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 .
Claims 1-9, 13-33 are pending.
Amendments dated 04/06/2026 is/are entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments directed at the arguments filed 04/06/2026 have been fully considered but they are moot in view of a new ground of rejection necessitated by the amendments of record.
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.
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.
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) 1-9, 13-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Siva, Muruganathan (WO 2020/225691 A1) – hereafter Siva in view of Muruganathan et al. (US 2024/0080843).
As to claim 1:
Siva discloses:
A method of wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:
receiving, from a base station, a transmission configuration indication (TCI) configuration including a global TCI state pool, the global TCI state pool including a plurality of TCI state lists, at least one list is corresponding to at least a DL channel;
(See at least ¶0017, 0019, 0020, a set of N TCI states is provided to the UE via RRC from the base station. “A first list of available TCI states is configured for PDSCH, and a second list for PDCCH contains pointers, known as TCI State IDs, to a subset of the TCI states configured for PDSCH”, “the UE can be configured through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling with N Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) states”, “Each of the N states in the list of TCI states can be interpreted as a list of N possible beams transmitted from the network or a list of N possible TRPs used by the network to communicate with the UE”. As at least PDCCH/PDSCH are DL channels, thus meet the condition of being one of a pool of plurality of channels having at least one downlink channel and at least one uplink channel)
configuring the UE based on a first TCI state list of the plurality of TCI state lists;
(¶0018, UE to deprive channel parameters for physical channel which configure the UE to operate accordingly, i.e. ¶022, 0021, configuration causes the UE to store, activate, and track, such as reference signals to monitor, QCL to read, beam association)
and determining, based on the configuring and a reference signal, channel information for a physical channel of the plurality of physical channels that is associated with the first TCI state list.
(¶0011, 0012, 0018-0021 “Each TCI state contains QCL information, i.e., one or two source Downlink (DL) RSs, each source RS associated with a QCL type… It means the UE can derive Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread from CSI-RS1 and Spatial Rx parameter (i.e., the RX beam to use) from CSI-RS2”)
Regarding: wherein a first TCI state list of the plurality of TCI state lists corresponds to including at least one downlink channel, and wherein a second TCI state list of the plurality of TCI state lists corresponds to at least one uplink channel.
Siva discloses in at least ¶0020 that the UE is configured with a plurality of TCI states, wherein at least one list corresponding to downlink channel as discussed above, however is silent on a second TCI state list of a plurality of TCI state lists corresponds to at least one uplink channel.
Muruganathan, in the same field of TCI-list based channel processing, discloses the UE is configured with a plurality of TCI state lists just as with reference Siva, and further the lists comprises at least a first list of DL TCI states applicable to DL channel such as PDCCH/PDSCH etc. and a second list corresponds to UL physical channels. (See at least ¶0116, 0117)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing time of the invention that Siva’s plurality of TCI lists can be organized such that wherein a first TCI state list of the plurality of TCI state lists corresponds to including at least one downlink channel, and wherein a second TCI state list of the plurality of TCI state lists corresponds to at least one uplink channel. This implementation provides benefits such as improved management of beams, i.e. separate lists allows network to target a specific group (UL vs. DL) without the hassle of filtering each channel, and further simplifies UE processes, for example UE only needs to track the UL TCI list for power control vs. going through a generic TCI mixed list. In all, categorization helps lower signaling overhead and internal filtering.
