence, or any combination of these or other relevant UE parameters; Paragraph [0150] In some cases, the one or more capabilities include a number of sub-arrays, a number of receive panels, a number of UE diversity branches, a number of receive beams, a number of transmit beams, or a combination thereof. In some cases, the one or more capabilities include a level of beam correspondence for the UE);
a receiver, which, in operation, receives a first signal by using a first directional beam (Figure 3, 4, and 6; Paragraph [0078-0081 and 00099] a base station 105 may use multiple antennas or antenna arrays to conduct beamforming operations for directional communications with a UE 115. For instance, some signals (e.g. synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) may be transmitted by a base station 105 multiple times in different directions, which may include a signal being transmitted according to different beamforming weight sets associated with different directions of transmission. Transmissions in different beam directions may be used to identify (e.g., by the base station 105 or a receiving device, such as a UE 115) a beam direction for subsequent transmission and/or reception by the base station 105),
and control circuity, which in operation, determines based on the sensing capability information and the fist directional downlink beam, a second directional downlink beam used for a transmission of a second signal (Paragraph [0078-0081] Some signals, such as data signals associated with a particular receiving device, may be transmitted by a base station 105 in a single beam direction (e.g., a direction associated with the receiving device, such as a UE 115). In some examples, the beam direction associated with transmissions along a single beam direction may be determined based at least in in part on a signal that was transmitted in different beam directions. For example, a UE 115 may receive one or more of the signals transmitted by the base station 105 in different directions, and the UE 115 may report to the base station 105 an indication of the signal the UE 115 received with a highest signal quality, or an otherwise acceptable signal quality. Although these techniques are described with reference to signals transmitted in one or more directions by a base station 105, a UE 115 may employ similar techniques for transmitting signals multiple times in different directions (e.g., for identifying a beam direction for subsequent transmission or reception by the UE 115) or transmitting a signal in a single direction (e.g., for transmitting data to a receiving device); Paragraph [0099 and 0114] base station 105-a may transmit using downlink transmit beams and may receive using uplink receive beams (not shown). The wireless communication system 200 may support UE 115-a receiving multiple reference signals 205, and transmitting multiple RACH preamble messages 210 based on these reference signals and capabilities of the UE 115-a).
Islam discloses a radio apparatus comprising a transmitter and receiver and indicating sensing capability information and beam forming but may not explicitly disclose regarding the directional beams.
However, Jain more specifically teaches directional beams, a receiver, which, in operation, receives a first signal by using a first directional beam (1004 of Figure 10 and 204 of Figure 2; Paragraph [0055 and 0089] A first directional beam may be received, where the first directional beam may be determined by a second apparatus based on the transmitted channel access information. In one aspect, first directional beam may indict the presence of at least one apparatus. In another aspect, the location of the at least one apparatus may also be received.);
and control circuitry, which, in operation, determines, based on the first directional beam, a second directional beam used for a transmission of a second signal (1006 of Figure 10 and 206 of Figure 2; Paragraph [0038, 0055 and 0089] A second directional beam may be determined from the first directional beam. In one aspect, determining the second directional beam may include beam training; A module 1006 that determines a second directional beam based on the first directional beam).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Islam with the teachings of Jain. Jain provides a solution where data throughput of wireless communication system can be improved without increasing the bandwidth of wireless communication network, by establishing the communication session corresponding to the transmitted channel reservation information (Jain Abstract; Paragraph [0003-0018 and 0050]). Islam in view of Jain disclose transmission of sensing capability information but may not explicitly disclose indicating whether a beam sensing procedure is different between the uplink transmission and the downlink reception.
