DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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)(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.
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.
Claim(s) 13-15 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being by Farag et al., US 2022/0210781 A1 (using US provisional application filing date of December 28, 2020 related to provisional application 63/131,235; referred to as Farag hereinafter).
Here is how the reference teaches the claims.
Regarding claim 13, Farag discloses a wireless device, WD, configured to communicate with a network node (Farag, paragraph [0043], For example, the wireless network could include any number of gNBs and any number of UEs in any suitable arrangement. Also, the gNB 101 could communicate directly with any number of UEs and provide those UEs with wireless broadband access to the network 130), the WD comprising:
a radio interface configured to transmit a beam report to the network node (Farag, paragraph [0116], Using the received beam report, the NW/gNB can assign a particular DL TX beam to the UE), the beam report including at least one codepoint indicating a transmission configuration indicator, TCI, state (Farag, paragraph [0199], The set of beam indication IDs and the corresponding TCI state IDs can be configured and/or updated by RRC signaling and/or MAC CE signaling. In one further example, MAC CE signaling activates a subset of beam indication IDs as codepoints for beam indication IDs by DCI signaling and/or by MAC CE signaling. Also see paragraph [0104], In release 15/16 the beam management framework includes beam measurement, a beam reporting, and a beam indication) for at least one of:
a downlink, DL, beam;
an uplink, UL, beam; and
both the DL beam and the UL beam (Farag, paragraph [0126], Upon receiving the beam report from the UE, the gNB/NW can use the beam report to select a DL RX beam for the UE and indicate the DLRX beam selection (step 804) using a TCI-state field in a DCI format such as a DCI format scheduling a PDSCH reception by the UE).
Regarding claim 14, Farag discloses wherein the TCI state for a DL beam is indicated based on a DL performance measurement but not an UL performance measurement (Farag, paragraph [0120], In response, the UE measures the DL RS, and in the process selects a DL RX beam, and reports the beam metric associated with the quality of the DL RS. In this case, the UE determines the TX-RX beam pair for every configured (DL) reference RS. Also see paragraph [0126], Upon receiving the beam report from the UE, the gNB/NW can use the beam report to select a DL RX beam for the UE and indicate the DLRX beam selection (step 804) using a TCI-state field in a DCI format such as a DCI format scheduling a PDSCH reception by the UE).
Regarding claim 15, Farag discloses wherein the TCI state for an UL beam is indicated based on an UL performance measurement but not a DL performance measurement (Farag, paragraph [0143], Upon receiving the beam report from the UE, the gNB/NW can use the beam report to select an UL TX beam for the UE and indicate the UL TX beam selection (step 1004) using a TCI-state field in a DCI format, such as a DCI format scheduling a PUSCH transmission from the UE. The TCI-state indicates a reference RS, such as an AP-CSI-RS, representing the selected UL RX beam (by the gNB/NW) … Upon successfully decoding the DCI format indicating the TCI-state, the UE selects an UL TX beam and performs UL transmission, such as a PUSCH transmission, using the UL TX beam associated with the reference CSI-RS (step 1005). The UL TX beam determines a spatial domain filter to use for transmission of UL channels).
Regarding claim 20, Farag discloses a method in a wireless device, WD, configured to communicate with a network node (Farag, paragraph [0043], For example, the wireless network could include any number of gNBs and any number of UEs in any suitable arrangement. Also, the gNB 101 could communicate directly with any number of UEs and provide those UEs with wireless broadband access to the network 130), the method comprising:
transmitting a beam report to the network node (Farag, paragraph [0116], Using the received beam report, the NW/gNB can assign a particular DL TX beam to the UE), the beam report including at least one codepoint indicating a transmission configuration indicator, TCI, state (Farag, paragraph [0199], The set of beam indication IDs and the corresponding TCI state IDs can be configured and/or updated by RRC signaling and/or MAC CE signaling. In one further example, MAC CE signaling activates a subset of beam indication IDs as codepoints for beam indication IDs by DCI signaling and/or by MAC CE signaling. Also see paragraph [0104], In release 15/16 the beam management framework includes beam measurement, a beam reporting, and a beam indication) for at least one of:
a downlink, DL, beam;
an uplink, UL, beam; and
both the DL beam and the UL beam (Farag, paragraph [0126], Upon receiving the beam report from the UE, the gNB/NW can use the beam report to select a DL RX beam for the UE and indicate the DLRX beam selection (step 804) using a TCI-state field in a DCI format such as a DCI format scheduling a PDSCH reception by the UE).
