DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 03/30/2026 has been entered. Claims 8, and 10-12 have been amended. Claims 8, and 10-12 are subject to examination.
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 02/04/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive for the following reasons:
Applicant’s Argument:
The applicant argues in substance that "However, paragraph [0100] of Zhou and the remainder of the disclosure of Zhou merely describe a conventional single-TRP operation, and fails to disclose, in the context of a multi- TRP operation, a processor that, when the first BFD-RS set corresponding to the first TRP and the second BFD-RS set corresponding to the second TRP are not provided, determines the first BFD-RS set and the second BFD-RS set, as required by the above-referenced limitation (i). In addition, paragraph [0100] of Zhou and the remainder of the disclosure of Zhou are silent with respect to how each BFD-RS set for each TRP is determined, as required by the above-referenced limitation (ii)".
Examiner’s Response:
The examiner respectfully disagrees. Zhou explicitly connects PCell/PScell configuration to TRPs by teaching that a serving cell (PCell/PScell/Scell) can be configured with two CORESET pool index values, with one pool index associated with the first TRP and the other with the second TRP (Zhou; Par. 0083–0086); Zhou also states that the PCell/PScell transmits the BFD-RS configuration and that if BFD-RSs are not configured the UE uses the RS sets indicated by the active TCI states of the CORESETs it monitors (Zhou; Par. 0100). These passages show that in a multi-TRP context, the processor determines the first BFD-RS set from the CORESET(s) for the first TRP and the second BFD-RS set from the CORESET(s) for the second TRP, thus meeting limitation (i).
Applicant’s Argument:
The applicant argues in substance that " Further, while paragraph [0057] of Zhou describes synchronization signal burst set periodicity, Zhou is silent with respect to monitoring periodicity of a search space set associated with a CORESET, as required by the above-referenced limitation (iii)”.
Examiner’s Response:
The Examiner directs the Applicant to the updated rejection below based on the newly added limitations.
Regarding all other arguments presented by applicant, the arguments are substantially the same as those which have already been addressed above and in the interest of brevity; the examiner directs the applicant to those responses above.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 8 and 10-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. (Zhou hereafter) (US 2022/0103233 A1) in view of Raghavan et al. (Raghavan hereafter) (US 2022/0022064 A1).
Regarding claim 8 and 10, Zhou teaches, a terminal comprising:
a transmitter that transmits capability information indicating support for beam failure recovery (BFR) for a first transmission/reception point (TRP) and a second TRP based on a first beam failure detection-reference signal (BFD-RS) set and a second BFD-RS set; (Zhou; at 1202, by the UE transmitting, to a network entity, an indication of one or more capabilities of the UE to support beam group specific BFR; Par. 0128…The UE may indicate various types of capabilities to support TRP specific (or beam group specific) BFR…Par. 0132…the maximum number of BFD RSs the UE supports in at least two BFD RS sets per DL BWP is based on a configuration (or capability) of the UE (e.g., including a possible configured value of one), Par. 0138 & Par. 133-0138)
a receiver that receives one or two downlink control information (DCI) that schedules physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) to be transmitted from the first TRP and the second TRP; (Zhou; multi-TRP transmissions may be configured based on a single downlink control information (DCI) communication which (e.g., transmitted in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) 706 from TRP 704a) schedules downlink (DL) shared channel transmissions, such as physical downlink shared channel PDSCH 708 (e.g., Layer 1 (L1) PDSCH 708) transmitted from TRP 704a via the first beam and PDSCH 710 (e.g., Layer 2 (L2) PDSCH 710) transmitted from TRP 704b via the second beam. Par. 0081…In some other cases, as shown in example multi-TRP operation wireless communication system 700 of FIG. 7, multi-TRP transmissions may be configured based on multiple DCI communications.; Par. 0082) and
