DETAILED ACTION
This action is response to application number 18/291,423, amendment and remarks, dated on 05/05/2026.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 9-13 pending.
Claims 1-8 cancelled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 05/05/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant in page 8 of remarks, argues that “However, Applicant respectfully disagrees that the combination of Shen and Tie teaches limitation (iii) of independent claim 9. Specifically, paragraph [0122] of the originally-filed specification states that "[t]he UE may assume that DMRS #1 and DMRS #2 are in a QCL relationship when the QCL source of DMRS #1 and the QCL source of DMRS #2 are in a QCL relationship even when SSB indices of the root SSBs of DMRS #1 and DMRS #2 are different from each other. This case may be a case where the beam of the QCL source of DMRS #1 (SSB #1, first SSB) includes the beam of the QCL source of DMRS #2 (SSB #2, second SSB) as in FIG. 11B. " In addition, Figure 11A of the originally-filed specification indicates a relationship between the DMRS#1, the TRS#1 and the SSB#1, as well as the DMRS#2, the TRS#2 and the SSB#2”.
Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
It is noted that the Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) determines the scope of claims in patent applications not solely on the basis of the claim language, but upon giving claims their broadest reasonable construction “in light of the specification as it would be interpreted by one of ordinary skill in the art.” In re Am. Acad. of Sci. Tech. Ctr., 367 F.3d 1359, 1364[, 70 USPQ2d 1827, 1830] (Fed. Cir. 2004).
The broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim construction ‘in view of the specification’ without unnecessarily importing limitations from the specification into the claims. It is improper to import claim limitations from the specification to the claims. Though understanding the claim language may be aided by explanations contained in the written description, it is important not to import into a claim limitations that are not part of the claim.
Applicant in page 9 of remarks, argues that “In contrast, the Examiner merely shows two separate references, where the first reference, Shen, shows that the first SSB is QCLed with a first DMRS and the second SSB is QCLed with a second DMRS. The second reference, Tie, indicates that the second DM-RS port has a QCL relationship with the first DM-RS port. However, Shen and Tie do not teach the conditional relationship that the processor is able to control the reception by assuming that the second DMRS is QCLed with the first DMRS, only in a case when the first DMRS is QCLed with the first SSB and the second DMRS is QCLed with the second SSB, and the first SSB is also QCLed with the second SSB. Therefore, the combination of Shen and Tie does not teach limitation (iii) of pending independent claim 9”.
In response to applicant's arguments against the references individually, one cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981); In re Merck & Co., 800 F.2d 1091, 231 USPQ 375 (Fed. Cir. 1986).
Shen discloses the conditional clause and depending on the conditional being satisfied determining the QCLed of the received signals (see exemplary ¶80; If the network device has configured an index of an SSB to be unobtainable based on the timing of the serving cell and the network device configures no to-be-measured SSB list, the terminal measures all SSBs within an SMTC window of a period T. For any two SSBs obtained through measurement by the terminal, the terminal can obtain a difference Δi between indexes of the two SSBs based on transmission time locations t1 and t2 of the two SSBs, may determine their SSB index values based on PBCH DMRS IDs and a configured QCL condition, and then determine their QCL relationship (for example, a difference Δi between the indexes of the two SSBs is obtained based on the transmission time locations t1 and t2 of the two SSBs, SSB index values are determined based on the PBCH DMRS IDs, and then the QCL relationship is determined based on the QCL condition), that is, whether j1 mod q=j2 mod q or [j1×n/2] mod q=[j2×n/2] mod q is satisfied. If satisfied, measured RSRP values of the two SSBs can be used as samples of a same measurement for processing).
Furthermore, Tie, in the same field of endeavor, identifying QCL relationship (abstract) discloses conditionally determining the second demodulation reference signal is QCLed with the first demodulation reference signal (see exemplary Col. 9, L64-; Col. 10, L-14; The terminal device may determine, based on the first DM-RS port through which the PDCCH order is received, the second DM-RS port that has the QCL relationship with the first DM-RS port, and receive the MSG 2 through the second DM-RS port. Because the second DM-RS port has the QCL relationship with the first DM-RS port, a large-scale channel property of the second DM-RS port may be inferred from a large-scale channel property of the first DM-RS port, and the terminal device can select an appropriate receive beam based on the inferred large-scale channel property of the second DM-RS port, to align with a transmit beam on which the MSG 2 is sent. In this way, even if the transmit beam changes (for example, the transmit beam changes because a TRP sending the MSG 2 is different from a TRP receiving the MSG 1), the terminal device can still select an appropriate receive beam to align with the transmit beam on which the MSG 2 is sent).
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.
Claims 9-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shen et al. (US 2021/0377890 A1) in view of Tie et. al. (US 11,265,921 B2).