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 16 and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Farag et al., US 2022/0210781 A1 (using US provisional application filing date of December 28, 2020 related to provisional application 63/131,235; referred to as Farag hereinafter), as applied to the claims above and further in view of Park et al., US 2021/0360594 A1 (using US provisional application filing date of May 14, 2020 related to provisional application 63/025,052; referred to as Park hereinafter).
Here is how the references teach the claims.
Regarding claims 16 and 18, Farag discloses the WD of claim 13. Farag does not explicitly disclose the following features.
Regarding claim 16, wherein a first codepoint indicates a TCI state for a DL beam and a second codepoint indicates a TCI state for an uplink beam.
Regarding claim 18, wherein a subset of a plurality of codepoints are configured for implicit indication of TCI states.
In the same field of endeavor (i.e., communication system) Park discloses a method related to a wireless device receiving configuration parameters of plurality of uplink TCI codepoints that comprises the following features.
Regarding claim 16, wherein a first codepoint indicates a TCI state for a DL beam and a second codepoint indicates a TCI state for an uplink beam (Park, abstract, a wireless device receives configuration parameters of a plurality of uplink (UL) transmission configuration indicator (TCI) codepoints. A first codepoint of the plurality of UL TCI codepoints indicates that an activated downlink (DL) TCI state is applicable for UL signal transmission. A second codepoint of the plurality of UL TCI codepoints indicates that a sounding reference signal resource indicator (SRI) is applicable for UL signal transmission. The wireless device receives a control command indicating a codepoint and determines a spatial domain filter based on the indicated codepoint being one of the plurality of UL TCI codepoints. The spatial domain filter is determined using: the activated DL TCI state based on the indicated codepoint being the first codepoint).
Regarding claim 18, wherein a subset of a plurality of codepoints are configured for implicit indication of TCI states (Park, paragraph [0304], In an example, in response to the 1st codepoint, the wireless device may determine a first Tx beam(s) (e.g., spatial domain filter) based on the DL-TCI states 7 and 18, with applying the non-codebook-based UL scheme ( e.g., based on an implicit indication by being indicated with more than one DL-TCI states, e.g., 7 and 18)).
Thus, 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 system of Farag by using the features, as taught by Park, in order to improve uplink performance, in terms of uplink throughput, robustness, and efficiency, based on a control command (e.g., a DCI) scheduling an uplink signal with a control command field indicating selectively a downlink codepoint (e.g., an activated downlink TCI state) or an uplink RS index ( e.g., a SRI) (see Park, abstract and paragraph [0282]).
Claim(s) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Farag et al., US 2022/0210781 A1 (using US provisional application filing date of December 28, 2020 related to provisional application 63/131,235; referred to as Farag hereinafter), as applied to the claims above and further in view of disclosed prior art, 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 Meeting #103-e, R1-2009250 (using the meeting date of October 26, 2020 to November 13, 2020; referred to as D1 hereinafter).
Here is how the references teach the claims.
Regarding claim 17, Farag discloses the WD of claim 13. Farag does not explicitly disclose wherein the at least one codepoint indicates a TCI state for one of a DL beam determined to provide a best DL performance of a plurality of DL beams and an UL beam determined to provide a best UL performance of a plurality of UL beams. In the same field of endeavor (i.e., communication system) D1 discloses a method related to enhancement on Multi-beam operation that comprises wherein the at least one codepoint indicates a TCI state for one of a DL beam determined to provide a best DL performance of a plurality of DL beams and an UL beam determined to provide a best UL performance of a plurality of UL beams (D1, page 3, “Proposal 3: Support simultaneous joint DL/UL state activations across multiple CCs”, With the introduction of common beam, default PDSCH beam can be configured to always follow the common beam optimized by certain criterion. For low mobility UE, default PDSCH beam can follow the common beam with the best SNR, while for high mobility UE, default PDSCH beam can follow the common beam with wide beam width for better tracking. Therefore, it would be beneficial to allow default PDSCH beam to follow the common beam, indicated by the joint DL/UL TCI state. Also see “Proposal 1: Joint DL/UL TCI state can indicate both QCL source RS and PL RS”, In Rl5, the DCI scheduling PDSCH will indicate corresponding TCI codepoint activated by MAC-CE. Similar mechanism can be extended to joint DL/UL TCI state. MAC-CE can activate a subset of configured joint DL/UL TCI states, and the scheduling DCI can further indicate corresponding joint TCI codepoint to save DCI overhead).
