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 § 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.
Claim(s) 36 – 40, 42, 45 and 48 – 52 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. US 20220104302 A1, Zhou (Zhou: para. [0001] application claims benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/083,855, filed Sep. 25, 2020, hereinafter Zhou’855) in view of MODERATOR (CATT): "Summary on beam management for simultaneous multi-TRP transmission with multiple Rx panels", 3GPP DRAFT; R1-2009500, 3RD GENERATION PARTNERSHIP PROJECT (3GPP), MOBILE COMPETENCE CENTRE; 650, ROUTE DES LUCIOLES; F-06921 SOPHIA-ANTIPOLIS CEDEX; FRANCE vol. RAN WG1, no. e-Meeting; 20201026 - 20201113 26 November 2020 (2020-11-26), XP051960786, hereinafter CATT (listed in applicant submitted IDS and listed as D1 in EPO search report), and further in view of Zhou et al. US 20220104036 A1, hereinafter Zhou’036 (Zhou’036: para. [0001] the present application claims priority to and the benefit of the U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/085,128, filed Sep. 29, 2020, hereinafter Zhou’128).
Regarding claim 36, Zhou teaches a beam recovery method in a multi-TRP system, wherein the method is performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising:
(Zhou: Summary and para. [0302] a computer program product for performing the operations presented herein. For example, such a computer program product may comprise a computer-readable medium having instructions stored (and/or encoded) thereon, the instructions being executable by one or more processors to perform the operations)
transmitting a Medium Access Control (MAC) control element (CE) carrying beam failure recovery request (BFRQ) to a first cell on a first physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resource when detecting a TRP-level beam failure event.
(Zhou: Fig. 10 step 1010 and para. [0115 & 0120] UL grant may schedule a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) for UE 120 in which a BFR MAC CE may be transmitted; Zhou’855: para. [0101 & 0106])
It is noted that Zhou does not explicitly disclose: transmitting a Medium Access Control (MAC) control element (CE) carrying transmission/reception point (TRP)-level beam failure recovery request (BFRQ) to a first cell,
wherein, in an event that a qualified candidate beam is found for a failed TRP, the MAC CE carries only one candidate beam indication together with a component carrier (CC) index value associated with the failed TRP, and
wherein, in an event that no qualified candidate beam is found for the failed TRP, the MAC CE carries an indicator indicating absence of a qualified candidate beam together with the CC index value.
However, CATT from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of: transmitting a Medium Access Control (MAC) control element (CE) carrying transmission/reception point (TRP)-level beam failure recovery request (BFRQ) to a first cell (CATT: 3.2 Partial beam failure recovery for mTRP/panel - pages 36-37, line 2 " The modified BFR MAC-CE indicates the failed TRP ID(s) per cell for cells configured with TRP specific BFR. lf TRP specific or SpCell/SCell beam failure is detected for any cell, UE can request UL grant via a SR for transmitting the modified BFR MAC-CE.", and the TRP specific beam failure corresponds to the TRP-level beam failure)
wherein, in an event that a qualified candidate beam is found for a failed TRP, the MAC CE carries only one candidate beam indication together with a component carrier (CC) index value associated with the failed TRP, and
(CATT: pages 31 3.2. Partial beam failure recovery for mTRP/panel – vivo – Proposal 12: When UE detects both beam links to two TRPs fail, legacy process on receiving the network response can be applied if only one new beam (corresponds to claim limitation “only one candidate beam indication”) has been reported in the BFRQ. Page 23 2.2.8 - For QCL/spatial relation assumption/UL power control for DL and UL channels/RSs after receiving gNB response - when both TRP fail and no or only one new beam (corresponds to claim limitation “only one candidate beam indication”) is received in BFRQ. pages 19-20 2.2.5. BFRQ – Support provision of the following information in BFRQ MAC-CE: Failed link indices, CC index (corresponds to claim limitation “CC index”), New candidate beams: If one link fail, N = 1 (corresponds to claim limitation “only one candidate beam indication”) new beam for the failed link)
wherein, in an event that no qualified candidate beam is found for the failed TRP, the MAC CE carries an indicator indicating absence of a qualified candidate beam together with the CC index value.