a processor that, when the first BFD-RS set corresponding to the first TRP and the second BFD-RS set corresponding to the second TRP are not provided, determines the first BFD-RS set and the second BFD-RS set, (Zhou; At 904, PCell/PScell 902 may transmit (and UE 120 may receive), a configuration for BFD RSs…Up to two single port RSs may be configured. If not configured, the RS sets indicated by the active TCI states of CORESETs monitored by UE 120 may be used. For an active TCI state of a CORESET, there may be two RS indices, e.g., with QCL Type-D, that may be used.; Par. 0100)
wherein the processor determines the first BFD-RS set to include a plurality of reference signals (RSs) in a transmission configuration indication (TCI) state for a first control resource set (CORESET) corresponding to the first TRP, and determines the second BFD-RS set to include a plurality of RSs in a TCJ state for a second CORESET corresponding to the second TRP. (Zhou; At 904, PCell/PScell 902 may transmit (and UE 120 may receive), a configuration for BFD RSs…Up to two single port RSs may be configured. If not configured, the RS sets indicated by the active TCI states of CORESETs monitored by UE 120 may be used. For an active TCI state of a CORESET, there may be two RS indices, e.g., with QCL Type-D, that may be used.; Par. 0100)
Although Zhou teaches,
wherein the processor determines the first BFD-RS set and the second BFD-RS set. (Zhou; Par. 0100)
Zhou fails to explicitly teach,
based on a first monitoring periodicity of a first search space set associated with the first CORESET and a second monitoring periodicity of a second search space set associated with the second CORESET.
However, Raghavan teaches,
based on a first monitoring periodicity of a first search space set associated with the first CORESET (Raghavan; For L.sub.max=4, the UE 101 selects the N.sub.RLM RS provided for active TCI states for PDCCH receptions in CORESETs associated with the search space sets in an order from the shortest monitoring periodicity; Par. 0043) and a second monitoring periodicity of a second search space set associated with the second CORESET (Raghavan; For L.sub.max=4, the UE 101 selects the N.sub.RLM RS provided for active TCI states for PDCCH receptions in CORESETs associated with the search space sets in an order from the shortest monitoring periodicity; Par. 0043). (Raghavan; Par. 0011, Par. 0028, Par. 0032 & Par. 0043) [The Examiner contends that Raghavan teaches it is well known in the art to consider/prioritize the monitoring periodicity of a search space when determining a CORESETs in a multi-TRP system capable of BFD]
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the teachings of Zhou to include the above cited limitations as taught by Raghavan in order to allow the UE is able to check the link quality more often (aka. shortest monitoring periodicity) (Raghavan; Par. 0043).
Regarding claim 11, Zhou teaches, a base station comprising:
a receiver that receives capability information indicating support for beam failure recovery (BFR) for a first transmission/reception point (TRP) and a second TRP based on a first beam failure detection-reference signal (BFD-RS) set and a second BFD-RS set; (Zhou; at 1302, by the network entity receiving, from a UE, an indication of one or more capabilities of the UE to support beam group specific BFR. At 1304, the network entity participates in the beam group specific BFR for the UE, in accordance with the indicated one or more capabilities of the UE…the maximum number of BFD RSs the UE supports in at least two BFD RS sets per DL BWP is based on a configuration (or capability) of the UE (e.g., including a possible configured value of one), Par. 0138; Par. 0131 & Par. 133-0138)
a transmitter that transmits one or two downlink control information (DCI) that schedules physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) to be transmitted from the first TRP and the second TRP; (Zhou; multi-TRP transmissions may be configured based on a single downlink control information (DCI) communication which (e.g., transmitted in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) 706 from TRP 704a) schedules downlink (DL) shared channel transmissions, such as physical downlink shared channel PDSCH 708 (e.g., Layer 1 (L1) PDSCH 708) transmitted from TRP 704a via the first beam and PDSCH 710 (e.g., Layer 2 (L2) PDSCH 710) transmitted from TRP 704b via the second beam. Par. 0081…In some other cases, as shown in example multi-TRP operation wireless communication system 700 of FIG. 7, multi-TRP transmissions may be configured based on multiple DCI communications.; Par. 0082) and