Thus, 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 system of Farag by using the features, as taught by D1, in order to provide a method for a UE supporting joint DL/UL TCI state to reduce signalling complexity as well as UE memory to store both configured joint DL/UL TCI states and spatial relations (see D1, page 3, “Proposal 6”).
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Farag et al., US 2022/0210781 A1 (using US provisional application filing date of December 28, 2020 related to provisional application 63/131,235; referred to as Farag hereinafter), as applied to the claims above and further in view of LANDIS et al., US 2022/0201695 A1 (using US application filing date of December 21, 2020; referred to as Landis hereinafter).
Here is how the references teach the claims.
Regarding claim 19, Farag discloses the WD of claim 13. Farag does not explicitly disclose wherein the beam report further includes a list of a plurality of beams in order of highest performance to lowest performance. In the same field of endeavor (i.e., communication system) Landis discloses a method related to TCI state configuration in multi-stream communication between a RAN and a UE that comprises wherein the beam report further includes a list of a plurality of beams in order of highest performance to lowest performance (Landis, paragraph [0203], The TCI state manager circuitry 1548 may be configured to configure the TCI states 1520 for the UE based on a beam report 1524 received from the UE during, for example, a P2 procedure or other beam management procedure. In some examples, the beam report may be the initial beam report including initial beam quality metrics (e.g., the beam quality metric of the transmit beam(s) having the highest RSRP). In other examples, the beam report 1524 may be an enhanced beam report including a respective beam quality metric vector for each of the plurality of transmit beams).
Thus, 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 system of Farag by using the features, as taught by Landis, in order to provide a method for multi-stream communication where a different TCI state can be selected for each of the streams, and where each TCI state may be associated with a different transmission and reception point (TRP) associated with the base station (see Landis, abstract and paragraph [0003]).
Claim(s) 1, 4-7 and 10-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al., US 2021/0360594 A1 (using US provisional application filing date of May 14, 2020 related to provisional application 63/025,052; referred to as Park hereinafter), in view of Farag et al., US 2022/0210781 A1 (using US provisional application filing date of December 28, 2020 related to provisional application 63/131,235; referred to as Farag hereinafter).
Here is how the references teach the claims.
Regarding claim 1, Park discloses a network node configured to communicate with a wireless device, WD (Park, paragraph [0021], FIG. 15 illustrates an example of a wireless device in communication with a base station), the network node comprising:
a radio interface (Park, paragraph [0298], The base station 1504 may connect the wireless device 1502 to a core network (not shown) through radio communications over the air interface ( or radio interface) 1506) configured to: … and
processing circuitry in communication with the radio interface (Park, paragraph [0087], In the downlink, data to be sent to the wireless device 1502 from the base station 1504 may be provided to the processing system 1508 of the base station 1504. The data may be provided to the processing system 1508 by, for example, a core network. In the uplink, data to be sent to the base station 1504 from the wireless device 1502 may be provided to the processing system 1518 of the wireless device 1502), the processing circuitry configured to:
configure at least one codepoint based at least in part on at least one of the at least one indication included in the beam report (Park, paragraph [0283], a base station may transmit to a wireless device one or more messages (e.g. RRC messages) comprising configuration parameters of a cell. The configuration parameters may comprise parameters of one or more downlink TCI states ( or downlink reference beams/signals/indexes, etc.). The base station may transmit one or more MAC CE commands to activate one or more second downlink TCI states (or downlink beams/signals/indexes, etc.) of the one or more downlink TCI states. The one or more second downlink TCI states may correspond to one or more downlink (DL) codepoints. Also see paragraph [0324], In an example, the updates on the uplink codepoints associated with the activated DL TCI states may follow DL TCI update procedures with beam updates (e.g., via DL/UL beam management, beam measurement, and/or beam reporting procedures)), each codepoint configured to implicitly indicate one of:
the updated DL TCI state;
the updated UL TCI state; and
both the updated DL TCI state and the updated UL TCI state (Park, paragraph [0304], In an example, in response to the 1st codepoint, the wireless device may determine a first Tx beam(s) (e.g., spatial domain filter) based on the DL-TCI states 7 and 18, with applying the non-codebook-based UL scheme ( e.g., based on an implicit indication by being indicated with more than one DL-TCI states, e.g., 7 and 18). The wireless device may determine the transmit rank (e.g., the number of transmission layers for the uplink signal, e.g., of PUSCH) to be equal to the number of indicated DL-TCI states, e.g., 2 in the example, (e.g., or the number of indicated DL RSs (inside or associated to the indicated DL-TCI state(s)), or the number of indicated downlink codepoints). Also see paragraph [0310], In an example, the base station may (re-)activate (e.g., (re-)configure, update, or (re-)select) the configuration parameters for DL codepoints, e.g., where the existing DL-TCI state 7 is updated to a DL-TCI state 3, and the existing DL-TCI state 21 is updated to a DL-TCI state 25); and
the radio interface being further configured to transmit the at least one codepoint to the WD (Park, paragraph [0304], The wireless device may receive (i.e., receive from a base station) a first control command indicating the 1st codepoint, e.g., comprising a field indicating the 1st codepoint, for transmission of an uplink signal).