(CATT: pages 19-20 2.2.5. BFRQ – Support provision of the following information in BFRQ MAC-CE: Failed link indices, CC index (corresponds to claim limitation “CC index”); Indication whether new beam(s) is found (corresponds to claim limitation “indicating absence of qualified candidate beam”)). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of CATT in the method of Zhou. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for each TRP or panel as a “link” for which BFR can be performed independently (CATT: 2.2 Beam failure recovery for multi-TRP (including partial beam failure)).
It is noted that Zhou and CATT do not explicitly disclose: wherein the MAC CE further comprises a parameter indicating a number of the TRPs having beam failures.
However, Zhou’036 from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of: wherein the MAC CE further comprises a parameter (SP/Ci field) indicating a number of the TRPs (failure status for the X TRPs) having beam failures.
(Zhou: [0145] and FIG. 6B BFR MAC-CE 650 includes one octet of SP/C.sub.i fields in block 602. The size of block 604 is then determined by the number of TRP failures indicated in the SP/C.sub.i fields of block 602. Para. [0137] Fields 606 in octet blocks 602 and 604 may be single bit fields or multiple bit fields. SP/Ci field per CC with X bits indicating per-TRP failure status for the X TRPs configured that that CC. For example, the SP field and Ci field (fields 606) may each have two bits indicating failure per TRP for the two TRPS in SpCell and ith S-Cell in the cell group, respectively. The Candidate RS ID in fields 612 is listed sequentially per failed TRP in each row based on the order in the SP/Ci fields. Zhou’128: para. [0139 & 0147]) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Zhou’036 in the method of Zhou and CATT. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for such an arrangement is provided for MAC-CE based TRP-specific BFRQ transmissions. The beam group specific BFR MAC-CE may further include information indicating a beam group ID and may further include a cell ID indicating the serving cell (e.g., PCell, SpCell, or SCell) (Zhou’036: para. [0129]), and efficient detection and recovery from beam failures in multi-TRP configurations may help enhance multi-TRP communications (Zhou’036: para. [0005]).
Regarding claim 37, Zhou, CATT and Zhou’036 teach the beam recovery method in a multi-TRP system according to claim 36,
wherein after N symbols, (Zhou: para. [0120] If the new candidate beam is reported in the BFR MAC CE, such as 28 symbols from the end of the BFR response (e.g., in the PDCCH), all CORESET beams on the failed cell (e.g., SCell 1001 b, or PCell 1001 a in this example), may be reset to the new candidate beam; Zhou’855: para. [079-0080 & 0106])
the UE uses parameters with the same antenna port quasi-co-location characteristics as a first new beam reported in the BFRQ to monitor the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)
(Zhou: Fig. 13 and para. [0139] At a second block 1304, the TRP transmits a response to the BFRQ based, at least in part, on how the BFRQ is received. [0140 & 0150-0151 & 0203] based on the BFRQ being received via a beam group specific beam failure recovery (BFR) medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), the response is transmitted in a downlink control information (DCI) scheduling a new physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) with a same hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) ID as a PUSCH carrying the beam group specific BFR MAC CE; Zhou’855: para. [0101 & 0126 & 0128-0129])
in all control-resource sets (CORESETs)
(Zhou: para. [0094] UE 120 determining that the new candidate beam is associated with the first or second CORESET pool index values. Accordingly, UE 120 may update the QCL relationship for each CORESET associated with the first CORESET pool index value or second CORESET pool index value, respectively. Again, the updated QCL relationship may correspond to the QCL configuration of the new candidate beam. That is, when the new candidate beam corresponds to either CORESET pool index value, the QCL assumption for all CORESETS associated with the same value of CORESET pool index may be reset to the new candidate beam (e.g., 28 symbols after the last symbol carrying PDCCH); Zhou’855: para. [079-0080 & 0106])
where a high-level parameter CORESETPoolIndex in the secondary cell (SCell) is 0, and
