Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 7, 10-13, 19, 24-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kang et al.( US20240106527A1) in view of Centonza et al. (WO2021034247A1) in further view of Abedini et al. (US20210235501A1)
Regarding Claim 7, Kang teaches, A method of operating a [71]- in case that the quality of the downlink signal of the base station is not up to the quality standard, replacing with a new beam sweeping interval (=beam sweeping timing )and sweeping frequency, and receiving the base station signal transmitted or forwarded by the satellite at a sweeping frequency in the new beam sweeping interval.
[114]- in case that a correct ID of a cell is detected according to the SSB signal, determining that the quality of the downlink signal of the base station is up to a quality standard. (=having different SSB indices are transmitted using a plurality of spatial beams according to a beam sweeping timing);
a change in a beam direction index of a beam associated with at least one of the SSBs; and a change in a position of transmission of one of the SSBs in an SSB burst;[71]- replacing with a new beam sweeping interval and sweeping frequency, and receiving the base station signal transmitted or forwarded by the satellite at a sweeping frequency in the new beam sweeping interval. [78]- determining the target sweeping interval according to a preset sweeping angle, and searching for satellite signals at respective sweeping frequencies of the target sweeping interval (=change in a position of transmission of one of the SSBs in an SSB burst)
Kang does not teach, A method of operating a control unit, CU, of a network node of a wireless communications network, comprising: receiving a message from a distributed unit, DU;
having different SSB indices are transmitted using a plurality of spatial beams according to a beam sweeping timing;
Centonza teaches, A method of operating a control unit, CU, of a network node of a wireless communications network, comprising: receiving a message from a distributed unit, DU, See Fig 13 shows a config conflict message from 112 DU to 111- CU. [page 33, para 2]a gNB DU RACH config conflict message from the gNB-DU which may comprise: an instruction to resolve the RACH conflict, with an implicit ACK, an ACK of a RACH conflict.
having different SSB indices are transmitted using a plurality of spatial beams according to a beam sweeping timing page 15 para 2 - The reason for this is that beams “sweep”, namely their availability in terms of RS and communication channels(=related to index) may change in the time(=beam sweep time) and spatial domain given that the beam orientation may be swept across a pre-set coverage area. See also page6-para 4- So either the network has means via implementation to distinguish these two beams and/or the network may need to perform a beam sweeping in the downlink by transmitting the RAR in both beams(=having different SSB indices are transmitted using a plurality of spatial beams).
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Kang A method of operating a control unit, CU, of a network node of a wireless communications network, comprising: receiving a message from a distributed unit, DU;having different SSB indices are transmitted using a plurality of spatial beams according to a beam sweeping timing as taught by Centonza to identify metrics for beam sweep time.
Kang in view of Centonza does not teach, and transmitting a message to a neighbor network node indicating the change of the beam sweeping timing of the cell; wherein the message indicating the change in beam sweeping comprises an indication of SSBs affected by the change in beam sweeping timing wherein the change of beam sweeping timing was performed in response to detecting a random access channel, RACH, configuration conflict for the cell; wherein changing the beam sweeping timing comprises one or more of: changing an association of one of the SSBs and one of the spatial beams; changing a beam direction index of a beam associated with at least one of the SSBs; changing a position of transmission of one of the spatial beams in an SSB burst; and/or changing a direction of one of the spatial beams carrying an associated SSB.
