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
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.
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.
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 non-obviousness.
Claims 1-4, 6, 7, 9-11, 13, 14, 19, 21, and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Pub. 2018/0288645 to Lee et al. (hereinafter Lee) in view of US Pub. 2019/0306909 to Zhou et al. (hereinafter Zhou).
In regard claim 1, Lee teaches or discloses a method implemented by a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) for wireless communications (see paragraph [0005], the UE 130 may respectively perform beam measurements for the beams 100 of the BS 110 and report measurement results to the BS 110), the method comprising:
receiving configuration information indicating a set of reference signal (RS) resources, a set of candidate RS resources, and a threshold (see paragraphs [0005], [0083], and [0117], the processor 631 of the UE 630 receives the beam configuration of a plurality of candidate beams from the BS 610 via the transceiver 633);
receiving a first reference signal in an RS resource of the set of RS resources (see paragraph [0038], the BS 210 may transmit a beam configuration which may comprise one or more reference signal resources for K candidate beams to the UE 230. The one or more reference signal resources may further comprise K′ CSI-RS resources corresponding to the K candidate beams, wherein K′ may equal to or not equal to K);
selecting a candidate RS resource from the set of candidate RS resources based on 1) a measurement result of the received first reference signal being less than or equal to the threshold, 2) a first characteristic associated with the first reference signal, and 3) a second characteristic associated with the candidate RS resource (see paragraphs [0042], [0043], and [0117], the UE 230 performs a channel measurement for each of the K candidate beams in response to receiving the beam configuration and selects N′ selected beams from the K candidate beams based on channel measurement results, wherein N≥N′≥1. The number of the selected beams selected by the UE may be less than or equal to the configured number N instructed by the BS 210. Based on the channel measurement result of each candidate beam, the UE selects the candidate beam having a desirable communication quality as the selected beam. The selected beam may be determined based on at least one of CSI, reference signal received power (RSRP) and reference signal received quality (RSRQ) of the measured candidate beam which associated with the quality of the selected beam. The CSI may include at least one of channel quality indicator (CQI), precoding matrix indicator (PMI) and rank indicator (RI). In response to receiving the beam configuration, the processor 631 may perform the channel measurement for each of the candidate beams via the transceiver 633 at Step S830. In response to receiving the beam configuration, the processor 631 may report the beam information of at least one selected beam to the BS 610 via the transceiver 633 at Step S850. After Step S830 and before Step S850, the processor 631 may select at least one selected beam from the selected beams based on the channel measurement results); and
receiving a second reference signal in the selected candidate RS resource (see paragraphs [0084], the UE 430 performs the channel measurement for each of the K candidate beams in response to receiving the beam configuration and selects O′ selected beams (e.g., beams 2, 5, and 6) from the K candidate beams based on the channel measurement results).
Lee may not explicitly teach or disclose selecting a candidate RS resource from the set of candidate RS resources.
However, Zhou teaches or discloses selecting a candidate RS resource from the set of candidate RS resources (see paragraphs [0380], and [0382], the wireless device may determine a candidate beam of a base station (e.g., the beam 2132 of the base station 2110). The wireless device may determine the candidate beam by selecting an RS from the second set of RSs (e.g., RS 1, RS 2, and RS 3) configured by an RRC message).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify beam measuring and reporting of Lee by including selecting a candidate RS resource from the set of candidate RS resources suggested by Zhou. This modification may be enhanced by dynamically or semi-dynamically changing the modulation and coding scheme, for example, depending on transmission requirements and/or radio conditions read in paragraph [0187].
In regard claim 2, Lee teaches or discloses the method of claim 1, wherein each candidate RS resource of the set of candidate RS resources is associated with a respective characteristic comprising 1) a respective number of antenna ports, 2) a respective transmission type, and/or 3) a respective time offset (see paragraph [0037], an antenna, an antenna port, an antenna element, a group of antennas, a group of antenna ports, or a group of antenna elements. For example, a first beam may be represented as a first antenna port or a first group of antenna ports).