Claims 9, 11, Shen discloses a terminal (Fig. 1,el. 11; Fig. 4, el. 400) comprising:
a receiver (receiving module; Fig. 4, el. 401; ¶108) that receives a synchronization signal block comprising: a first synchronization signal block (first SSB); and at least one of a plurality of second synchronization signal blocks (second SSB)(terminal receiving a SSB comprising the first SSB and the second SSB and determining the two SSBs satisfy a QCL relationship based on the measurements; Embodiments of this disclosure provide a method for processing a measurement, a parameter configuration method, a terminal, and a network device. The method includes: receiving a QCL configuration parameter for measuring a neighboring cell, where the neighboring cell is a cell adjacent to a serving cell of the terminal; and obtaining a measurement result of the neighboring cell based on a measurement result of a first SSB and a measurement result of a second SSB, where the first SSB and the second SSB satisfy a QCL relationship corresponding to the QCL configuration parameter; abstract; In new radio (NR) systems, when a terminal performs synchronization signal reference signal received power (SS-RSRP) measurement, the terminal assumes that all synchronization signal blocks (SSB) having a same index have a quasi-co-location (QCL) relationship. In this way, when performing SS-RSRP measurement, the terminal uses measurement values of SSBs having a same index but in different periods as samples of a same measurement for RSRP processing (for example, power combining and averaging), to obtain a cell measurement result; ¶3; Fig. 2, el. 202); and
a processor (processing module; Fig. 4, el. 402; ¶109) that controls reception by assuming that the at least one of the plurality of second synchronization signal blocks is quasi co-located (QCLed) with the first synchronization signal block (Embodiments of this disclosure provide a method for processing a measurement, a parameter configuration method, a terminal, and a network device. The method includes: receiving a QCL configuration parameter for measuring a neighboring cell, where the neighboring cell is a cell adjacent to a serving cell of the terminal; and obtaining a measurement result of the neighboring cell based on a measurement result of a first SSB and a measurement result of a second SSB, where the first SSB and the second SSB satisfy a QCL relationship corresponding to the QCL configuration parameter; abstract; ¶3; Fig. 2, el. 202; obtaining a measurement result of the neighboring cell based on a measurement result of a first SSB and a measurement result of a second SSB, where the first SSB and the second SSB satisfy a QCL relationship corresponding to the QCL configuration parameter; ¶6; In the embodiments of this disclosure, a QCL configuration parameter for measuring a neighboring cell is received, where the neighboring cell is a cell adjacent to a serving cell of the terminal; and a measurement result of the neighboring cell is obtained based on a measurement result of a first synchronization signal block SSB and a measurement result of a second SSB, where the first SSB and the second SSB satisfy a QCL relationship corresponding to the QCL configuration parameter. In this way, the measurement result of the neighboring cell is obtained through the SSBs satisfying the QCL relationship, thereby improving accuracy of the measurement result; ¶100; a receiving module 401, configured to receive a QCL configuration parameter for measuring a neighboring cell, where the neighboring cell is a cell adjacent to a serving cell of the terminal; and a processing module 402, configured to obtain a measurement result of the neighboring cell based on a measurement result of a first SSB and a measurement result of a second SSB, where the first SSB and the second SSB satisfy a QCL relationship corresponding to the QCL configuration parameter; ¶108-¶109), wherein when a first demodulation reference signal for downlink is QCLed with the first synchronization signal block and a second demodulation reference signal for downlink is QCLed with the at least one of the plurality of second synchronization signal blocks (If the network device has configured an index of an SSB to be unobtainable based on the timing of the serving cell and the network device configures no to-be-measured SSB list, the terminal measures all SSBs within an SMTC window of a period T. For any two SSBs obtained through measurement by the terminal, the terminal can obtain a difference Δi between indexes of the two SSBs based on transmission time locations t1 and t2 of the two SSBs, may determine their SSB index values based on PBCH DMRS IDs and a configured QCL condition, and then determine their QCL relationship (for example, a difference Δi between the indexes of the two SSBs is obtained based on the transmission time locations t1 and t2 of the two SSBs, SSB index values are determined based on the PBCH DMRS IDs, and then the QCL relationship is determined based on the QCL condition), that is, whether j1 mod q=j2 mod q or [j1×n/2] mod q=[j2×n/2] mod q is satisfied. If satisfied, measured RSRP values of the two SSBs can be used as samples of a same measurement for processing; ¶80),
Tie in the same field of endeavor, identifying QCL relationship (abstract) discloses the processor controls reception by assuming that the second demodulation reference signal is QCLed with the first demodulation reference signal (determining the second DMRS is QCLed with the first DMRS; A method for non-contention based random access is provided, including: receiving a PDCCH order through a first demodulation reference signal DM-RS port, where the PDCCH order includes a first SSB index, and the PDCCH order is used to instruct to perform random access on a first RACH resource corresponding to the first SSB index by using a first preamble; sending, based on the PDCCH order, an MSG 1 on the first RACH resource by using the first preamble; and determining, based on the first DM-RS port, to receive an MSG 2 through a second DM-RS port, where the second DM-RS port has a QCL relationship with the first DM-RS port; abstract; Col. 2, L21-33; The terminal device may determine, based on the first DM-RS port through which the PDCCH order is received, the second DM-RS port that has the QCL relationship with the first DM-RS port, and receive the MSG 2 through the second DM-RS port. Because the second DM-RS port has the QCL relationship with the first DM-RS port, a large-scale channel property of the second DM-RS port may be inferred from a large-scale channel property of the first DM-RS port, and the terminal device can select an appropriate receive beam based on the inferred large-scale channel property of the second DM-RS port, to align with a transmit beam on which the MSG 2 is sent. In this way, even if the transmit beam changes (for example, the transmit beam changes because a TRP sending the MSG 2 is different from a TRP receiving the MSG 1), the terminal device can still select an appropriate receive beam to align with the transmit beam on which the MSG 2 is sent; Col. 9, L64-; Col. 10, L-14; Fig. 2, S230; Fig. 3, S330).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention was made to provide a processor to control reception by assuming that the second demodulation reference signal is QCLed with the first demodulation reference signal, as taught by Tie to modify Shen’s method and system in order to improve success rate of non-contention based random access (Col. 2, L6-7) and to avoid failure of a terminal to receive the Msg2 due to misalignment of the beams (Col. 3, L25-28).
