DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 2-3, 7-13, 15-19, 21-23, 25-31, 33-36, 38-44, 46, and 48 have been cancelled.
Status of Claims
2. This Office Action is in response to the application filed on 10/02/2023. Claims 1, 4-6, 14, 20, 24, 32, 37, 45, 47, and 49-56 are presently pending and are presented for examination.
3. 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 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.
Response to Arguments
4. Applicant's arguments 01/07/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argued that claim has been amended to clarify that the claimed subset is a subset of activated UL/joint/DL TCI states, rather than a set of activated TCI states selected from a broader pool of possible TCI states.
Examiner respectfully disagrees. The claim limitation “determining, from a set of activated uplink, UL, transmission configuration indicator, TCI, states OR a set of activated joint TCI states, OR a set of activated downlink, DL, TCI states for the wireless communication device, a subset for which the wireless communication device is to monitor associated pathloss reference signals” does not recites a subset of activated UL/joint/DL TCI states. The underlined “ORs” within the claim limitation provide an optional subset of UL TCI states or subset of joint TCI states or DL TCI states being considered for pathloss monitoring. That is any of one the activated the activated UL TCI states, the activated joint TCI states, or the activated DL TCI states can be considered for examination. In addition, that claim as whole is drafted for intended use which lacks patentable weight and does not distinguish a claim from prior art if the structure is otherwise identical.
Applicant argued that neither Liu nor Ryu teaches or suggests determining a subset of already-activated TCI states and monitoring path-loss reference signals associated specifically with determined subset.
Examiner respectfully disagrees. It is not normal to monitor the pathloss of non-activated TCI states. However, Liu teaches UE PL-RS are required to be associated with each activated UL TCI state (see paragraph 52). In addition, Liu teaches PL-RS being associated with activated DL TCI states or ULTCI states for pathloss estimation (see paragraphs 74-80). In addition, Liu teaches when the TCI state activation/deactivation MAC CE as shown in FIG. 2(a) is transmitted by the gNB (base
station) and received by the UE, the DL TCI states and UL TCI states identified by TCI state IDs Oto N (a group of TCI state IDs O to N are indicated as DL TCI state IDs O to N, and another group of TCI state IDs O to N are indicated as UL TCI state IDs Oto N) are activated (updated) (see paragraph 78).
Applicant argued that Liu teaches that the path loss estimation is based on all activated TCI states, rather than a subset of the activated TCI states.
Examiner respectfully disagrees. Liu teaches the one MAC CE includes a CORESET Pool ID field to indicate a CORESETPoolIndex value, and the DL TCI states and/or the UL TCI states activated by the one MAC CE are pointed to by a TCI field of a DCI transmitted from a CO RESET configured with the CORESETPoolIndex value (paragraph 10). In addition, Liu teaches the DL TCI states for PDSCH transmission and
the UL TCI states for PUSCH transmission are selected from different TCI state pools.
The aforementioned indicates there are many pools distinguished with pool IDs, therefore, each pool can be considered a set, subset, etc. In addition, it is not clear how the subset is determined-the claim language is general and does not provide any spasticity how the subset is determined (see paragraph 50).
In addition, Ryu teaches the base station 105 may update (activate) transmission configuration indication (TCI) states for periodic CSI-RSs (PL-RS) using the MAC-CE, where the periodic CSI-RSs may be used for path-loss reference (see paragraph 89). In addition, Ryu teaches UE may be capable of (or may implement) tracking path-loss estimates for a subset of all of the possible beam pairs (see paragraph 57).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
5. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-4-6, 14, 20, 24, 32, 37, 45, 47, 49, 51-56 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 1, 45, 47, and 49 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph because they recite the limitation “determine, from a set of activated uplink, UL, transmission configuration indicator, TCI, states, a set of activated joint TCI states, OR a set of activated downlink, DL, TCI states for the wireless communication device a subset for which the wireless communication device is to monitor associated pathloss reference signals; and
monitor the pathloss reference signals for the determined subset of the set of activated UL TCI states, the set of activated joint TCI states, OR the set of activated DL TCI states”. It is not clear how the subset is created. The “OR” makes different variation of subset creation as it was mentioned in the response to the applicant remarks. For example the “OR” provides 8 subset from the activated UL TCI states, DL TCI states, and joint TCI states.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 4-6, 14, 20, 24, 32, 37, 45, 47, and 49-56 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 2023/0370238 A1) in view of Ryu et al (US 2021/0084510 A1).