However, Wang more specifically teaches transmitting sensing capability information relating to a correspondence of uplink transmission and downlink transmission and indicating whether a beam sensing procedure is different between the uplink transmission and the downlink reception (Paragraph [0137, 0208-0209 and 0242] For the processing of the transmission based on beams, the transmission based on beams, the reception based on beams, and the transmission and reception based on beams will be correspondingly described below by specific practices. Wherein, each UE has a transmission beam capability and/or a reception beam capability; If the transmitting UE has the reception beam capability, sensing performed by the transmitting UEs in different TUs in NP resource pools and/or resource groups may be in different directions. For example, the transmitting UE supports the reception of two beams and the transmission of four beams, and N=4. The UE uses reception beams in a same direction in two resource pools. Two resource pools, in which reception beams in a same direction are used, can be implemented by the UE or configured by the base station, or predefined by the system. During the actual transmission between UEs, if the repetitive transmission needs to be performed for 4 times, it can be configured by the base station or predefined by the system such that beams of a transmitting UE and beams of a receiving UE can correspond to each other. For example, a same transmission beam is used every two transmissions, and the two transmissions exactly correspond to different reception beams used by the receiving UE; Paragraph [0141-0145] In a real system, each UE may have different transmission beam capabilities and reception beam capabilities. For example, some UEs can transmit different beams within different TUs by time division, where the total number of beams is 4, and some UEs can form different reception beams within different TUs by time division, where the total number of reception beams is 8. A UE can report its own beam capability to a control node, or inform a potential receiving UE of its own beam capability).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Islam in view of Jain with the teachings of Wang. The method enables solving technical defects such as problem on how to realize efficient resource allocation, thus improving transmission performance of the user equipment. The method enables allocating resource for the sidelink communication in an easy manner (Wang Abstract; Paragraph [0002-0006]).
Regarding Claim 27, Islam in view of Jain and Wang disclose the radio apparatus according to Claim 25. Islam in view of Jain and Wang further discloses wherein the first directional beam is a directional beam selected from a plurality of directional beams in a channel access procedure (Jain Figure 1 and 2; Paragraph [0036] Directionally based communications have additional benefits. For example, beamforming may create spatial isolation. The spatial isolation is a result of directional transmission. The signal may be attenuated in directions other than the direction of receive and transmit beams. This may create a possibility of spatial reuse, e.g. multiple peer devices able to communicate with each other contemporaneously; Paragraph [0048] Channel access module; A discovery and beam streaming process and secondly a data transmission process. With respect to apparatus discovery and beam tracking, channel access information 116 may be used when WCD 110 initiates a connection with a peer WCD, both RTS and CTS may sent in all available directions using: a (quasi) omni-directional antenna, or over multiple receive direction using multiple time slots for transmissions; RTS and CTS may use broader beams that cover the narrower beams used for transmission of traffic data and/or RTS-CTS may be multi-directional; Paragraph [0055] In one an aspect, channel access information may include a request message to determine at least one of the presence or location of an apparatus. In another aspect, channel access information may include a field for beam training information. At reference numeral 204, a first directional beam may be received, where the first directional beam may be determined by a second apparatus based on the transmitted channel access information).