Abedini teaches, and transmitting (604) a message to a neighbor network node indicating the change of the beam sweeping timing of the cell; wherein the message indicating the change in beam sweeping comprises an indication of SSBs affected by the change in beam sweeping timing;[39]- In this manner, the RACH configuration message may control the transmit and receipt between the MMW relay and any UE computing devices along with the transmit and receipt between the MMW relay and the network computing device (e.g., gNB)
wherein the change of beam sweeping timing was performed in response to detecting a random access channel, RACH, configuration conflict for the cell; and [38]- For example, a RACH message 1 format may be lengthened and/or modified to include multiple repetitions of information that may not be present in a default RACH message 1 format. (=RACH conflict).[40]- the MMW repeater is to apply all of the two or more different RX beam sweep configurations during each instance of the single RO. In various embodiments where there may be a single RO associated with a single SSB (e.g., one-to-one SSB to RO mapping), and the RACH configuration message may indicate the MMW repeater is to apply a next one of the two or more different RX beam sweep configurations at each successive instance of the single RO(=change in beam sweep timing)
and wherein the change in beam sweeping timing comprises one or more of:a change in an association of one of the SSBs and one of the spatial beams; a change in a direction of one of the spatial beams carrying an associated SSB; a change in a beam direction index of a beam associated with at least one of the SSBs; and a change in a position of transmission of one of the SSBs in an SSB burst.[37] In various embodiments, RX beam sweep configurations may be changed across RACH periods. For example, after a first instance of a RO in which a first set of RX beam sweep configurations was used two or more new different RX beam sweep configurations for the RO may be determined. In this manner, RX beam sweep configurations may be dynamically changed across RACH periods.
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Kang in view of Centonza changing (504) the beam sweeping timing of the cell from an original beam sweeping timing to a new beam sweeping timing in response to detecting the RACH conflict; wherein changing the beam sweeping timing comprises one or more of: changing an association of one of the SSBs and one of the spatial beams; changing a beam direction index of a beam associated with at least one of the SSBs; changing a position of transmission of one of the spatial beams in an SSB burst; and/or changing a direction of one of the spatial beams carrying an associated SSB as taught by Abedini to identify metrics for beam sweep time.
Regarding Claim 10, Kang teaches, The method of Claim 7, wherein the message comprises an indication of a change in sweeping timing of SSBs relative to the original beam sweeping timing. [58]- if the correct ID of a cell cannot be detected based on the SSB signal, the quality of the downlink signal of the base station is determined to be substandard quality.
Regarding Claim 11, Kang teaches, The method of Claim 7, wherein the change in beam sweeping timing comprises a change in SSB indices of SSBs affected by the change in beam sweeping timing.[75]- determining a sweeping angle range of the beam sweeping interval according to a movement direction of the satellite.
Regarding Claim 12, Kang teaches, determining a sweeping angle range of the beam sweeping interval according to a movement direction of the satellite
[75]- Further, on the basis of the embodiments mentioned above, the S101 includes:determining a sweeping angle range of the beam sweeping interval according to a movement direction of the satellite
Kang in view of Centonza does not teach, The method of Claim 7, further comprising, prior to receiving the message from the DU, transmitting information to the DU regarding a possible RACH conflict with a neighbor cell.
Abedini teaches, The method of Claim 7, further comprising, prior to receiving the message from the DU, transmitting information to the DU regarding a possible RACH conflict with a neighbor cell.
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Kang in view of Centonza The method of Claim 7, further comprising, prior to receiving the message from the DU, transmitting information to the DU regarding a possible RACH conflict with a neighbor cell as taught by Abedini to identify metrics for beam sweep time.
Regarding Claim 13, Kang in view of Centonza does not teach, The method of Claim 12, wherein the information comprises an indication of a RACH occasion that may be subject to a conflict and/or information about a neighbor cell RACH configuration.
Abedini teaches, The method of Claim 12, wherein the information comprises an indication of a RACH occasion that may be subject to a conflict and/or information about a neighbor cell RACH configuration. [94]- In a one-to-one SSB to RO mapping, each SSB instance transmitted by a gNB may have a single associated RO instance in which the gNB receives (or listens for) a RACH message 1.see [99] for RACH conflict.
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Kang in view of Centonza The method of Claim 12, wherein the information comprises an indication of a RACH occasion that may be subject to a conflict and/or information about a neighbor cell RACH configuration as taught by Abedini to identify metrics for beam sweep time.
Regarding Claim 19, Kang teaches, A
receiving a message from a in case that the quality of the downlink signal of the base station is not up to the quality standard, replacing with a new beam sweeping interval and sweeping frequency, and receiving the base station signal transmitted or forwarded by the satellite at a sweeping frequency in the new beam sweeping interval.