For claim 1 Liu teaches a method performed by a wireless communication device (see paragraph 52 “User equipment (UE) estimates downlink (DL) pathloss”), the method comprising:
Determining, from a set of activated uplink, UL, transmission configuration indicator, TCI, states a set of activated joint TCI states, or a set of activated downlink, DL, TCI states for the wireless communication device, subset for which the wireless communication device is to monitor associated pathloss reference signals (see paragraph 5 “for a UE without beam correspondence, a set (subset) of UL TCI states may be newly introduced for dynamic UL TX beam indication for PUSCH paragraph 50 “DL TCI states pools (set or subset) or UL TCI states pools (set or subset) where DL TCI states or UL TCI states are activated by MAC CE, wherein both DL TCI state and UL TCI states are updated (activated) simultaneously (jointly)-DLTCI states and UL TCI stares are selected from different TCI states pools”, paragraph 52 “PL-RS are required to be associated with each activated UL TCI state…PL-RS is used to indicate a DL RS, which can be an NZP CSI-RS resource or a SSB resource, for the UE for DL pathloss estimation (pathloss monitoring)- when the power control parameters are not configured for each UL TCI state by RRC signaling, it should be configured by the TCI state activation/deactivation MAC CE for simultaneously activating DL TCI states and UL TCI states”, paragraph 74 “PL-RS is used to indicate a DL RS, which can be an NZP CSI-RS resource or a SSB resource, for the UE for DL pathloss estimation. A power control parameter set is associated with an activated UL TCI state for dynamic TX beam indication for PUSCH”, Fig. 10 “receiving one MAC CE that can simultaneously activate DL TCI states and UL TCI states, wherein the one MAC CE includes TCI state IDs that can be indicated as DL TCI state IDs (selected or subset of TCI) identifying the DL TCI states to be activated and/or UL TCI state IDs identifying the UL TCI states to be activated”, and paragraphs 67, 78, and 84 “TCI states groups (subsets)”); and
Liu does not explicitly teach monitoring pathloss reference signals for the determined subset of the set of activated UL TCI states, the set of activated joint TCI states, the set of activated or DL TCI states.
However, Ryu teaches UE 115-a may not track (monitor) and/or filter deactivated path-loss reference signals 220. For example, base station 105-a may refrain from transmitting deactivated path-loss reference signals, and UE 115-a may additionally or alternatively refrain from monitoring for the deactivated path-loss reference signals. Not transmitting and tracking deactivated path-loss references signals may reduce signaling overhead on the downlink channel 205 and may reduce processing overhead for the wireless devices ( e.g., especially UE 115-a ) (see Ryu: paragraph 104). In addition, Ryu teaches UE may be capable of (or may implement) tracking (monitoring) path-loss estimates for a subset of all of the possible beam pairs (TCI states) (see Ryu: paragraph 57). In addition, Ryu teaches the base station 105 may update (activate) transmission configuration indication (TCI) states for periodic CSI-RSs using the MAC-CE, where the periodic CSI-RSs may be used for path-loss reference(see Ryu: paragraph 89). In addition, Ryu teaches the base station 105 may configure a set of path-loss reference signals, where a first subset of the configured path-loss reference signals are "active" and a second subset of the configured path-loss reference signals are "inactive.") The UE 115 may measure path-loss using activated path-loss (see Ryu: paragraph 90).
Thus it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use the teachings of Ryu in the pathloss estimation of Liu to not monitor deactivated path-loss references signals to reduce signaling overhead (see Ryu: paragraph 104).
For claim 4 Liu teaches the method, wherein the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states consists of M activated UL TCI states or M activated joint or DL TCI states, and the subset of the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states consists of less than M activated UL TCI states or less than M activated joint or DL TCI states (see paragraph 78 “When the TCI state activation/deactivation MAC CE as shown in FIG. 2(a) is transmitted by the gNB (base
station) and received by the UE, the DL TCI states and UL TCI states identified by TCI state IDs Oto N (a group (set) of TCI state IDs 0 to N are indicated as DL TCI state IDs 0 to N, and another group of TCI state IDs 0 to N are indicated as UL TCI state IDs 0 to N) are activated (updated)” and paragraph 50 “Although the DL TCI states for PDSCH transmission and the UL TCI states for PUSCH transmission are selected from different TCI state pools”-it is obvious that selecting subset of a set is smaller than the set itself).