Regarding Claim 33, Islam discloses a communication method (Abstract; Figure 1, 3, 4, 6-10 and 17), comprising:
transmitting, at a radio apparatus, sensing capability information relating to a correspondence of uplink transmission and downlink reception (Figure 3 and 6; Paragraph [0134] At 605, UE 115-e may transmit an indication of capabilities for UE 115-e. In some cases, these UE capabilities may include a maximum number of reference signals that UE 115-e may detect or receive from one or more base stations 105 simultaneously (e.g., at a receive strength greater than some static or dynamic reference signal receive strength threshold). In some cases, these UE capabilities may include a number of sub-arrays, a number of receive panels, a number of UE diversity branches, a number of downlink receive beams, a number of uplink transmit beams, a level of beam correspondence, or any combination of these or other relevant UE parameters; Paragraph [0150] In some cases, the one or more capabilities include a number of sub-arrays, a number of receive panels, a number of UE diversity branches, a number of receive beams, a number of transmit beams, or a combination thereof. In some cases, the one or more capabilities include a level of beam correspondence for the UE);
receiving, at the radio apparatus, a first signal by using a first directional beam (Figure 3, 4, and 6; Paragraph [0078-0081 and 00099] a base station 105 may use multiple antennas or antenna arrays to conduct beamforming operations for directional communications with a UE 115. For instance, some signals (e.g. synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) may be transmitted by a base station 105 multiple times in different directions, which may include a signal being transmitted according to different beamforming weight sets associated with different directions of transmission. Transmissions in different beam directions may be used to identify (e.g., by the base station 105 or a receiving device, such as a UE 115) a beam direction for subsequent transmission and/or reception by the base station 105);
and determining, based on the sensing capability information and the first directional beam, a second directional beam used for a transmission of a second signal (Paragraph [0078-0081] Some signals, such as data signals associated with a particular receiving device, may be transmitted by a base station 105 in a single beam direction (e.g., a direction associated with the receiving device, such as a UE 115). In some examples, the beam direction associated with transmissions along a single beam direction may be determined based at least in in part on a signal that was transmitted in different beam directions. For example, a UE 115 may receive one or more of the signals transmitted by the base station 105 in different directions, and the UE 115 may report to the base station 105 an indication of the signal the UE 115 received with a highest signal quality, or an otherwise acceptable signal quality. Although these techniques are described with reference to signals transmitted in one or more directions by a base station 105, a UE 115 may employ similar techniques for transmitting signals multiple times in different directions (e.g., for identifying a beam direction for subsequent transmission or reception by the UE 115) or transmitting a signal in a single direction (e.g., for transmitting data to a receiving device); Paragraph [0099 and 0114] base station 105-a may transmit using downlink transmit beams and may receive using uplink receive beams (not shown). The wireless communication system 200 may support UE 115-a receiving multiple reference signals 205, and transmitting multiple RACH preamble messages 210 based on these reference signals and capabilities of the UE 115-a).
Islam discloses a radio apparatus comprising a transmitter and receiver and indicating sensing capability information and beam forming but may not explicitly disclose regarding the directional beams.
However, Jain more specifically teaches directional beams receiving, at a radio apparatus, a first signal by using a first directional beam (1004 of Figure 10 and 204 of Figure 2; Paragraph [0055 and 0089] A first directional beam may be received, where the first directional beam may be determined by a second apparatus based on the transmitted channel access information. In one aspect, first directional beam may indict the presence of at least one apparatus. In another aspect, the location of the at least one apparatus may also be received.);
and determining, based on the first directional beam, a second directional beam used for a transmission of a second signal (1006 of Figure 10 and 206 of Figure 2; Paragraph [0055 and 0089] A second directional beam may be determined from the first directional beam. In one aspect, determining the second directional beam may include beam training; A module 1006 that determines a second directional beam based on the first directional beam).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Islam with the teachings of Jain. Jain provides a solution where data throughput of wireless communication system can be improved without increasing the bandwidth of wireless communication network, by establishing the communication session corresponding to the transmitted channel reservation information (Jain Abstract; Paragraph [0003-0018 and 0050]).
Islam in view of Jain disclose transmission of sensing capability information but may not explicitly disclose indicating whether a beam sensing procedure is different between the uplink transmission and the downlink reception.