Kang does not teach, A method of operating a control unit, CU, of a network node of a wireless communications network, comprising: receiving a message from a distributed unit, DU;having different SSB indices are transmitted using a plurality of spatial beams according to a beam sweeping timing;
Centonza teaches, A method of operating a control unit, CU, of a network node of a wireless communications network, comprising: receiving a message from a distributed unit, DU, See Fig 13 shows a config conflict message from 112 DU to 111- CU. [page 33, para 2]a gNB DU RACH config conflict message from the gNB-DU which may comprise: an instruction to resolve the RACH conflict, with an implicit ACK, an ACK of a RACH conflict.
having different SSB indices are transmitted using a plurality of spatial beams according to a beam sweeping timing page 15 para 2 - The reason for this is that beams “sweep”, namely their availability in terms of RS and communication channels(=related to index) may change in the time(=beam sweep time) and spatial domain given that the beam orientation may be swept across a pre-set coverage area. See also page6-para 4- So either the network has means via implementation to distinguish these two beams and/or the network may need to perform a beam sweeping in the downlink by transmitting the RAR in both beams. (=having different SSB indices are transmitted using a plurality of spatial beams).
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Kang A method of operating a control unit, CU, of a network node of a wireless communications network, comprising: receiving a message from a distributed unit, DU;having different SSB indices are transmitted using a plurality of spatial beams according to a beam sweeping timing as taught by Centonza to identify metrics for beam sweep time.
Kang in view of Centonza does not teach, wherein the change of beam sweeping timing is from an original beam sweeping timing to a new beam sweeping timing, and wherein the change of beam sweeping timing was performed in response to detecting a random access channel, RACH, configuration conflict for the cell; and transmitting (604) a message to a neighbor network node indicating the change of the beam sweeping timing of the cell; wherein the message indicating the change in beam sweeping comprises an indication of SSBs affected by the change in beam sweeping timing; and wherein the change in beam sweeping timing comprises one or more of:a change in an association of one of the SSBs and one of the spatial beams; a change in a direction of one of the spatial beams carrying an associated SSB; a change in a beam direction index of a beam associated with at least one of the SSBs; and a change in a position of transmission of one of the SSBs in an SSB burst.
Abedini teaches, wherein the change of beam sweeping timing is from an original beam sweeping timing to a new beam sweeping timing, [39]- In this manner, the RACH configuration message may control the transmit and receipt between the MMW relay and any UE computing devices along with the transmit and receipt between the MMW relay and the network computing device (e.g., gNB)
and wherein the change of beam sweeping timing was performed in response to detecting a random access channel, RACH, configuration conflict for the cell; and [38]- For example, a RACH message 1 format may be lengthened and/or modified to include multiple repetitions of information that may not be present in a default RACH message 1 format. (=RACH conflict).[40]- the MMW repeater is to apply all of the two or more different RX beam sweep configurations during each instance of the single RO. In various embodiments where there may be a single RO associated with a single SSB (e.g., one-to-one SSB to RO mapping), and the RACH configuration message may indicate the MMW repeater is to apply a next one of the two or more different RX beam sweep configurations at each successive instance of the single RO(=change in beam sweep timing)
transmitting a message to a neighbor network node indicating the change of the beam sweeping timing of the cell; wherein the message indicating the change in beam sweeping comprises an indication of SSBs affected by the change in beam sweeping timing; [39]- In this manner, the RACH configuration message may control the transmit and receipt between the MMW relay and any UE computing devices along with the transmit and receipt between the MMW relay and the network computing device (e.g., gNB)
and wherein the change in beam sweeping timing comprises one or more of:a change in an association of one of the SSBs and one of the spatial beams; a change in a direction of one of the spatial beams carrying an associated SSB; a change in a beam direction index of a beam associated with at least one of the SSBs; and a change in a position of transmission of one of the SSBs in an SSB burst. [38]- For example, a RACH message 1 format may be lengthened and/or modified to include multiple repetitions of information that may not be present in a default RACH message 1 format. (=RACH conflict).[40]- the MMW repeater is to apply all of the two or more different RX beam sweep configurations during each instance of the single RO. In various embodiments where there may be a single RO associated with a single SSB (e.g., one-to-one SSB to RO mapping), and the RACH configuration message may indicate the MMW repeater is to apply a next one of the two or more different RX beam sweep configurations at each successive instance of the single RO(=change in beam sweep timing)
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Kang in view of Centonza wherein the change of beam sweeping timing is from an original beam sweeping timing to a new beam sweeping timing, and wherein the change of beam sweeping timing was performed in response to detecting a random access channel, RACH, configuration conflict for the cell; and transmitting (604) a message to a neighbor network node indicating the change of the beam sweeping timing of the cell; wherein the message indicating the change in beam sweeping comprises an indication of SSBs affected by the change in beam sweeping timing; and wherein the change in beam sweeping timing comprises one or more of:a change in an association of one of the SSBs and one of the spatial beams; a change in a direction of one of the spatial beams carrying an associated SSB; a change in a beam direction index of a beam associated with at least one of the SSBs; and a change in a position of transmission of one of the SSBs in an SSB burst. as taught by Abedini to identify metrics for beam sweep time.