As to claim 16:
Siva discloses:
A user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: a memory storing computer-executable instructions; and at least one processor coupled with the memory (¶0133, UE with processor/memory) and configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to:
receive, from a base station, a transmission configuration indication (TCI) configuration including a global TCI state pool, the global TCI state pool including a plurality of TCI state lists, at least one list is corresponding to at least a DL channel;
(See at least ¶0017, 0019, 0020, a set of N TCI states is provided to the UE via RRC from the base station. “A first list of available TCI states is configured for PDSCH, and a second list for PDCCH contains pointers, known as TCI State IDs, to a subset of the TCI states configured for PDSCH”, “the UE can be configured through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling with N Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) states”, “Each of the N states in the list of TCI states can be interpreted as a list of N possible beams transmitted from the network or a list of N possible TRPs used by the network to communicate with the UE”. As at least PDCCH/PDSCH are DL channels, thus meet the condition of being one of a pool of plurality of channels having at least one downlink channel and at least one uplink channel)
configure the UE based on a first TCI state list of the plurality of the TCI state lists; (¶0018, UE to deprive channel parameters for physical channel which configure the UE to operate accordingly, i.e. ¶022, 0021, configuration causes the UE to store, activate, and track, such as reference signals to monitor, QCL to read, beam association);
and determine, based on the configuring and a reference signal, channel information for a physical channel of the plurality of physical channels that is associated with the first TCI state list. (¶0011, 0012, 0018-0021 “Each TCI state contains QCL information, i.e., one or two source Downlink (DL) RSs, each source RS associated with a QCL type… It means the UE can derive Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread from CSI-RS1 and Spatial Rx parameter (i.e., the RX beam to use) from CSI-RS2”)
Regarding: wherein a first TCI state list of the plurality of TCI state lists corresponds to including at least one downlink channel, and wherein a second TCI state list of the plurality of TCI state lists corresponds to at least one uplink channel.
Siva discloses in at least ¶0020 that the UE is configured with a plurality of TCI states, wherein at least one list corresponding to downlink channel as discussed above, however is silent on a second TCI state list of a plurality of TCI state lists corresponds to at least one uplink channel.
Muruganathan, in the same field of TCI-list based channel processing, discloses the UE is configured with a plurality of TCI state lists just as with reference Siva, and further the lists comprises at least a first list of DL TCI states applicable to DL channel such as PDCCH/PDSCH etc. and a second list corresponds to UL physical channels. (See at least ¶0116, 0117)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing time of the invention that Siva’s plurality of TCI lists can be organized such that wherein a first TCI state list of the plurality of TCI state lists corresponds to including at least one downlink channel, and wherein a second TCI state list of the plurality of TCI state lists corresponds to at least one uplink channel. This implementation provides benefits such as improved management of beams, i.e. separate lists allows network to target a specific group (UL vs. DL) without the hassle of filtering each channel, and further simplifies UE processes, for example UE only needs to track the UL TCI list for power control vs. going through a generic TCI mixed list. In all, categorization helps lower signaling overhead and internal filtering.
As to claim 25:
Siva discloses:
A method of wireless communication at a base station, the method comprising: transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), a transmission configuration indication (TCI) configuration including a global TCI state pool the global TCI state pool including a plurality of TCI state lists, at least one list is corresponding to at least a DL channel;
(See at least ¶0017, 0019, 0020, a set of N TCI states is provided to the UE via RRC from the base station. “A first list of available TCI states is configured for PDSCH, and a second list for PDCCH contains pointers, known as TCI State IDs, to a subset of the TCI states configured for PDSCH”, “the UE can be configured through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling with N Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) states”, “Each of the N states in the list of TCI states can be interpreted as a list of N possible beams transmitted from the network or a list of N possible TRPs used by the network to communicate with the UE”. As at least PDCCH/PDSCH are DL channels, thus meet the condition of being one of a pool of plurality of channels having at least one downlink channel and at least one uplink channel)
transmitting, to the UE, a reference signal to be measured by the UE to determine channel information for a physical channel of the plurality of physical channels based on the global TCI state pool; (¶0018-0022, transmitting a reference signal indicated by each TCI states for the UE to make measurements) and communicating, via the physical channel, with the UE based on the channel information. (See abstract, ¶0055, communicate based on the activated communication configurations, ¶0124, “sending a new DCI to the UE if the channel conditions of the TRPs have been changed”, which updates with new/different TCI (i.e. identified by its identifier. See also ¶0040-0041 pertaining DCI having TCI code point)
Regarding: wherein a first TCI state list of the plurality of TCI state lists corresponds to including at least one downlink channel, and wherein a second TCI state list of the plurality of TCI state lists corresponds to at least one uplink channel.
Siva discloses in at least ¶0020 that the UE is configured with a plurality of TCI states, wherein at least one list corresponding to downlink channel as discussed above, however is silent on a second TCI state list of a plurality of TCI state lists corresponds to at least one uplink channel.