However, Wang more specifically teaches transmitting sensing capability information relating to a correspondence of uplink transmission and downlink transmission and indicating whether a beam sensing procedure is different between the uplink transmission and the downlink reception (Paragraph [0137, 0208-0209 and 0242] For the processing of the transmission based on beams, the transmission based on beams, the reception based on beams, and the transmission and reception based on beams will be correspondingly described below by specific practices. Wherein, each UE has a transmission beam capability and/or a reception beam capability; If the transmitting UE has the reception beam capability, sensing performed by the transmitting UEs in different TUs in NP resource pools and/or resource groups may be in different directions. For example, the transmitting UE supports the reception of two beams and the transmission of four beams, and N=4. The UE uses reception beams in a same direction in two resource pools. Two resource pools, in which reception beams in a same direction are used, can be implemented by the UE or configured by the base station, or predefined by the system. During the actual transmission between UEs, if the repetitive transmission needs to be performed for 4 times, it can be configured by the base station or predefined by the system such that beams of a transmitting UE and beams of a receiving UE can correspond to each other. For example, a same transmission beam is used every two transmissions, and the two transmissions exactly correspond to different reception beams used by the receiving UE; Paragraph [0141-0145] In a real system, each UE may have different transmission beam capabilities and reception beam capabilities. For example, some UEs can transmit different beams within different TUs by time division, where the total number of beams is 4, and some UEs can form different reception beams within different TUs by time division, where the total number of reception beams is 8. A UE can report its own beam capability to a control node, or inform a potential receiving UE of its own beam capability).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Islam in view of Jain with the teachings of Wang. The method enables solving technical defects such as problem on how to realize efficient resource allocation, thus improving transmission performance of the user equipment. The method enables allocating resource for the sidelink communication in an easy manner (Wang Abstract; Paragraph [0002-0006]).
Regarding Claim 35, Islam in view of Jain and Wang discloses the communication method according to Claim 33. Islam in view of Jain and Wang further discloses wherein the first directional beam is a directional beam selected from a plurality of directional beams in a channel access procedure (Jain Figure 1 and 2; Paragraph [0036] Directionally based communications have additional benefits. For example, beamforming may create spatial isolation. The spatial isolation is a result of directional transmission. The signal may be attenuated in directions other than the direction of receive and transmit beams. This may create a possibility of spatial reuse, e.g. multiple peer devices able to communicate with each other contemporaneously; Paragraph [0048] Channel access module; A discovery and beam streaming process and secondly a data transmission process. With respect to apparatus discovery and beam tracking, channel access information 116 may be used when WCD 110 initiates a connection with a peer WCD, both RTS and CTS may sent in all available directions using: a (quasi) omni-directional antenna, or over multiple receive direction using multiple time slots for transmissions; RTS and CTS may use broader beams that cover the narrower beams used for transmission of traffic data and/or RTS-CTS may be multi-directional; Paragraph [0055] In one an aspect, channel access information may include a request message to determine at least one of the presence or location of an apparatus. In another aspect, channel access information may include a field for beam training information. At reference numeral 204, a first directional beam may be received, where the first directional beam may be determined by a second apparatus based on the transmitted channel access information).
Regarding Claim 41, Islam discloses an integrated circuit (Abstract; Figure 1, 3, 4, 6-10 and 17), comprising:
transmission circuitry, which, in operation, controls transmitting of sensing capability information relating to a correspondence of uplink transmission and downlink reception (Figure 3 and 6; Paragraph [0134] At 605, UE 115-e may transmit an indication of capabilities for UE 115-e. In some cases, these UE capabilities may include a maximum number of reference signals that UE 115-e may detect or receive from one or more base stations 105 simultaneously (e.g., at a receive strength greater than some static or dynamic reference signal receive strength threshold). In some cases, these UE capabilities may include a number of sub-arrays, a number of receive panels, a number of UE diversity branches, a number of downlink receive beams, a number of uplink transmit beams, a level of beam correspondence, or any combination of these or other relevant UE parameters; Paragraph [0150] In some cases, the one or more capabilities include a number of sub-arrays, a number of receive panels, a number of UE diversity branches, a number of receive beams, a number of transmit beams, or a combination thereof. In some cases, the one or more capabilities include a level of beam correspondence for the UE);
reception circuitry, which, in operation, controls receiving a first signal by using a first directional beam (Figure 3, 4, and 6; Paragraph [0078-0081 and 00099] a base station 105 may use multiple antennas or antenna arrays to conduct beamforming operations for directional communications with a UE 115. For instance, some signals (e.g. synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) may be transmitted by a base station 105 multiple times in different directions, which may include a signal being transmitted according to different beamforming weight sets associated with different directions of transmission. Transmissions in different beam directions may be used to identify (e.g., by the base station 105 or a receiving device, such as a UE 115) a beam direction for subsequent transmission and/or reception by the base station 105);