Claim 10, Shen in view of Tie discloses wherein when a preamble is transmitted in a random access channel occasion corresponding to the synchronization signal block, the processor controls reception by assuming that a third demodulation reference signal for downlink is QCLed with the synchronization signal block (Tie; transmission of preamble/Msg1 on RACH resource corresponding to SSB and determining DMRS QCLed with the SSB; A method for non-contention based random access is provided, including: receiving a PDCCH order through a first demodulation reference signal DM-RS port, where the PDCCH order includes a first SSB index, and the PDCCH order is used to instruct to perform random access on a first RACH resource corresponding to the first SSB index by using a first preamble; sending, based on the PDCCH order, an MSG 1 on the first RACH resource by using the first preamble; and determining, based on the first DM-RS port, to receive an MSG 2 through a second DM-RS port, where the second DM-RS port has a QCL relationship with the first DM-RS port; abstract; S210. Receive a PDCCH order through a first DM-RS port, where the PDCCH order includes a first SSB index, and the PDCCH order is used to instruct to perform random access on a first RACH resource corresponding to the first SSB index by using a first preamble. The PDCCH order is used to trigger a non-contention based random access procedure, and the terminal device sends a physical random access channel (PRACH) based on the PDCCH order. The PRACH may correspond to a random access request (MSG 1). In other words, the MSG 1 corresponds to the PRACH at a physical layer. S220. Send, based on the PDCCH order, the MSG 1 on the first RACH resource by using the first preamble. S230. Determine, based on the first DM-RS port, to receive an MSG 2 through a second DM-RS port, where the second DM-RS port has a QCL relationship with the first DM-RS port. The terminal device may determine, based on the first DM-RS port through which the PDCCH order is received, the second DM-RS port that has the QCL relationship with the first DM-RS port, and receive the MSG 2 through the second DM-RS port. Because the second DM-RS port has the QCL relationship with the first DM-RS port, a large-scale channel property of the second DM-RS port may be inferred from a large-scale channel property of the first DM-RS port, and the terminal device can select an appropriate receive beam based on the inferred large-scale channel property of the second DM-RS port, to align with a transmit beam on which the MSG 2 is sent. In this way, even if the transmit beam changes (for example, the transmit beam changes because a TRP sending the MSG 2 is different from a TRP receiving the MSG 1), the terminal device can still select an appropriate receive beam to align with the transmit beam on which the MSG 2 is sent; Col. 9, L47-; Col. 10, L-14; Fig. 2; Fig. 3).
Claim 12, analyzed with respect to claim 11, the further limitation of claim 12 disclosed by Shen, a base station (network device; Fig. 1, el. 12) comprising a transmitter (transmitter of the network device shown as Fig. 1, el. 12) and a processor (According to a sixth aspect, an embodiment of this disclosure provides a network device, including a memory, a processor, and a program stored in the memory and capable of running on the processor, where when the program is executed by the processor, the steps of the parameter configuration method provided in the embodiments of this disclosure are implemented; ¶15).
Claim 13, analyzed with respect to claim 11, the further limitation of claim 13 disclosed by Shen, a system comprising a base station (network device; Fig. 1, el. 12) and a terminal (Fig. 1,el. 11; Fig. 4, el. 400), wherein the base station comprises a transmitter (transmitter of the network device shown as Fig. 1, el. 12) and the terminal (Fig. 4, el. 400) comprises a receiver (receiving module; Fig. 4, el. 401) and a processor (processing module; Fig. 4, el. 402) (According to a fifth aspect, an embodiment of this disclosure provides a terminal, including a memory, a processor, and a program stored in the memory and capable of running on the processor, where when the program is executed by the processor, the steps of the method for processing a measurement provided in the embodiments of this disclosure are implemented; ¶14).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 KOUROUSH MOHEBBI whose telephone number is (571)270-7908. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30AM-5:00PM.
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/KOUROUSH MOHEBBI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471
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