Muruganathan, in the same field of TCI-list based channel processing, discloses the network node configuring the UE with a plurality of TCI state lists just as with reference Siva, and further the lists comprises at least a first list of DL TCI states applicable to DL channel such as PDCCH/PDSCH etc. and a second list corresponds to UL physical channels. (See at least ¶0116, 0117)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing time of the invention that Siva’s plurality of TCI lists can be organized such that wherein a first TCI state list of the plurality of TCI state lists corresponds to including at least one downlink channel, and wherein a second TCI state list of the plurality of TCI state lists corresponds to at least one uplink channel. This implementation provides benefits such as improved management of beams, i.e. separate lists allows network to target a specific group (UL vs. DL) without the hassle of filtering each channel, and further simplifies UE processes, for example UE only needs to track the UL TCI list for power control vs. going through a generic TCI mixed list. In all, categorization helps lower signaling overhead and internal filtering.
As to claim 28:
Siva discloses:
A base station for wireless communication, comprising: a memory storing computer-executable instructions; and at least one processor coupled with the memory (¶0127, base station with processor/memory) and configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to: transmit, to a user equipment (UE), a transmission configuration indication (TCI) including a global TCI state pool, the global TCI state pool including a plurality of TCI state lists, at least one list is corresponding to at least a DL channel;
(See at least ¶0017, 0019, 0020, a set of N TCI states is provided to the UE via RRC from the base station. “A first list of available TCI states is configured for PDSCH, and a second list for PDCCH contains pointers, known as TCI State IDs, to a subset of the TCI states configured for PDSCH”, “the UE can be configured through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling with N Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) states”, “Each of the N states in the list of TCI states can be interpreted as a list of N possible beams transmitted from the network or a list of N possible TRPs used by the network to communicate with the UE”. As at least PDCCH/PDSCH are DL channels, thus meet the condition of being one of a pool of plurality of channels having at least one downlink channel and at least one uplink channel)
transmit, to the UE, a reference signal to be measured by the UE to determine channel information for a physical channel of the plurality of physical channels based on the global TCI state pool; (¶0018-0022, transmitting a reference signal indicated by each TCI states for the UE to make measurements)
and communicate, via the physical channel, with the UE based on the channel information. (See abstract, ¶0055, communicate based on the activated communication configurations, ¶0124, “sending a new DCI to the UE if the channel conditions of the TRPs have been changed”, which updates with new/different TCI (i.e. identified by its identifier. See also ¶0040-0041 pertaining DCI having TCI code point)
Regarding: wherein a first TCI state list of the plurality of TCI state lists corresponds to including at least one downlink channel, and wherein a second TCI state list of the plurality of TCI state lists corresponds to at least one uplink channel.
Siva discloses in at least ¶0020 that the UE is configured with a plurality of TCI states, wherein at least one list corresponding to downlink channel as discussed above, however is silent on a second TCI state list of a plurality of TCI state lists corresponds to at least one uplink channel.
Muruganathan, in the same field of TCI-list based channel processing, discloses the UE is configured with a plurality of TCI state lists just as with reference Siva, and further the lists comprises at least a first list of DL TCI states applicable to DL channel such as PDCCH/PDSCH etc. and a second list corresponds to UL physical channels. (See at least ¶0116, 0117)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing time of the invention that Siva’s plurality of TCI lists can be organized such that wherein a first TCI state list of the plurality of TCI state lists corresponds to including at least one downlink channel, and wherein a second TCI state list of the plurality of TCI state lists corresponds to at least one uplink channel. This implementation provides benefits such as improved management of beams, i.e. separate lists allows network to target a specific group (UL vs. DL) without the hassle of filtering each channel, and further simplifies UE processes, for example UE only needs to track the UL TCI list for power control vs. going through a generic TCI mixed list. In all, categorization helps lower signaling overhead and internal filtering.