and control circuitry, which, in operation, controls determining, based on the sensing capability information and the first directional beam, a second directional beam used for a transmission of a second signal (Paragraph [0078-0081] Some signals, such as data signals associated with a particular receiving device, may be transmitted by a base station 105 in a single beam direction (e.g., a direction associated with the receiving device, such as a UE 115). In some examples, the beam direction associated with transmissions along a single beam direction may be determined based at least in in part on a signal that was transmitted in different beam directions. For example, a UE 115 may receive one or more of the signals transmitted by the base station 105 in different directions, and the UE 115 may report to the base station 105 an indication of the signal the UE 115 received with a highest signal quality, or an otherwise acceptable signal quality. Although these techniques are described with reference to signals transmitted in one or more directions by a base station 105, a UE 115 may employ similar techniques for transmitting signals multiple times in different directions (e.g., for identifying a beam direction for subsequent transmission or reception by the UE 115) or transmitting a signal in a single direction (e.g., for transmitting data to a receiving device); Paragraph [0099 and 0114] base station 105-a may transmit using downlink transmit beams and may receive using uplink receive beams (not shown). The wireless communication system 200 may support UE 115-a receiving multiple reference signals 205, and transmitting multiple RACH preamble messages 210 based on these reference signals and capabilities of the UE 115-a).
Islam discloses a radio apparatus comprising a transmitter and receiver and indicating sensing capability information and beam forming but may not explicitly disclose regarding the directional beams.
However, Jain more specifically teaches directional beams reception circuitry, which, in operation, controls receiving a first signal by using a first directional beam (1004 of Figure 10 and 204 of Figure 2; Paragraph [0055 and 0089] A first directional beam may be received, where the first directional beam may be determined by a second apparatus based on the transmitted channel access information. In one aspect, first directional beam may indict the presence of at least one apparatus. In another aspect, the location of the at least one apparatus may also be received.);
and control circuitry, which, in operation, controls determining, based on the first directional beam, a second directional beam used for a transmission of a second signal (1006 of Figure 10 and 206 of Figure 2; Paragraph [0055 and 0089] A second directional beam may be determined from the first directional beam. In one aspect, determining the second directional beam may include beam training; A module 1006 that determines a second directional beam based on the first directional beam).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Islam with the teachings of Jain. Jain provides a solution where data throughput of wireless communication system can be improved without increasing the bandwidth of wireless communication network, by establishing the communication session corresponding to the transmitted channel reservation information (Jain Abstract; Paragraph [0003-0018 and 0050]).
Islam in view of Jain disclose transmission of sensing capability information but may not explicitly disclose indicating whether a beam sensing procedure is different between the uplink transmission and the downlink reception.
However, Wang more specifically teaches transmitting sensing capability information relating to a correspondence of uplink transmission and downlink transmission and indicating whether a beam sensing procedure is different between the uplink transmission and the downlink reception (Paragraph [0137, 0208-0209 and 0242] For the processing of the transmission based on beams, the transmission based on beams, the reception based on beams, and the transmission and reception based on beams will be correspondingly described below by specific practices. Wherein, each UE has a transmission beam capability and/or a reception beam capability; If the transmitting UE has the reception beam capability, sensing performed by the transmitting UEs in different TUs in NP resource pools and/or resource groups may be in different directions. For example, the transmitting UE supports the reception of two beams and the transmission of four beams, and N=4. The UE uses reception beams in a same direction in two resource pools. Two resource pools, in which reception beams in a same direction are used, can be implemented by the UE or configured by the base station, or predefined by the system. During the actual transmission between UEs, if the repetitive transmission needs to be performed for 4 times, it can be configured by the base station or predefined by the system such that beams of a transmitting UE and beams of a receiving UE can correspond to each other. For example, a same transmission beam is used every two transmissions, and the two transmissions exactly correspond to different reception beams used by the receiving UE; Paragraph [0141-0145] In a real system, each UE may have different transmission beam capabilities and reception beam capabilities. For example, some UEs can transmit different beams within different TUs by time division, where the total number of beams is 4, and some UEs can form different reception beams within different TUs by time division, where the total number of reception beams is 8. A UE can report its own beam capability to a control node, or inform a potential receiving UE of its own beam capability).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Islam in view of Jain with the teachings of Wang. The method enables solving technical defects such as problem on how to realize efficient resource allocation, thus improving transmission performance of the user equipment. The method enables allocating resource for the sidelink communication in an easy manner (Wang Abstract; Paragraph [0002-0006]).