In regard claim 3, Lee teaches or discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the first characteristic associated with the first reference signal comprises a first number of antenna ports and/or a first transmission type associated with the first reference signal (see paragraphs [0037], and [0038], an antenna, an antenna port, an antenna element, a group of antennas, a group of antenna ports, or a group of antenna elements. A first beam may be represented as a first antenna port or a first group of antenna ports. One or more reference signal resources may further comprise K′ CSI-RS resources corresponding to the K candidate beams, wherein K′ may equal to or not equal to K. Accordingly, the UE may perform a channel measurement for the K candidate beams based on the received beam configuration. The reference signal for the K candidate beams may be a channel state information. reference signal (CSI-RS) and/or a synchronization signal block (SSB)).
In regard claims 4 and 25, Lee may not explicitly teach or disclose the method of claim 1, wherein the candidate RS resource is selected from the set of candidate RS resources further based on the first characteristic associated with the first reference signal being same as the second characteristic associated with the candidate RS resource.
However, Zhou teaches or discloses wherein the candidate RS resource is selected from the set of candidate RS resources further based on the first characteristic associated with the first reference signal being same as the second characteristic associated with the candidate RS resource (see paragraphs [0321], and [0323], the wireless device may select, based on the value indicated by the transmission beam index, a transmission beam, of the wireless device, for sending an uplink signal (e.g., PUCCH signal) for a BFR. The second RS indicated by the transmission beam index may be the same to the first RS for beam correspondence or may be different from the first RS for beam non-correspondence. The wireless device may select, based on the second RS, the transmission beam for an uplink transmission for a BFR while implicitly selecting, by selecting a BFR PUCCH resource, the candidate beam of the base station associated with the first RS. By configuring different transmission beam index values for each BFR PUCCH resource, the wireless device may flexibly select one or more transmission beams of the wireless devices and one or more candidate beams of the base station. The transmission beam index may be an RS index that indicates a value of an RS associated with a transmission beam (e.g., a transmission beam corresponding to a receiving beam that receives the second RS sent from the base station, or a transmission beam corresponding to a transmission beam on which the wireless device transmits an SRS to the base station). The second RS may be the same to the first RS for beam correspondence or may be different from the first RS for beam non-correspondence. The wireless device may select, based on the second RS, the transmission beam for an uplink transmission for a BFR).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify beam measuring and reporting of Lee by including wherein the candidate RS resource is selected from the set of candidate RS resources further based on the first characteristic associated with the first reference signal being same as the second characteristic associated with the candidate RS resource suggested by Zhou. This modification may be enhanced by dynamically or semi-dynamically changing the modulation and coding scheme, for example, depending on transmission requirements and/or radio conditions read in paragraph [0187].
In regard claim 6, Lee may not explicitly teach or disclose the method of claim 2, wherein the second reference signal is received in the selected candidate RS resource using the respective time offset associated with the selected candidate RS resource.
However, Zhou teaches or discloses wherein the second reference signal is received in the selected candidate RS resource using the respective time offset associated with the selected candidate RS resource (see paragraphs [0336], [0343], [0345], [0355], [0364], and [0366], the at least one message may further comprise (e.g., for each SR configuration) one or more parameters indicating at least one of: an SR prohibit timer; a maximum number of an SR transmission; a parameter indicating a periodicity and offset of an SR transmission; and/or a PUCCH resource. Each PUCCH resource of the BFR PUCCH resource set 1950 may be associated with an RS index of the second set (e.g., candidate set) of RSs (e.g., the RS 1, the RS 2, and the RS 3). The selection of the BFR PUCCH resource (e.g., the PUCCH resource 2) may implicitly indicate, to the base station, that the wireless device has selected an associated candidate beam (e.g., the candidate beam 1932 associated with the RS 2 and associated with the PUCCH resource 2). The second set of RSs may identify one or more candidate beams (e.g., beams 2131, 2132, and 2133) from which the wireless device 2120 may select a candidate beam with quality satisfying (e.g., better than) a threshold, for example, if the one or more beams (e.g., the beam 2130) associated with the first set of RSs fail).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify beam measuring and reporting of Lee by including wherein the second reference signal is received in the selected candidate RS resource using the respective time offset associated with the selected candidate RS resource suggested by Zhou. This modification may be enhanced by dynamically or semi-dynamically changing the modulation and coding scheme, for example, depending on transmission requirements and/or radio conditions read in paragraph [0187].