As to claims 2, 17:
Siva in view of Muruganathan discloses all limitations of claim 1/16, further comprising: receiving, from the base station, a TCI activation including a TCI state identifier; (See also Siva, ¶0023, 0020, 0023, network to send TCI pointers corresponding to the specific channels in the list to activate the corresponding) and activating, based on receipt of the TCI activation and based on the TCI state identifier being included in the first TCI state list, a TCI state corresponding to the TCI state identifier within the first TCI state list, (See at least 0020-0022, 0023 activate one TCI state corresponding with the TCI indicia. Per ¶0020, the TCI list includes TCI state ID ), wherein determining the channel information comprises determining the channel information based on one or more beams associated with the TCI state. (¶0011, 0012, 0018-0021 “Each TCI state contains QCL information, i.e., one or two source Downlink (DL) RSs, each source RS associated with a QCL type”, UE can derive Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread from CSI-RS1 and Spatial Rx parameter (i.e., the RX beam to use) from CSI-RS2”)
As to claims 3, 18:
Siva in view of Muruganathan discloses all limitations of claim 1/16, Siva further comprising: receiving, from the base station, a TCI update including a TCI state identifier; (¶0124, 0020 “sending a new DCI to the UE if the channel conditions of the TRPs have been changed”, which updates with new/different TCI IDs, and activating, based on receipt of the TCI update, and based on the TCI state identifier being included in the first TCI list,,a TCI state corresponding to the TCI state identifier for the physically channel, (See at least 0020-0022, 0023, activate one TCI state indicated in the update that is corresponding with the TCI identifiers in the list) wherein determining the channel information comprises determining the channel information based on one or more beams associated with the TCI state. (¶0011, 0012, 0018-0021 “Each TCI state contains QCL information, i.e., one or two source Downlink (DL) RSs, each source RS associated with a QCL type”, UE can derive Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread from CSI-RS1 and Spatial Rx parameter (i.e., the RX beam to use) from CSI-RS2”)
As to claims 26, 29:
Siva in view of Muruganathan discloses all limitations of claim 25/28, Siva further comprising: transmitting, to the UE, a TCI activation including a TCI state identifier associated with a TCI state, (¶0041-0043, receiving TCI code point corresponding to TCI state. A DCI received wherein each PDSCH is associated with a different TCI state. See also ¶0023, 0020, 0023, network to send TCI indicia via DCI) wherein the TCI activation activates the TCI state at the UE (See at least 0020-0022, 0040, 0041, activate one TCI state corresponding with the TCI indicia), for determining the channel information. (¶0011, 0012, 0018-0021 “Each TCI state contains QCL information, i.e., one or two source Downlink (DL) RSs, each source RS associated with a QCL type”, UE can derive Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread from CSI-RS1 and Spatial Rx parameter (i.e., the RX beam to use) from CSI-RS2”)
As to claims 27, 30:
Siva in view of Muruganathan discloses all limitations of claim 25/28, Siva further comprising: transmitting, to the base station, a TCI update including a TCI state identifier associated with a TCI state, (¶0124, “sending a new DCI to the UE if the channel conditions of the TRPs have been changed”, which updates with new/different TCI (i.e. identified by its identifier. See also ¶0040-0041 pertaining DCI having TCI code point) wherein the TCI update activates the TCI state at the UE (See at least 0020-0022, 0040, 0041, activate one TCI state corresponding with the TCI indicia) for determining the channel information. (¶0011, 0012, 0018-0021 “Each TCI state contains QCL information, i.e., one or two source Downlink (DL) RSs, each source RS associated with a QCL type”, UE can derive Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread from CSI-RS1 and Spatial Rx parameter (i.e., the RX beam to use) from CSI-RS2”)
As to claims 4, 19:
Siva in view of Muruganathan discloses all limitations of claim 3/18, wherein Siva discloses activating the TCI state corresponding to the TCI state identifier within the first TCI state list comprises determining, based upon the TCI state identifier and the first TCI state list, that the physical channel is a targeted channel for the TCI update. (¶0040, each TCI state in the DCI is explicitly associated with a specific channel (PDSCH1 or 2), and UE to identify which physical channel the TCI state to apply to (i.e. which of PDSCH 1 or 2 as targeted channel). ¶0042-43, TCI identifier (codepoint), “each codepoint in the DCI Transmission Configuration Indication field can be mapped to either one or two TCI states”, “each codepoint in the DCI Transmission Configuration Indication field can be mapped to either one or two TCI states”)
As to claim 5:
Siva in view of Muruganathan discloses all limitations of claim 1, wherein Siva discloses receiving the TCI configuration comprises receiving, from the base station, radio resource control (RRC) signaling including the TCI configuration. (¶0017, “UE can be configured through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling with N Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) states”)