Regarding claim 7, Park discloses a method in a network node configured to communicate with a wireless device, WD (Park, paragraph [0021], FIG. 15 illustrates an example of a wireless device in communication with a base station), the method comprising: … and configuring at least one codepoint based at least in part on at least one of the at least one indication included in the beam report (Park, paragraph [0283], a base station may transmit to a wireless device one or more messages (e.g. RRC messages) comprising configuration parameters of a cell. The configuration parameters may comprise parameters of one or more downlink TCI states (or downlink reference beams/signals/indexes, etc.). The base station may transmit one or more MAC CE commands to activate one or more second downlink TCI states (or downlink beams/signals/indexes, etc.) of the one or more downlink TCI states. The one or more second downlink TCI states may correspond to one or more downlink (DL) codepoints. Also see paragraph [0324], In an example, the updates on the uplink codepoints associated with the activated DL TCI states may follow DL TCI update procedures with beam updates (e.g., via DL/UL beam management, beam measurement, and/or beam reporting procedures)), each codepoint configured to implicitly indicate one of:
the updated DL TCI state;
the updated UL TCI state; and
both the updated DL TCI state and the updated UL TCI state (Park, paragraph [0304], In an example, in response to the 1st codepoint, the wireless device may determine a first Tx beam(s) (e.g., spatial domain filter) based on the DL-TCI states 7 and 18, with applying the non-codebook-based UL scheme ( e.g., based on an implicit indication by being indicated with more than one DL-TCI states, e.g., 7 and 18). The wireless device may determine the transmit rank (e.g., the number of transmission layers for the uplink signal, e.g., of PUSCH) to be equal to the number of indicated DL-TCI states, e.g., 2 in the example, (e.g., or the number of indicated DL RSs (inside or associated to the indicated DL-TCI state(s)), or the number of indicated downlink codepoints). Also see paragraph [0310], In an example, the base station may (re-)activate (e.g., (re-)configure, update, or (re-)select) the configuration parameters for DL codepoints, e.g., where the existing DL-TCI state 7 is updated to a DL-TCI state 3, and the existing DL-TCI state 21 is updated to a DL-TCI state 25); and
transmitting the at least one codepoint to the WD (Park, paragraph [0304], The wireless device may receive (i.e., receive from a base station) a first control command indicating the 1st codepoint, e.g., comprising a field indicating the 1st codepoint, for transmission of an uplink signal).
Regarding claims 1 and 7, Park does not explicitly disclose receive a beam report from the WD, the beam report including at least one indication of a transmission configuration indicator, TCI, state, an indication indicating one of:
a downlink, DL, TCI state;
an uplink, UL TCI state; and
both the DL TCI state and the UL TCI state.
In the same field of endeavor (e.g., communication system) Farag discloses a method for predictive beam management in a wireless communication system that comprises receive a beam report from the WD, the beam report (Farag, paragraph [0116], Using the received beam report, the NW/gNB can assign a particular DL TX beam to the UE) including at least one indication of a transmission configuration indicator, TCI, state (Farag, paragraph [0199], The set of beam indication IDs and the corresponding TCI state IDs can be configured and/or updated by RRC signaling and/or MAC CE signaling. In one further example, MAC CE signaling activates a subset of beam indication IDs as codepoints for beam indication IDs by DCI signaling and/or by MAC CE signaling. Also see paragraph [0104], In release 15/16 the beam management framework includes beam measurement, a beam reporting, and a beam indication), an indication indicating one of:
a downlink, DL, TCI state;
an uplink, UL TCI state; and
both the DL TCI state and the UL TCI state (Farag, paragraph [0126], Upon receiving the beam report from the UE, the gNB/NW can use the beam report to select a DL RX beam for the UE and indicate the DLRX beam selection (step 804) using a TCI-state field in a DCI format such as a DCI format scheduling a PDSCH reception by the UE);
Thus, 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 system of Park by using the features, as taught by Farag, in order to provide beam-forming gain and support increased capacity to flexibly accommodate various services/applications with different requirements (see Park, abstract and paragraph [0003]).