In regard claim 7, Lee may not explicitly teach or disclose the method of claim 1, further comprising determining quasi-colocation (QCL) information of the first reference signal, wherein the second reference signal is received in the selected candidate RS resource using the QCL information of the first reference signal.
However, Zhou teaches or discloses determining quasi-colocation (QCL) information of the first reference signal, wherein the second reference signal is received in the selected candidate RS resource using the QCL information of the first reference signal (see paragraphs [248], [0249], [0313], [0314], and [0315], the base station may send (e.g., transmit) an indication of a spatial QCL assumption between an DL RS antenna port(s) (e.g., a cell-specific CSI-RS, a wireless device-specific CSI-RS, an SS block, and/or a PBCH with or without DM-RSs of the PBCH) and/or DL RS antenna port(s) for demodulation of a DL control channel. A base station may indicate spatial QCL parameters between DL RS antenna port(s) and DM-RS antenna port(s) of a DL data channel, for example, for reception of a unicast DL data channel).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify beam measuring and reporting of Lee by including determining quasi-colocation (QCL) information of the first reference signal, wherein the second reference signal is received in the selected candidate RS resource using the QCL information of the first reference signal suggested by Zhou. This modification may be enhanced by dynamically or semi-dynamically changing the modulation and coding scheme, for example, depending on transmission requirements and/or radio conditions read in paragraph [0187].
In regard claim 9, Lee may not explicitly teach or disclose the method of claim 1, wherein each candidate RS resource of the set of candidate RS resources is mapped to a respective RS resource of the set of RS resources for transmission.
However, Zhou teaches or discloses wherein each candidate RS resource of the set of candidate RS resources is mapped to a respective RS resource of the set of RS resources for transmission (see paragraphs [0353], [0361], and [0366], the base station 1910 may send (e.g., transmit) at least one message (e.g., an RRC message) comprising parameters indicating a first set of RSs (e.g., one or more active set of RSs, such as the RS 0 of a serving beam) and indicating a second set of RSs (e.g., one or more candidate set of RSs, such as the RS 1, the RS 2, and the RS 3 of candidate beams)).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify beam measuring and reporting of Lee by including each candidate RS resource of the set of candidate RS resources is mapped to a respective RS resource of the set of RS resources for transmission suggested by Zhou. This modification may be enhanced by dynamically or semi-dynamically changing the modulation and coding scheme, for example, depending on transmission requirements and/or radio conditions read in paragraph [0187].
In regard claim 10, Lee may not explicitly teach or disclose the method of claim 1, further comprising determining a time offset for the second reference signal based on the candidate RS resource and/or a reference RS resource.
However, Zhou teaches or discloses wherein the second reference signal is received in the selected candidate RS resource using the respective time offset associated with the selected candidate RS resource (see paragraphs [0336], [0343], [0345], [0355], [0364], and [0366], the at least one message may further comprise (e.g., for each SR configuration) one or more parameters indicating at least one of: an SR prohibit timer; a maximum number of an SR transmission; a parameter indicating a periodicity and offset of an SR transmission; and/or a PUCCH resource. Each PUCCH resource of the BFR PUCCH resource set 1950 may be associated with an RS index of the second set (e.g., candidate set) of RSs (e.g., the RS 1, the RS 2, and the RS 3). The selection of the BFR PUCCH resource (e.g., the PUCCH resource 2) may implicitly indicate, to the base station, that the wireless device has selected an associated candidate beam (e.g., the candidate beam 1932 associated with the RS 2 and associated with the PUCCH resource 2). The second set of RSs may identify one or more candidate beams (e.g., beams 2131, 2132, and 2133) from which the wireless device 2120 may select a candidate beam with quality satisfying (e.g., better than) a threshold, for example, if the one or more beams (e.g., the beam 2130) associated with the first set of RSs fail).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify beam measuring and reporting of Lee by including the second reference signal is received in the selected candidate RS resource using the respective time offset associated with the selected candidate RS resource suggested by Zhou. This modification may be enhanced by dynamically or semi-dynamically changing the modulation and coding scheme, for example, depending on transmission requirements and/or radio conditions read in paragraph [0187].