a processor that, when the first BFD-RS set corresponding to the first TRP and the second BFD-RS set corresponding to the second TRP are not provided for a terminal, determines that the first BFD-RS set and the second BFD-RS set are determined by the terminal, (Zhou; At 904, PCell/PScell 902 may transmit (and UE 120 may receive), a configuration for BFD RSs…Up to two single port RSs may be configured. If not configured, the RS sets indicated by the active TCI states of CORESETs monitored by UE 120 may be used. For an active TCI state of a CORESET, there may be two RS indices, e.g., with QCL Type-D, that may be used.; Par. 0100)
wherein the first BFD-RS set includes a plurality of reference signals (RSs) in a transmission configuration indication (TCI) state for a first control resource set (CORESET) corresponding to the first TRP, and the second BFD-RS set includes a plurality of RSs in a TCI state for a second CORESET corresponding to the second TRP. (Zhou; At 904, PCell/PScell 902 may transmit (and UE 120 may receive), a configuration for BFD RSs…Up to two single port RSs may be configured. If not configured, the RS sets indicated by the active TCI states of CORESETs monitored by UE 120 may be used. For an active TCI state of a CORESET, there may be two RS indices, e.g., with QCL Type-D, that may be used.; Par. 0100)
Although Zhou teaches,
wherein the processor determines the first BFD-RS set and the second BFD-RS set are determined by the terminal. (Zhou; Par. 0100)
Zhou fails to explicitly teach,
based on a first monitoring periodicity of a first search space set associated with the first CORESET and a second monitoring periodicity of a second search space set associated with the second CORESET.
However, Raghavan teaches,
based on a first monitoring periodicity of a first search space set associated with the first CORESET (Raghavan; For L.sub.max=4, the UE 101 selects the N.sub.RLM RS provided for active TCI states for PDCCH receptions in CORESETs associated with the search space sets in an order from the shortest monitoring periodicity; Par. 0043) and a second monitoring periodicity of a second search space set associated with the second CORESET (Raghavan; For L.sub.max=4, the UE 101 selects the N.sub.RLM RS provided for active TCI states for PDCCH receptions in CORESETs associated with the search space sets in an order from the shortest monitoring periodicity; Par. 0043). (Raghavan; Par. 0011, Par. 0028, Par. 0032 & Par. 0043) [The Examiner contends that Raghavan teaches it is well known in the art to consider/prioritize the monitoring periodicity of a search space when determining a CORESETs in a multi-TRP system capable of BFD]
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the teachings of Zhou to include the above cited limitations as taught by Raghavan in order to allow the UE is able to check the link quality more often (aka. shortest monitoring periodicity) (Raghavan; Par. 0043).
Regarding claim 12, Zhou teaches, a system comprising a terminal and a base station, wherein the terminal comprises:
a transmitter that transmits capability information indicating support for beam failure recovery (BFR) for a first transmission/reception point (TRP) and a second TRP based on a first beam failure detection-reference signal (BFD-RS) set and a second BFD-RS set; (Zhou; at 1202, by the UE transmitting, to a network entity, an indication of one or more capabilities of the UE to support beam group specific BFR; Par. 0128…The UE may indicate various types of capabilities to support TRP specific (or beam group specific) BFR…Par. 0132…the maximum number of BFD RSs the UE supports in at least two BFD RS sets per DL BWP is based on a configuration (or capability) of the UE (e.g., including a possible configured value of one), Par. 0138 & Par. 133-0138)
a receiver that receives one or two downlink control information (DCI) that schedules physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs) to be transmitted from the first TRP and the second TRP; (Zhou; multi-TRP transmissions may be configured based on a single downlink control information (DCI) communication which (e.g., transmitted in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) 706 from TRP 704a) schedules downlink (DL) shared channel transmissions, such as physical downlink shared channel PDSCH 708 (e.g., Layer 1 (L1) PDSCH 708) transmitted from TRP 704a via the first beam and PDSCH 710 (e.g., Layer 2 (L2) PDSCH 710) transmitted from TRP 704b via the second beam. Par. 0081…In some other cases, as shown in example multi-TRP operation wireless communication system 700 of FIG. 7, multi-TRP transmissions may be configured based on multiple DCI communications.; Par. 0082) and