(Zhou: para. [0093] UE 120 may determine that the new candidate beam is associated with the first CORESET pool index value and, therefore, update the QCL relationship for a CORESET with index 0 (e.g., the CORESET that is used for common search space procedures). The updated QCL relationship may correspond to the QCL configuration of the new candidate beam. That is, when the new candidate beam (e.g., corresponding to reference signal index Qnew) corresponds to CORESET pool index value 0, the QCL assumptions for CORESET 0 may be updated (e.g., after 28 symbols after the last symbol carrying PDCCH). Accordingly, the updated QCL configuration may occur after a threshold time period. The QCL assumption (e.g., QCL configuration) for CORESET 0 may not be updated when the new candidate beam corresponds to CORESET pool index value 1 (e.g., the second CORESET pool index value). In some examples, this may be based on CORESET 0 being typically associated with CORESET pool index value 0. Para. [0086] UE may be configured for a carrier (e.g., an individual CC, bandwidth part (BWP), and the like) associated with Pcell/Pscell/Scell that is configured with the first CORESET pool index value (e.g., CORESETPoolIndex=0) and a second CORESET pool index value (e.g., CORESETPoolIndex=1). The first CORESET pool index value may be associated with the first TRP 704 a of Pcell/Pscell/Scell and the second CORESET pool index value may be associated with the second TRP 704 b of Pcell/Pscell/Scell; Zhou’855: para. [079-0080 & 0070])
uses parameters with the same antenna port quasi-co-location characteristics (Zhou: Fig. 13 and para. [0139] At a second block 1304, the TRP transmits a response to the BFRQ based, at least in part, on how the BFRQ is received. [0140 & 0150-0151 & 0203] based on the BFRQ being received via a beam group specific beam failure recovery (BFR) medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), the response is transmitted in a downlink control information (DCI) scheduling a new physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) with a same hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) ID as a PUSCH carrying the beam group specific BFR MAC CE; Zhou’855: para. [079-0080 & 0126]) as a second new beam reported in the BFRQ to monitor PDCCH in all CORESETs (Zhou: para. [0094] UE 120 determining that the new candidate beam is associated with the first or second CORESET pool index values. Accordingly, UE 120 may update the QCL relationship for each CORESET associated with the first CORESET pool index value or second CORESET pool index value, respectively. Again, the updated QCL relationship may correspond to the QCL configuration of the new candidate beam. That is, when the new candidate beam corresponds to either CORESET pool index value, the QCL assumption for all CORESETS associated with the same value of CORESET pool index may be reset to the new candidate beam (e.g., 28 symbols after the last symbol carrying PDCCH); Zhou’855: para. [079-0080 & 0106])
where a high-level parameter CORESETPoolIndex in the SCell is 1.
(Zhou: para. [0096] UE 120 may treat the second CORESET pool index value (e.g., CORESETPoolIndex=1) as an SCell for the BFR procedure. Para. [0086] UE may be configured for a carrier (e.g., an individual CC, bandwidth part (BWP), and the like) associated with Pcell/Pscell/Scell that is configured with the first CORESET pool index value (e.g., CORESETPoolIndex=0) and a second CORESET pool index value (e.g., CORESETPoolIndex=1). The first CORESET pool index value may be associated with the first TRP 704 a of Pcell/Pscell/Scell and the second CORESET pool index value may be associated with the second TRP 704 b of Pcell/Pscell/Scell; Zhou’855: para. [079-0085 & 0106])
Regarding claim 38, Zhou, CATT and Zhou’036 teach the beam recovery method in a multi-TRP system according to claim 37, wherein N is 28.
(Zhou: para. [0120] If the new candidate beam is reported in the BFR MAC CE, such as 28 symbols from the end of the BFR response (e.g., in the PDCCH), all CORESET beams on the failed cell (e.g., SCell 1001 b, or PCell 1001 a in this example), may be reset to the new candidate beam; Zhou’855: para. [079-0080 & 0106])
Regarding claim 39, Zhou, CATT and Zhou’036 teach the beam recovery method in a multi-TRP system according to claim 37, wherein the N symbols are counted from the last symbol of the PDCCH that responds the BFRQ.