Regarding claim 4, Park discloses wherein a first codepoint is configured for DL TCI states and a second codepoint is configured for UL TCI states (Park, abstract, a wireless device receives configuration parameters of a plurality of uplink (UL) transmission configuration indicator (TCI) codepoints. A first codepoint of the plurality of UL TCI codepoints indicates that an activated downlink (DL) TCI state is applicable for UL signal transmission. A second codepoint of the plurality of UL TCI codepoints indicates that a sounding reference signal resource indicator (SRI) is applicable for UL signal transmission. The wireless device receives a control command indicating a codepoint and determines a spatial domain filter based on the indicated codepoint being one of the plurality of UL TCI codepoints. The spatial domain filter is determined using: the activated DL TCI state based on the indicated codepoint being the first codepoint).
Regarding claim 5, Park discloses wherein each of a plurality of codepoints are configured to implicitly indicate a different one of a set of at least one of DL TCI states and UL TCI states (Park, paragraph [0304], In an example, in response to the 1st codepoint, the wireless device may determine a first Tx beam(s) (e.g., spatial domain filter) based on the DL-TCI states 7 and 18, with applying the non-codebook-based UL scheme ( e.g., based on an implicit indication by being indicated with more than one DL-TCI states, e.g., 7 and 18). The wireless device may determine the transmit rank (e.g., the number of transmission layers for the uplink signal, e.g., of PUSCH) to be equal to the number of indicated DL-TCI states, e.g., 2 in the example, (e.g., or the number of indicated DL RSs (inside or associated to the indicated DL-TCI state(s)), or the number of indicated downlink codepoints)).
Regarding claim 6, Park discloses wherein each of the at least one codepoint is configured by one of a medium access control, MAC, control element, CE, and downlink control information, DCI (Park, paragraph [0282], A control command (e.g., comprising a field in a DCI or a MAC CE) indicating selectively a downlink codepoint (e.g., an activated downlink TCI state) or an uplink RS index (e.g., an SRI) may enable a base station to adapt an uplink beam indication for a variety of scenarios and capabilities).
Regarding claim 10, Park discloses wherein a first codepoint is configured for DL TCI states and a second codepoint is configured for UL TCI states (Park, abstract, a wireless device receives configuration parameters of a plurality of uplink (UL) transmission configuration indicator (TCI) codepoints. A first codepoint of the plurality of UL TCI codepoints indicates that an activated downlink (DL) TCI state is applicable for UL signal transmission. A second codepoint of the plurality of UL TCI codepoints indicates that a sounding reference signal resource indicator (SRI) is applicable for UL signal transmission. The wireless device receives a control command indicating a codepoint and determines a spatial domain filter based on the indicated codepoint being one of the plurality of UL TCI codepoints. The spatial domain filter is determined using: the activated DL TCI state based on the indicated codepoint being the first codepoint).
Regarding claim 11, Park discloses wherein each of a plurality of codepoints are configured to implicitly indicate a different one of a set of at least one of DL TCI states and UL TCI states (Park, paragraph [0304], In an example, in response to the 1st codepoint, the wireless device may determine a first Tx beam(s) (e.g., spatial domain filter) based on the DL-TCI states 7 and 18, with applying the non-codebook-based UL scheme ( e.g., based on an implicit indication by being indicated with more than one DL-TCI states, e.g., 7 and 18). The wireless device may determine the transmit rank (e.g., the number of transmission layers for the uplink signal, e.g., of PUSCH) to be equal to the number of indicated DL-TCI states, e.g., 2 in the example, (e.g., or the number of indicated DL RSs (inside or associated to the indicated DL-TCI state(s)), or the number of indicated downlink codepoints)).
Regarding claim 12, Park discloses wherein each of the at least one codepoint for a plurality of TCI states are configured by one of a medium access control, MAC, control element, CE, and downlink control information, DCI (Park, paragraph [0282], A control command (e.g., comprising a field in a DCI or a MAC CE) indicating selectively a downlink codepoint (e.g., an activated downlink TCI state) or an uplink RS index (e.g., an SRI) may enable a base station to adapt an uplink beam indication for a variety of scenarios and capabilities).