a processor that, when the first BFD-RS set corresponding to the first TRP and the second BFD-RS set corresponding to the second TRP are not provided, determines the first BFD- RS set and the second BFD-RS set, (Zhou; At 904, PCell/PScell 902 may transmit (and UE 120 may receive), a configuration for BFD RSs…Up to two single port RSs may be configured. If not configured, the RS sets indicated by the active TCI states of CORESETs monitored by UE 120 may be used. For an active TCI state of a CORESET, there may be two RS indices, e.g., with QCL Type-D, that may be used.; Par. 0100)
wherein the processor determines the first BFD-RS set to include a plurality of reference signals (RSs) in a transmission configuration indication (TCI) state for a first control resource set (CORESET) corresponding to the first TRP, and determines the second BFD-RS set to include a plurality of RSs in a TCI state for a second CORESET corresponding to the second TRP, (Zhou; At 904, PCell/PScell 902 may transmit (and UE 120 may receive), a configuration for BFD RSs…Up to two single port RSs may be configured. If not configured, the RS sets indicated by the active TCI states of CORESETs monitored by UE 120 may be used. For an active TCI state of a CORESET, there may be two RS indices, e.g., with QCL Type-D, that may be used.; Par. 0100) and
the base station comprises:
a transmitter that transmits the one or two DCI. (Zhou; multi-TRP transmissions may be configured based on a single downlink control information (DCI) communication which (e.g., transmitted in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) 706 from TRP 704a) schedules downlink (DL) shared channel transmissions, such as physical downlink shared channel PDSCH 708 (e.g., Layer 1 (L1) PDSCH 708) transmitted from TRP 704a via the first beam and PDSCH 710 (e.g., Layer 2 (L2) PDSCH 710) transmitted from TRP 704b via the second beam. Par. 0081…In some other cases, as shown in example multi-TRP operation wireless communication system 700 of FIG. 7, multi-TRP transmissions may be configured based on multiple DCI communications.; Par. 0082)
Although Zhou teaches,
wherein the processor determines the first BFD-RS set and the second BFD-RS set. (Zhou; Par. 0100)
Zhou fails to explicitly teach,
based on a first monitoring periodicity of a first search space set associated with the first CORESET and a second monitoring periodicity of a second search space set associated with the second CORESET.
However, Raghavan teaches,
based on a first monitoring periodicity of a first search space set associated with the first CORESET (Raghavan; For L.sub.max=4, the UE 101 selects the N.sub.RLM RS provided for active TCI states for PDCCH receptions in CORESETs associated with the search space sets in an order from the shortest monitoring periodicity; Par. 0043) and a second monitoring periodicity of a second search space set associated with the second CORESET (Raghavan; For L.sub.max=4, the UE 101 selects the N.sub.RLM RS provided for active TCI states for PDCCH receptions in CORESETs associated with the search space sets in an order from the shortest monitoring periodicity; Par. 0043). (Raghavan; Par. 0011, Par. 0028, Par. 0032 & Par. 0043) [The Examiner contends that Raghavan teaches it is well known in the art to consider/prioritize the monitoring periodicity of a search space when determining a CORESETs in a multi-TRP system capable of BFD]
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the teachings of Zhou to include the above cited limitations as taught by Raghavan in order to allow the UE is able to check the link quality more often (aka. shortest monitoring periodicity) (Raghavan; Par. 0043).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Noel R Beharry whose telephone number is (571)270-5630. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th 9-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Deborah Reynolds can be reached at (571) 272-0734. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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NOEL R. BEHARRY
Supervisory Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2416
/NOEL R BEHARRY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2416
Prosecution Insights