(Zhou: para. [0120 & 0093-0094] If the new candidate beam is reported in the BFR MAC CE, such as 28 symbols from the end of the BFR response (e.g., in the PDCCH), all CORESET beams on the failed cell (e.g., SCell 1001 b, or PCell 1001 a in this example), may be reset to the new candidate beam; Zhou’855: para. [079-0080 & 0106])
Regarding claim 40, Zhou, CATT and Zhou’036 teach the beam recovery method in a multi-TRP system according to claim 37, wherein a PDCCH as a response to the BFRQ schedules a new PUSCH of the UE; and a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process index value of the new PUSCH is the same as a HARQ process index value of the PUSCH of the reported BFRQ, (Zhou: para. [0094] UE 120 determining that the new candidate beam is associated with the first or second CORESET pool index values. Accordingly, UE 120 may update the QCL relationship for each CORESET associated with the first CORESET pool index value or second CORESET pool index value, respectively. Again, the updated QCL relationship may correspond to the QCL configuration of the new candidate beam. That is, when the new candidate beam corresponds to either CORESET pool index value, the QCL assumption for all CORESETS associated with the same value of CORESET pool index may be reset to the new candidate beam (e.g., 28 symbols after the last symbol carrying PDCCH); Zhou’855: para. [079-0080 & 0106 & 0129]) and a new data indicator (NDI) value is inverted.
(Zhou: para. [0120] and Fig. 10 At 1016, PCell may transmit (and UE 120 may receive) a BFR response. In some aspects, the BFR response to the MAC CE may be an UL grant scheduling a new transmission (e.g., with a toggled/changed new data indicator (NDI), meaning the NDI is set to a value indicated there is new data) for the same hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process as the PUSCH carrying the MAC CE; Zhou’855: para. [079-0080 & 0106 & 0129]).
Regarding claim 42, Zhou, CATT and Zhou’036 teach the beam recovery method in a multi-TRP system according to claim 36, further comprising: selecting, as a first beam, a beam used by the last physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) sent to a report-receiving TRP before the beam failure event is detected; and using the first beam to send the beam failure event to the report-receiving TRP on at least one configured PUCCH resource.
(Zhou: para. [0095-0096] UE 120 determining that the new candidate beam is associated with the first or second CORESET pool index value. UE 120 may update the CORESET pool index value of a common CORESET accordingly. For example, UE 120 may update the CORESET pool index value of the common CORESET to correspond to the CORESET pool index value of the new candidate beam. That is, when the new candidate beam corresponds to the first or second CORESET pool index value and one CORESET (e.g., the common CORESET) is configured for BFR, the CORESET pool index value of the CORESET that is associated with recovery search space ID(s) (e.g., recoverySearchSpaceId(s)) may be reset to the CORESET pool index value that the new candidate beam corresponds to; Zhou’855: para. [079-0082 & 0106 & 0129]).
Regarding claim 45, Zhou, CATT and Zhou’036 teach the beam recovery method in a multi-TRP system according to claim 36, wherein information carried by the MAC CE further includes a BFRQ message specifying a TRP. (Zhou: para. [0150 & 0129-0130] when BFRQ info is sent in TRP specific BFR MAC-CE. Para. [0164] gNB and/or UE can know (identify) the failed TRP ID (beam group ID) with the following options. According to a first option, a failed TRP ID is explicitly reported in MAC-CE/UCI; Zhou’855: para. [079-0082 & 0106 & 0127-0131])
Regarding claim 47, Zhou, CATT and Zhou’036 teach a non-transistory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, comprising: instructions executable to implement the method according to claim 36. (Zhou: Summary and para. [0302] a computer program product for performing the operations presented herein. For example, such a computer program product may comprise a computer-readable medium having instructions stored (and/or encoded) thereon, the instructions being executable by one or more processors to perform the operations)
Regarding claims 48 – 52, Zhou teaches a user equipment (UE) comprising: a processor configured to execute a beam recovery method in a multi-TRP system, wherein the method comprises: (Zhou: Summary and para. [0302] a computer program product for performing the operations presented herein. For example, such a computer program product may comprise a computer-readable medium having instructions stored (and/or encoded) thereon, the instructions being executable by one or more processors to perform the operations) and Zhou, CATT and Zhou’036 teach all the limitations as discussed in the rejection of claims 36 – 40, and therefore apparatus claims 48 – 52 are rejected using the same rationales.