For claim 5 Liu teaches the method of claim 4 wherein determining the subset of the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states for which the wireless communication device is to monitor associated pathloss reference signals comprises selecting the subset from the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states based on associations between the activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states and their TCI field codepoints (see paragraph 51 “TCI codepoint of a TCI field (DL TCI field or UL TCI field) included in the scheduling DCI points to one TCI state. In scenario of multi-TRP (e.g. two TRPs), one TCI codepoint of the TCI field may point to one or two TCI states”).
For claim 6 Liu in view of Ryu teaches the method of claim 5 wherein the subset is either N or N-1 of the M activated UL TCI states or either N or N-1 of the M activated joint or DL TCI states having the highest or lowest TCI field codepoints, where a value of N corresponds to a maximum number of pathloss reference signals that the wireless communication device is configured or otherwise able to monitor (see Liu: paragraph 100 “The maximum number of activated DL TCI codepoints is 8 (when N is 7)” and paragraph 103 “The maximum number of activated UL TCI codepoints is 8 (when N is 7)” and paragraph 74 “PL-RS is used to indicate a DL RS, which can be an NZP CSI-RS resource or a SSB resource, for the UE for DL pathloss estimation. A power control parameter set is associated with an activated UL TCI state for dynamic TX beam indication for PUSCH” and Ryu: pargraph 58 “base station may configure the UE with a number of configured path-loss reference signals greater than a number of activated path-loss reference signals (e.g., based on a maximum number of activated path-loss reference signals supported by the UE)”).
For claim 14 Liu in view of Ryu teaches the method of claim 4 wherein the subset is either N or N-1 of the M activated UL TCI states or either N or N-1 of the M activated joint or DL TCI states that were last activated, where a value of N corresponds to a maximum number of pathloss reference signals that the wireless communication device is configured or otherwise able to monitor (see Ryu: pargraph 58 “base station may configure the UE with a number of configured path-loss reference signals greater than a number of activated path-loss reference signals (e.g., based on a maximum number of activated path-loss reference signals supported by the UE)”).
For claim 20 Liu in view of Ryu teaches the method of claim 4 wherein the subset is either N or N-1 of the M activated UL TCI states or either N or N-1 of the M activated joint or DL TCI states that have been activated for a shortest amount of time, where a value of N corresponds to a maximum number of pathloss reference signals that the wireless communication device is configured or otherwise able to monitor (see Ryu: pargraph 58 “base station may configure the UE with a number of configured path-loss reference signals greater than a number of activated path-loss reference signals (e.g., based on a maximum number of activated path-loss reference signals supported by the UE)”).
For claim 24 Liu in view of Ryu teaches the method claim 4 wherein the subset is either N or N-1 of the M activated UL TCI states or either N or N-1 of the M activated joint or DL TCI states having the highest or lowest TCI state IDs, where a value of N corresponds to a maximum number of pathloss reference signals that the wireless communication device is configured or otherwise able to monitor (see Ryu: pargraph 58 “base station may configure the UE with a number of configured path-loss reference signals greater than a number of activated path-loss reference signals (e.g., based on a maximum number of activated path-loss reference signals supported by the UE)”).
For claim 32 Liu in view of Ryu teaches the method claim 4 further comprising:
receiving from a network node, an indication of the subset of the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states for which the wireless communication device is to monitor associated pathloss reference signals (as discussed in claim 1);
wherein determining the subset of the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states for which the wireless communication device is to monitor associated pathloss reference signals comprises determining the subset from the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states based on the received indication (as discussed in claim 1).
For claim 37 Liu in view of Ryu teaches the method further comprising:
receiving downlink control information, DCI, from a network node, the DCI comprising a TCI field codepoint that maps to an activated UL TCI state or an activated joint or DL TCI state from among the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states for which the wireless communication device is not currently monitoring an associated pathloss reference signal (as discussed in claim 1); and
responsive thereto, obtaining a pathloss estimate for the activated UL TCI state or the activated joint or DL TCI state indicated by the TCI field codepoint comprised in the DCI (as discussed in claim 1).
For claim 45 Liu in view of Ryu teaches a wireless communication device comprising:
one or more transmitters (see Liu: paragraph 2 “transmitter (TX); receiver (RX), central processing unit (CPU)”);
one or more receivers (see Liu: paragraph 2 “transmitter (TX); receiver (RX), central processing unit (CPU)”); and
processing circuitry associated with the one or more transmitters and the one or more receivers (see Liu: paragraph 2 “transmitter (TX); receiver (RX), central processing unit (CPU)”); the processing circuitry configured to cause the wireless communication device to:
determine, from a set of activated uplink, UL, transmission configuration indicator, TCI, states, a set of activated joint TCI states, or a set of activated downlink, DL, TCI states for the wireless communication device a subset for which the wireless communication device is to monitor associated pathloss reference signals (as discussed in claim 1); and
monitor the pathloss reference signals for the determined subset of the set of activated UL TCI states, the set of activated joint TCI states, or the set of activated DL TCI states (as discussed in claim 1).