In regard claim 11, Lee teaches or discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the configuration information indicates at least a configured purpose (see paragraph [0051], the UE 230 selects N.sub.1′ selected beams from the K candidate beams via the first uplink channel based on the first configured number N.sub.1 instructed in the beam configuration, and reports the beam information of the selected beams to the BS 210), wherein the configured purpose comprises any of: channel state information (CSI) reporting, beam failure recovery, beam management, and/or time/frequency tracking (see paragraphs [0060], [0080], and [0095],
the UE 230 reports the CSI of the selected beams in the beam information to the BS 210 via the first uplink channel).
In regard amended claim 13, Lee teaches or discloses the method of claim 1 further comprising: measuring the second reference signal; determining the configured purpose is the CSI reporting (see paragraph [0060], the UE 230 reports the CSI of the selected beams in the beam information to the BS 210 via the first uplink channel); performing the CSI reporting using the measurement of the second reference signal.
Lee may not explicitly teach or disclose measuring the second reference signal; and performing the CSI reporting using the measurement of the second reference signal.
However, Zhou teaches or discloses measuring the second reference signal (see paragraph [0386], the wireless device 2520 may determine, based on the measurements, that the signal quality of the second RS is better than the signal quality of the first RS, and may select the candidate beam 2532 for the BFR); and performing the CSI reporting using the measurement of the second reference signal (see paragraphs [0251], a wireless device may (e.g., based on a RSRP measurement on CSI-RS) report a beam index, which may be indicated in a CRI for downlink beam selection and/or associated with an RSRP value of a beam. Multiple wireless devices covered by a cell may measure a cell-specific CSI-RS resource. A dedicated subset of wireless devices covered by a cell may measure a wireless device-specific CSI-RS resource).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify beam measuring and reporting of Lee by including measuring the second reference signal; and performing the CSI reporting using the measurement of the second reference signal suggested by Zhou. This modification may be enhanced by dynamically or semi-dynamically changing the modulation and coding scheme, for example, depending on transmission requirements and/or radio conditions read in paragraph [0187].
In regard claim 14, Lee may not explicitly teach or disclose the method of claim 1, wherein the configuration information comprises any of: a semi-static configuration of the set of candidate RS resources; a DCI and/or MAC CE based activation/deactivation; a power control offset; a scrambling ID; a periodicity; a repetition on/off indication; RSs for QCL Type A and D; and/or a different offset.
However, Zhou teaches or discloses a DCI and/or MAC CE based activation/deactivation (see paragraph [0195], and [0196], the wireless device may receive Downlink Control Information (DCI). A MAC CE and/or a logical channel may be configured with a Logical Channel IDentifier (LCID). A base station may activate, deactivate, and/or impact one or more processes at the wireless device by using one or more MAC commands).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify beam measuring and reporting of Lee by including a DCI and/or MAC CE based activation/deactivation suggested by Zhou. This modification may be enhanced by dynamically or semi-dynamically changing the modulation and coding scheme, for example, depending on transmission requirements and/or radio conditions read in paragraph [0187].