Claim(s) 2-3 and 8-9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Park et al., US 2021/0360594 A1 (using US provisional application filing date of May 14, 2020 related to provisional application 63/025,052; referred to as Park hereinafter), in view of Farag et al., US 2022/0210781 A1 (using US provisional application filing date of December 28, 2020 related to provisional application 63/131,235; referred to as Farag hereinafter), as applied to the claims above and further in view of Matsumura et al., US 2023/0413283 A1 (using PCT application filing date of October 2, 2020 corresponding to PCT/JP2020/037584; referred to as Matsumura hereinafter).
Here is how the references teach the claims.
Regarding claims 2-3 and 8-9, Park and Farag disclose the network node of claim 1 and the method of claim 7. Park and Farag do not explicitly disclose the following features.
Regarding claim 2, wherein only an updated DL TCI state is indicated by at least one of the at least one codepoint based on an indication of DL performance.
Regarding claim 3, wherein only an updated UL TCI state is indicated by at least one of the at least one codepoint based on an indication of UL performance.
Regarding claim 8, wherein only an updated DL TCI state is indicated by at least one of the at least one codepoint based on an indication of DL performance.
Regarding claim 9, wherein only an updated UL TCI state is indicated by at least one of the at least one codepoint based on an indication of UL performance.
In the same field of endeavor (e.g., communication system) Matsumura discloses a method related to a terminal and a base station in next-generation mobile communication system that comprises the following features.
Regarding claim 2, wherein only an updated DL TCI state is indicated by at least one of the at least one codepoint based on an indication of DL performance (Matsumura, paragraph [0083], Unless the timing of the common beam update is definite, a discrepancy in recognition of the common TCI state between the UE and the base station may arise, and deterioration in communication quality, deterioration in throughput, and the like may occur. Also see paragraph [0144], The DL DCI may have one specific field. The one specific field may jointly indicate a UL common beam and a DL common beam. As shown in an example of FIG. 15, each of values ( codepoints) of the specific field may be associated with a combination of a UL TCI state (TCI state ID) and a DL TCI state (TCI state ID). This association may be defined in specifications, may be configured by RRC, or may be indicated by a MAC/CE).
Regarding claim 3, wherein only an updated UL TCI state is indicated by at least one of the at least one codepoint based on an indication of UL performance (Matsumura, paragraph [0083], Unless the timing of the common beam update is definite, a discrepancy in recognition of the common TCI state between the UE and the base station may arise, and deterioration in communication quality, deterioration in throughput, and the like may occur. Also see paragraph [0144], The DL DCI may have one specific field. The one specific field may jointly indicate a UL common beam and a DL common beam. As shown in an example of FIG. 15, each of values ( codepoints) of the specific field may be associated with a combination of a UL TCI state (TCI state ID) and a DL TCI state (TCI state ID). This association may be defined in specifications, may be configured by RRC, or may be indicated by a MAC/CE).
Regarding claim 8, wherein only an updated DL TCI state is indicated by at least one of the at least one codepoint based on an indication of DL performance (Matsumura, paragraph [0083], Unless the timing of the common beam update is definite, a discrepancy in recognition of the common TCI state between the UE and the base station may arise, and deterioration in communication quality, deterioration in throughput, and the like may occur. Also see paragraph [0144], The DL DCI may have one specific field. The one specific field may jointly indicate a UL common beam and a DL common beam. As shown in an example of FIG. 15, each of values ( codepoints) of the specific field may be associated with a combination of a UL TCI state (TCI state ID) and a DL TCI state (TCI state ID). This association may be defined in specifications, may be configured by RRC, or may be indicated by a MAC/CE).
Regarding claim 9, wherein only an updated UL TCI state is indicated by at least one of the at least one codepoint based on an indication of UL performance (Matsumura, paragraph [0083], Unless the timing of the common beam update is definite, a discrepancy in recognition of the common TCI state between the UE and the base station may arise, and deterioration in communication quality, deterioration in throughput, and the like may occur. Also see paragraph [0144], The DL DCI may have one specific field. The one specific field may jointly indicate a UL common beam and a DL common beam. As shown in an example of FIG. 15, each of values ( codepoints) of the specific field may be associated with a combination of a UL TCI state (TCI state ID) and a DL TCI state (TCI state ID). This association may be defined in specifications, may be configured by RRC, or may be indicated by a MAC/CE).
Thus, 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 system of Park and Farag by using the features, as taught by Matsumura, in order to support a method related to appropriately determine information related to quasi-co-location (QCL) (see Matsumura, abstract and paragraphs [0001] and [0007]).
Conclusion
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/OBAIDUL HUQ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2473 Dated: 09/19/2025
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