For claim 47 Liu in view of Ryu teaches a method performed by a network node, the method comprising:
transmitting, to a wireless communication device, an indication that identifies a subset of a set of activated uplink, UL, transmission configuration indicator, TCI, states, a subset of a set of activated joint TCI states, or a subset of a set of activated downlink, DL, TCI states for the wireless communication device, wherein the indication serves as a basis for the wireless communication device to monitor associated pathloss reference signals for the identified subset (as discussed in claim 1).
For claim 49 Liu in view of Ryu teaches a network node an access network of a cellular communications system, the network node at least comprising processing circuitry and a memory storing instructions executed in the processing circuitry, whereby the processing circuitry is configured to cause the network node to:
transmit, to a wireless communication device, an indication [[of]] that identifies a subset of a set of activated uplink, UL, transmission configuration indicator, TCI, states, [[or]] a subset of a set of activated joint TCI states, or a subset of a set of activated downlink, DL, TCI states for the wireless communication device, wherein the indication serves as a basis for the wireless communication device to monitor associated pathloss reference signals for the identified subset (as discussed in claim 1).
For claim 50 Liu in view of Ryu teaches the wireless communication device, wherein the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states consists of M activated UL TCI states or M activated joint or DL TCI states, and the subset of the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states consists of less than M activated UL TCI states or less than M activated joint or DL TCI states (as discussed in claim 4).
For claim 51 Liu in view of Ryu teaches the wireless communication device of claim 50, wherein in order to determine the subset of the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states for which the wireless communication device is to monitor associated pathloss reference signals, the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the wireless communication device to select the subset from the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states based on associations between the activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states and their TCI field codepoints (as discussed in claim 4).
For claim 52 Liu in view of Ryu teaches the wireless communication device of claim 51, wherein the subset is either N or N-1 of the M activated UL TCI states or either N or N-1 of the M activated joint or DL TCI states having the highest or lowest TCI field codepoints, where a value of N corresponds to a maximum number of pathloss reference signals that the wireless communication device is configured or otherwise able to monitor (as discussed in claim 6).
For claim 53 Liu in view of Ryu teaches the wireless communication device of claim 50, wherein the subset is either N or N-1 of the M activated UL TCI states or either N or N-1 of the M activated joint or DL TCI states that were last activated, where a value of N corresponds to a maximum number of pathloss reference signals that the wireless communication device is configured or otherwise able to monitor (as discussed in claim 14).
For claim 54 Liu in view of Ryu teaches the wireless communication device of claim 50, wherein the subset is either N or N-1 of the M activated UL TCI states or either N or N-1 of the M activated joint or DL TCI states that have been activated for a shortest amount of time, where a value of N corresponds to a maximum number of pathloss reference signals that the wireless communication device is configured or otherwise able to monitor (as discussed in claim 20).
For claim 55 Liu in view of Ryu teaches the wireless communication device of claim 50, wherein the subset is either N or N-1 of the M activated UL TCI states or either N or N-1 of the M activated joint or DL TCI states having the highest or lowest TCI state IDs, where a value of N corresponds to a maximum number of pathloss reference signals that the wireless communication device is configured or otherwise able to monitor (as discussed in claim 24).
For claim 56 the wireless communication device of claim 50, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the wireless communication device to:
receive, from a network node, an indication of the subset of the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states for which the wireless communication device is to monitor associated pathloss reference signals (as discussed in claim 32);
wherein, in order to determine the subset of the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states for which the wireless communication device is to monitor associated pathloss reference signals, the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the wireless communication device to determine the subset from the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states based on the received indication (as discussed in claim 32).
Conclusion
7. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Zhou et al. (US 2023/0300851 A1) teaches In some implementations, the method can include receiving, from the BS, a MAC-CE message activating a subset of candidate joint downlink and uplink TCI state from a set of candidate joint downlink and uplink TCI states (see Zhou: paragraph 11).
indicated by an RRC configuration
8. 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.
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to David M OVEISSI whose telephone number is (571)270-3127. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8Am-5PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jeffrey Rutkowski can be reached at (571) 270 - 1215. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MANSOUR OVEISSI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415