As to claims 6, 20:
Siva in view of Muruganathan discloses all limitations of claim 1/16, wherein Siva discloses the global TCI state pool further includes at least a second TCI state list of the plurality of TCI state lists for one or more other physical channels of the plurality of the physical channels. (See at least ¶0020, 0023, 0040, explicitly showing multiple TCI state lists, each tied to a different physical channel, all derived from the general set (global set) of configured TCI states)
As to claim 7, 21:
Siva in view of Muruganathan discloses all limitations of claim 1/16, wherein Siva discloses the first TCI state list corresponds to the physical channel and one or more other physical channels. (¶0040,“multiple PDSCHs corresponding to different TCI states ”. See also 0021, and 0043)
As to claims 8, 22:
Siva in view of Muruganathan discloses all limitations of claim 1/16, wherein the first TCI state list corresponds to an antenna panel including the physical channel. (See Siva, ¶0019, “Each of the N states in the list of TCI states can be interpreted as a list of N possible beams transmitted from the network or a list of N possible TRPs used by the network to communicate with the UE”, 0045, 0046, the two PDSCHs corresponding to an antenna panel comprising a plurality of ports. ¶0040, each PDSCH is transmitted from a different TRP, see also ¶0024. 0028)
As to claim 9:
Siva in view of Muruganathan discloses all limitations of claim 1, wherein Siva discloses the physical channel is a downlink channel or an uplink channel. (¶0016, 0019, 0017, PDSCH and PDCCH)
As to claims 13, 23:
Siva in view of Muruganathan discloses all limitations of claim 2/17, wherein Siva discloses the TCI activation is received in a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) message. (¶0041, “two TCI states are activated within a TCI code point, each TCI state corresponds to one CDM group, at least for DMRS type 1. FFS design for DMRS type 2. FFS: TCI field in DCI, and associated MAC-CE signaling impact”)
As to claims 14, 24:
Siva in view of Muruganathan discloses all limitations of claim 3/18, wherein Siva discloses the TCI update is received in a downlink control information (DCI) message. (¶0124, “sending a new DCI to the UE if the channel conditions of the TRPs have been changed”, which updates with new/different TCI (i.e. identified by its identifier. See also ¶0040-0041 pertaining DCI having TCI code point)
As to claim 15:
Siva in view of Muruganathan discloses all limitations of claim 1, wherein Siva discloses the channel information includes quasi co-location (QCL) information and/or spatial filter information, and further comprising: communicating via the physical channel based on the QCL information and/or the spatial filter information. (¶0012, “The network can then signal to the UE that two antenna ports are QCL. If the UE knows that two antenna ports are QCL with respect to a certain parameter (e.g., Doppler spread), the UE can estimate that parameter based on one of the antenna ports and use that estimate when receiving the other antenna port”, ¶0018, “Each TCI state contains QCL information, i.e., one or two source Downlink (DL) RSs, each source RS associated with a QCL type”, ¶0021, “convey QCL information for the reception of CSI-RS”)
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 31-33 is/are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
References of record discloses determining, based on the configuring and a reference signal, channel information for a physical channel of the plurality of physical channels that is associated with a TCI state list, however they do not disclose:
configure the UE based on a second TCI state list of the plurality of TCI state lists that corresponds to a second physical channel of the plurality of physical channels; activate, based on receipt of the TCI activation and based on the TCI state identifier being included in the second TCI state list, the TCI state corresponding to the TCI state identifier for the second physical channel; and determine, based on the configuring the UE based on the second TCI state list and based on a second reference signal, and based on one or more beams associated with the TCI state, channel information for the second physical channel.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2020/0288359 - An operation method for a handover, performed by a terminal, may comprise receiving, from a base station of a serving cell, a first message including parameters for measurement and reporting; transmitting a second message to the base station of the serving cell, the second message including a measurement result based on the parameters for measurement and reporting; receiving a third message from the base station of the serving cell, the third message instructing to receive services simultaneously from the serving cell and a target cell; performing a radio access request procedure with the target cell; and transmitting a fourth message to the base station of the serving cell, the fourth message reporting completion of configuration for receiving the services simultaneously from the serving cell and the target cell.
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/QUAN M HUA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645
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