In regard claim 19, Lee teaches or discloses a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) for wireless communications (see paragraph [0005], the UE 130 may respectively perform beam measurements for the beams 100 of the BS 110 and report measurement results to the BS 110), comprising circuitry, including a processor, a receiver, a transmitter, and memory, configured to:
receive configuration information indicating a set of reference signal (RS) resources, a set
of candidate RS resources, and a threshold (see paragraphs [0005], [0083], and [0117], the processor 631 of the UE 630 receives the beam configuration of a plurality of candidate beams from the BS 610 via the transceiver 633);
receive a first reference signal in an RS resource of the set of RS resources (see paragraph [0038], the BS 210 may transmit a beam configuration which may comprise one or more reference signal resources for K candidate beams to the UE 230. The one or more reference signal resources may further comprise K′ CSI-RS resources corresponding to the K candidate beams, wherein K′ may equal to or not equal to K);
select a candidate RS resource from the set of candidate RS resources, based on 1) a measurement result of the received first reference signal being less than or equal to the threshold, 2) a first characteristic associated with the first reference signal, and 3) a second characteristic
associated with the candidate RS resource (see paragraphs [0042], [0043], and [0117], the UE 230 performs a channel measurement for each of the K candidate beams in response to receiving the beam configuration and selects N′ selected beams from the K candidate beams based on channel measurement results, wherein N≥N′≥1. The number of the selected beams selected by the UE may be less than or equal to the configured number N instructed by the BS 210. Based on the channel measurement result of each candidate beam, the UE selects the candidate beam having a desirable communication quality as the selected beam. The selected beam may be determined based on at least one of CSI, reference signal received power (RSRP) and reference signal received quality (RSRQ) of the measured candidate beam which associated with the quality of the selected beam. The CSI may include at least one of channel quality indicator (CQI), precoding matrix indicator (PMI) and rank indicator (RI). In response to receiving the beam configuration, the processor 631 may perform the channel measurement for each of the candidate beams via the transceiver 633 at Step S830. In response to receiving the beam configuration, the processor 631 may report the beam information of at least one selected beam to the BS 610 via the transceiver 633 at Step S850. After Step S830 and before Step S850, the processor 631 may select at least one selected beam from the selected beams based on the channel measurement results); and
receive a second reference signal in the selected candidate RS resource (see paragraph [0084], the UE 430 performs the channel measurement for each of the K candidate beams in response to receiving the beam configuration and selects O′ selected beams (e.g., beams 2, 5, and 6) from the K candidate beams based on the channel measurement results).
Lee may not explicitly teach or disclose select a candidate RS resource from the set of candidate RS resources.
However, Zhou teaches or discloses select a candidate RS resource from the set of candidate RS resources (see paragraphs [0380], and [0382], the wireless device may determine a candidate beam of a base station (e.g., the beam 2132 of the base station 2110). The wireless device may determine the candidate beam by selecting an RS from the second set of RSs (e.g., RS 1, RS 2, and RS 3) configured by an RRC message).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify beam measuring and reporting of Lee by including select a candidate RS resource from the set of candidate RS resources suggested by Zhou. This modification may be enhanced by dynamically or semi-dynamically changing the modulation and coding scheme, for example, depending on transmission requirements and/or radio conditions read in paragraph [0187].
In regard claim 21, Lee may not explicitly teach or disclose the method of claim 2, wherein each respective time offset is a respective time period from the time of the first reference signal being transmitted.
However, Zhou teaches or discloses wherein each respective time offset is a respective time period from the time of the first reference signal being transmitted (see paragraphs [0336], [0343], and [0345], the at least one message may further comprise (e.g., for each SR configuration) one or more parameters indicating at least one of: an SR prohibit timer; a maximum number of an SR transmission; a parameter indicating a periodicity and offset of an SR transmission; and/or a PUCCH resource).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify beam measuring and reporting of Lee by including wherein each respective time offset is a respective time period from the time of the first reference signal being transmitted suggested by Zhou. This modification may be enhanced by dynamically or semi-dynamically changing the modulation and coding scheme, for example, depending on transmission requirements and/or radio conditions read in paragraph [0187].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 22, 23, 24, 26, and 27 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-3, 6-7, 9-14, 19, and 21-22 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
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Date: 03/15/2026
/PHIRIN SAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476