Claim(s) 41, 43, 44, and 46 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou, CATT and Zhou’036 as applied to claims 36 above, and further in view of Yi et al. US20200350972A1, hereinafter Yi (listed in applicant submitted IDS and listed as D2 in EPO search report).
Regarding claim 41, Zhou, CATT and Zhou’036 teach the beam recovery method in a multi-TRP system according to claim 36, further comprising: obtaining at least one configured PUCCH resource through at least one preset dedicated scheduling request (SR) resource when the beam failure event is detected, and the PUCCH resource is used to carry beam failure event transmission, (Zhou: para. [0114] and Fig. 10 At 1008, UE 120 may transmit (and PCell may receive) a LRR message. The LRR message may be transmitted on PCell (e.g., PUCCH-PCell and/or PUCCH-SCell) in which the PUCCH BFR is configured. The LRR message may be similar to a scheduling request (SR) and use PUCCH format 0 or 1. The LRR message may be transmitted in an uplink control channel; Zhou’855: para. [0100-0101])
Zhou, CATT and Zhou’036 do not explicitly teach: wherein the number of the PUCCH resources in the at least one PUCCH resource are two or more.
However, Yi from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of: wherein the number of the PUCCH resources in the at least one PUCCH resource are two or more.
(Yi: para. [0410 & 0262 & 0274] A wireless device, configured with a dual connectivity, may be configured with one or more ‘inter-CG’ SR (or PUCCH) resources. The one or more ‘inter-CG’ SR (or PUCCH) resources may be used to indicate a request about the other CG (e.g., inter-CG SR on MCG is used for indicating an event on SCG, inter-CG SR on SCG is used for indicating an event on MCG). For example, the resources may be used to inform a beam failure of one CG via the other CG resources. For example, the resources may be used to inform an RLF of one CG. In response to receiving an SR on inter-CG SR resources, the gNB may schedule a PUSCH to receive the data about the event). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Yi in the system of Zhou, CATT and Zhou’036. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for may improve performance of a wireless network, may increase the system throughput, or data rate of transmission, may reduce battery consumption of a wireless device, may improve latency of data transmission between a gNB and a wireless device, may improve network coverage of a wireless network, may improve transmission efficiency of a wireless network (Yi: para. [0304]).
Regarding claim 43, Zhou, CATT and Zhou’036 teach the beam recovery method in a multi-TRP system according to claim 36, Zhou, CATT and Zhou’036 do not explicitly teach: further comprising: receiving a beam failure recovery response from a secondary cell (SCell).
However, Yi from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of: further comprising: receiving a beam failure recovery response from a secondary cell (SCell).
(Yi: para. [0399] first BFR procedure of a TRP may be independently performed from a second BFR procedure of a SCell. For example, a first MAC CE is used for the first BFR procedure and a second MAC CE is used for the second BFR procedure. In the example, the wireless device may trigger a BFR request similar to the second BFR procedure. In an example, a first BFR procedure of a TRP may be different for a second BFR procedure of a SCell). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Yi in the system of Zhou, CATT and Zhou’036. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for may improve performance of a wireless network, may increase the system throughput, or data rate of transmission, may reduce battery consumption of a wireless device, may improve latency of data transmission between a gNB and a wireless device, may improve network coverage of a wireless network, may improve transmission efficiency of a wireless network (Yi: para. [0304]).
Regarding claim 44, Zhou, CATT and Zhou’036 teach the beam recovery method in a multi-TRP system according to claim 36, Zhou, CATT and Zhou’036 do not explicitly teach: wherein information carried by the MAC CE further includes BFRQ messages of two TRPs.
However, Yi from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of: wherein information carried by the MAC CE further includes BFRQ messages of two TRPs.