Claims 26 and 34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Islam in view of Jain and Wang as applied to claim 25 and 33 above, and further in view of Goyal et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2020/0314906, hereinafter Goyal.
Regarding Claim 26 and 34, Islam in view of Jain and Wang discloses the radio apparatus and communication method according to claim 25 and 33. Islam in view of Jain and Wang fail to disclose wherein the second directional beam is same as the first directional beam.
However, Goyal teaches wherein the second directional beam is same as the first directional beam (Paragraph [0171-0175] If the transmitting node (e.g., UE/gNB) performs successful CCA on the Rx beam, the Tx beam to transmit the eDRTS may be determined. One or more of the following may apply. The UE/gNB may send the eDRTS on a Tx beam corresponding to the Rx beam where CCA may be successful. The UE/gNB may send the eDRTS on a wider beam than the Tx beam corresponding to the Rx beam where CCA may be successful. The wider beam may be centered along the same beam direction as the Rx beam on which it does successful CCA. The UE/gNB may send the eDRTS on multiple adjacent beams around the Tx beam, which may correspond to the Rx beam where CCA may be successful; That is based on the channel access procedure and a clear channel assessment in the first receive beam direction the radio apparatus selects the second beam in the same direction).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Islam in view of Jain and Wang with the teachings of Goyal. Goyal provides a solution which minimizes interference and/or considers the fairness of other users of the spectrum. Prevents the non-targeted user equipment and/or the neighboring gNB from interfering with the transmissions between the gNB and the targeted user equipment during the time period (Goyal Abstract; Paragraph [0123]).
Claims 28 and 36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Islam in view of Jain and Wang as applied to claim 27 and 35 above, and further in view of Nakamura et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2020/0014511, hereinafter Nakamura.
Regarding Claim 28 and 36, Islam in view of Jain and Wang discloses the radio apparatus and communication method of Claim 27 and 35. Islam in view of Jain and Wang fail to disclose wherein whether the plurality of directional beams is supported for a reception or a transmission at the radio apparatus is notified to another radio apparatus by control information.
However, Nakamura teaches wherein whether the plurality of directional beams is supported for a reception or a transmission at the radio apparatus is notified to another radio apparatus by control information (Paragraph [0145-0153] Terminals present in a service area of the MeNB base station notify the base station of the number of terminal beams supported by each of the terminals as terminal beam related information is specified. The base station knows the number of terminal beams of individual terminals present in the service area of the base station).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Islam in view of Jain and Wang with the teachings of Nakamura. Nakamura provides a solution in which communication quality to the abrupt change of a terminal state can be maintained by changing the period and time of the beam selection. The frequency usage efficiency can be improved. The unnecessary BRS transmission is reduced (Nakamura Abstract; Paragraph [0059-0063]).
Claims 29 and 37 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Islam in view of Jain and Wang as applied to claim 25 and 33 above, and further in view of Yang et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2021/0410187, hereinafter Yang.
Regarding Claim 29 and 37, Islam in view of Jain and Wang discloses the radio apparatus and communication method according to Claim 25 and 33. Islam in view of Jain and Wang discloses MIMO technology and Spatial Division Multiple Access (SDMA) in a channel access procedure but may not explicitly disclose wherein a plurality of directivities including a first directivity of the first directional beam are spatial multiplexed and are detected in a channel access procedure.