(Yi: para. [0407] FIG. 25 MAC CE formats which may be used in different scenarios or may be used to carry a TRP information in a beam failure recovery procedure. For example, a wireless device may support more than one TRP per cell regardless of a number of TRPs activated/configured for one or more cells. For example, the wireless device may be configured/activated with more than one TRP for one or more cells when the wireless device supports more than one TRPs for one or more cells. For example, a base station may activate one or more TRPs for one or more cells when the wireless device supports more than one TRPs for one or more cells. In such cases, Configuration 2 may be used wherein a MAC CE may include a TRP index. The MAC CE of Configuration 2 may comprise {a new candidate beam index, a cell index, a TRP index}. A TRP index may be identified as a TRP ID associated with each TRP, determined based on a CORESET group ID, determine based on a TCI state group ID, and/or the like. In MAC CEs, a wireless device may report a new candidate beam index for a TRP of a cell using Configuration 2). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Yi in the system of Zhou, CATT and Zhou’036. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for may improve performance of a wireless network, may increase the system throughput, or data rate of transmission, may reduce battery consumption of a wireless device, may improve latency of data transmission between a gNB and a wireless device, may improve network coverage of a wireless network, may improve transmission efficiency of a wireless network (Yi: para. [0304]).
Regarding claim 46, Zhou, CATT and Zhou’036 teach the beam recovery method in a multi-TRP system according to claim 36, further comprising: receiving an uplink grant for MAC CE transmission; and
(Zhou: para. [0120] and Fig. 10 1016, PCell may transmit (and UE 120 may receive) a BFR response. In some aspects, the BFR response to the MAC CE may be an UL grant scheduling a new transmission (e.g., with a toggled/changed new data indicator (NDI), meaning the NDI is set to a value indicated there is new data) for the same hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process as the PUSCH carrying the MAC CE; Zhou’855: para. [0106])
Zhou, CATT and Zhou’036 do not explicitly teach: reporting BSR to the first cell through the MAC CE.
However, Yi from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches the use of: reporting BSR to the first cell through the MAC CE. (Yi: para. [0383] wireless device may initiate sending a SR for transmitting a BSR (when MAC-CE is used) or a dedicated SR for triggering a beam failure recovery). Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the teaching of Yi in the system of Zhou, CATT and Zhou’036. One of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to do so for may improve performance of a wireless network, may increase the system throughput, or data rate of transmission, may reduce battery consumption of a wireless device, may improve latency of data transmission between a gNB and a wireless device, may improve network coverage of a wireless network, may improve transmission efficiency of a wireless network (Yi: para. [0304]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 07/07/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. With regard to applicant’s remark on claims 36 and 48 on pages 6-9, applicant submits:
“The cited references provide no teaching, suggestion, or motivation to modify Zhou and/or CATT to include such a number-of-failed-TRPs parameter in the MAC CE. At most, CATT discusses whether failed link indices or new candidate beams should be included. Identifying a failed link and indicating the number of failed TRPs are different types of information. A failed link index identifies which TRP failed, whereas the claimed parameter indicates how many TRPs have beam failures. The latter provides explicit scope information for the beam recovery event and supports selection of an appropriate recovery behavior in a multi-TRP system.
Accordingly, the combination of Zhou and CATT fails to teach or suggest amended claim 36. Therefore, Applicant respectfully submits that independent claim 36 is patentable over the cited references. For at least the same reasons, claims depending therefrom are likewise patentable.”
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 36-52 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please also see PTO-892.
Fan et al. US 20230345570 A1 teaches in para. 0030 sending terminal capability information to the network device, where the terminal capability information includes one or more of the following: information that the terminal device supports the TRP-level beam failure recovery, information that the terminal device supports configuration of a plurality of sets of beam failure detection resources, information about a quantity of sets of beam failure detection resources of which the terminal device supports configuration, information about a quantity of beam failure detection resources in a single set of beam failure detection resources, information that the terminal device supports configuration of a plurality of sets of candidate beam resources, information about a quantity of sets of candidate beam resources of which the terminal device supports configuration, or information about a quantity of candidate beam resources in a single set of candidate beam resources.
Guo US 20230139655 A1 teaches in para. 0060 When the number of consecutive beam failure instance indication generated from the first set of beam failure detection RSs reaches a certain threshold, the UE may declare beam failure of the first TRP happens. When the number of consecutive beam failure instance indication generated from the second set of beam failure detection RSs reaches a certain threshold, the UE may declare beam failure of the second TRP happens.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WUTCHUNG CHU whose telephone number is (571)272-4064. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Moo R Jeong can be reached at (571) 272-9617. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/WUTCHUNG CHU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2418
Prosecution Insights