However, Yang more specifically teaches wherein a plurality of directivities including a first directivity of the first directional beam are spatial multiplexed and are detected in a channel access procedure (Paragraph [0158-0169] Spatial multiplexing/reuse between different UEs, the different UEs may use the Cat4 LBT mechanism for the BWP and based on a beam direction if the different UEs perform transmissions in beam direction; In the case where different UEs are on the same subband, if the different UEs perform the transmissions in different beam directions, the different UEs may simultaneously perform LBT mechanisms in their respective beam directions or in multiple beam directions, thereby improving the probability of the channel access and being conducive to an implementation of the spatial multiplexing/reuse. For a specific spatial multiplexing/reuse method; In another manner, the same pattern of beam directions is configured for devices under the same operator. Alternatively, different patterns of beam directions are configured for different UEs in the same cell. Alternatively, different patterns of beam directions are configured for different operators. The device may perform the LBT mechanism in at least one beam direction in a configured beam pattern. If it is detected that the channel is clear, a transmission may be performed on at least one of beams where the channel is detected to be clear. The same LBT detection position may be configured for devices using the same beam direction. In an embodiment, a method of double detection thresholds may be employed in order to improve the spatial multiplexing/reuse factor).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Islam in view of Jain and Wang with the teachings of Yang. Yang provides a solution for improving the probability of the channel access and being conducive to an implementation of the spatial multiplexing/reuse and enabling providing a continuous downlink-uplink transmission mode and an uplink and downlink channel-signal transmission mode under condition of multiple switching points (Yang Abstract; Paragraph [0002-0009 and 0159]).
Claims 30 and 38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Islam in view of Jain and Wang as applied to claim 25 and 33 above, and further in view of Zhang et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2019/0059106, hereinafter Zhang.
Regarding Claim 30 and 38, Islam in view of Jain and Wang discloses the radio apparatus and communication method according to Claim 25 and 33. Islam in view of Jain and Wang fails to disclose wherein a subcarrier spacing used for the transmission of the second signal is 120 kHz.
However, the above limitation is known in the art as evidenced by Zhang. Zhang more specifically teaches wherein a subcarrier spacing used for the transmission of the second signal is 120 kHz (Figure 2 and 11; Paragraph [0045-0049] When the SCS is about 120 kHz, each transmission slot 210 may span about 0.125 ms and the duration 202 may include about forty transmission slots 210; In an embodiment, L may be about 64 for a SCS of about 120 kHz or about 240 kHz. Thus, a BS may transmit sixty-four SSBs 220 in about thirty-two transmission slots 210 within the duration 202. In some instances, the BS may transmit the SSBs 220 in groups of eight SSBs 220 over four transmission slots 210 and the groups may be separated by one transmission slot 210. In an embodiment, a BS may transmit SSBs 220 in different beam directions over the duration 202. For example, the BS may include an array of antenna elements and may configure the array of antenna elements to form a transmission beam 211 in a certain direction. As an example, the BS may transmit the SSB 220a over a transmission beam 211a (e.g., shown as pattern-filled) directing towards a direction 216 and may transmit the SSB 220b over another transmission beam 211b (e.g., shown as pattern-filled) directing towards a direction).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Islam in view of Jain and Wang with the teachings of Zhang. Zhang provides a solution in which directional listen-before-talk (LBT) and the directional channel reservations improve system performance and reduce collisions. The transmissions of the synchronization signal block (SSB) in the narrower frequency band allows user equipment (UE) to synchronize to the network by operating in a smaller bandwidth than the system bandwidth, thus reduces UE implementation complexity. The use of unused resources within the DMTC period for data transmissions improves a system resource utilization efficiency (Zhang Abstract; Paragraph [0002-0010]).
Claims 31 and 39 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Islam in view of Jain and Wang as applied to claim 25 and 33 above, and further in view of Zhu U.S. Patent Application Publication 2023/0224956, hereinafter Zhu.
Regarding Claim 31 and 39, Islam in view of Jain and Wang discloses the radio apparatus and communication method according to Claim 25 and 33. Islam in view of Jain and Wang fail to disclose wherein the second signal is transmitted based on a channel access procedure, the channel access procedure being determined from a plurality of channel access procedures including a first channel access procedure and a second channel access procedure, and the second signal is transmitted without a signal detection in the first channel access procedure, and the second signal is transmitted with a signal detection in the second channel access procedure.
However, Zhu teaches wherein the second signal is transmitted based on a channel access procedure, the channel access procedure being determined from a plurality of channel access procedures including a first channel access procedure and a second channel access procedure, and the second signal is transmitted without a signal detection in the first channel access procedure, and the second signal is transmitted with a signal detection in the second channel access procedure (Paragraph [0047-0054] The channel detection generally includes the following four categories: A first category (CAT1, Category 1): a Listen before talk (LBT) mechanism is not included, that is, a device directly transmits information without the need of detecting a channel before transmitting information. The LBT process may be referred to as a listen backoff mechanism configured to achieve effective sharing of the unlicensed spectrum. The LBT requires to listen to a channel for clear channel assessment (CCA) before transmitting information, and performs transmission when the channel is in an idle state. A second category (CAT2, Category2): an LBT mechanism not including a random backoff process. The device performs channel detection on a set time unit before transmitting information, for example, the time unit may be 25 us. When a channel is detected idle within the time unit, the device can transmit information, or else, LBT fails to be executed, and the device cannot transmit information. The time unit may be a time slot. In one embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 2, for a second category (CAT2) of channel detection mechanism, the specific process may be as follows. A wireless communication device performs CAA listening in one time slot. When the channel is detected idle within a CAA slot, the wireless communication device can immediately access the channel; when the channel is detected busy within the CAA slot, the wireless communication device can wait and listen again in a next CSS time slot, and immediately access the channel once the channel is idle; Paragraph [0137-0142] The priority of performing channel access on the beam to be detected is related to the detection category corresponding to the beam to be detected. For example, the detection categories of the beam 1, the beam 2 and the beam 3 are the CAT2, the CAT3 and the CAT4 sequentially, the priorities of performing channel access from high to low are correspondingly the beam 1, the beam 2 and the beam 3).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Islam in view of Jain and Wang with the teachings of Zhu. Zhu provides a solution for reducing collision between transmitting nodes and improving a channel access efficiency (Zhu Abstract; Paragraph [0002-0007, 0053 and 0203-0204]).
Claims 32 and 40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Islam in view of Jain, Wang and Zhu as applied to claim 31 and 39 above, and further in view of Li et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication 2019/0141702, hereinafter Li.
Regarding Claim 32 and 40, Islam in view of Jain, Wang and Zhu disclose the radio apparatus and communication method according to Claim 31 and 39 Islam in view of Jain, Wang and Zhu fail to explicitly disclose wherein whether any of the channel access procedures is supported at the radio apparatus is informed to another radio apparatus by control information.
However, Li more specifically teaches wherein whether any of the channel access procedures is supported at the radio apparatus is informed to another radio apparatus by control information (Paragraph [0021 and 0104-0108] by using the RRC signaling, a capability of directly sending the uplink data without performing LBT for the terminal device is an optional step. In this embodiment of the present invention, the configuration may not be sent. A system may consider, by default, that the terminal device has the capability, that is, the terminal device has the capability of directly sending the uplink data without performing LBT. The network device may first configure, for the terminal device by using the RRC signaling, a capability of directly sending the uplink data without performing LBT).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Islam in view of Jain, Wang and Zhu with the teachings of Li. Li provides a solution which enables directly sending uplink data on the channel resource, so that process for performing the LBT is avoided, while transmitting the uplink data, thus improving data transmission efficiency (Li Abstract; Paragraph [0001-0016]).
Conclusion
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IVAN O. LATORRE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2409
/IVAN O LATORRE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2409