Regarding Claim 24, Kang teaches The network node of Claim 19, wherein the message comprises an indication of a change in sweeping timing of SSBs relative to the original beam sweeping timing. [58]- if the correct ID of a cell cannot be detected based on the SSB signal, the quality of the downlink signal of the base station is determined to be substandard quality.
Regarding Claim 25, Kang teaches The network node of Claim 19, wherein the change in beam sweeping timing comprises a change in SSB indices of SSBs affected by the change in beam sweeping timing. [75]- determining a sweeping angle range of the beam sweeping interval according to a movement direction of the satellite.
Regarding Claim 26, Kang in view of Centonza does not teach, The network node of Claim 19, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to, prior to receiving the message from the DU, transmit information to the DU regarding a possible RACH conflict with a neighbor cell.
Abedini teaches The network node of Claim 19, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to, prior to receiving the message from the DU, transmit information to the DU regarding a possible RACH conflict with a neighbor cell. [36]- such as MMW repeater capabilities, RACH message 1 formats, network configurations, etc., in any manner, such as via messaging from the network and/or the MMW repeater itself, pre-configuration settings, network discovery operations, etc.
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Kang in view of Centonza The network node of Claim 19, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to, prior to receiving the message from the DU, transmit information to the DU regarding a possible RACH conflict with a neighbor cell as taught by Abedini to identify metrics for beam sweep time.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kang et al.( US20240106527A1) in view of Centonza et al. (WO2021034247A1) in further view of Abedini et al. (US20210235501A1) in further view of Park et al. (US20230030666A1)
Regarding Claim 14, Kang in view of Abedini and Centonza does not teach, The method of Claim 7, wherein the neighbor network node comprises another CU.
Park teaches, The method of Claim 7, wherein the neighbor network node comprises another CU.[453]- The second base station may comprise a second distributed unit (e.g., DU of gNB2, gNB-DU2, gNB-DU, base station DU, DU, etc.) and/or a second central unit (e.g., CU of gNB2, gNB-CU2, gNB-CU, base station CU, CU, etc.)[454]- The first base station may receive, from the second base station, a request message (e.g., handover request message.
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Kang in view of Abedini and Centonza The method of Claim 7, wherein the neighbor network node comprises another CU as taught by Park to identify metrics for beam sweep time.
Claims 20,23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kang et al.( US20240106527A1) in view of Centonza et al. (WO2021034247A1) in further view of Abedini et al. (US20210235501A1) in further view ofPark et al. (US20190132778A1)(hereinafter “Park2”)
Regarding Claim 20, Kang in view of Abedini and Centonza does not teach, The network node of Claim 19, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to perform operations to update a beam relationship of beams used in the cell relative to beams used in a neighbor cell based on the change in beam sweeping timing.
Park2 teaches, The network node of Claim 19, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to perform operations to update a beam relationship of beams used in the cell relative to beams used in a neighbor cell based on the change in beam sweeping timing.[136]- In an example, the following DL L1/L2 beam management procedures (e.g. P-1, P-2, and P-3) may be supported within one or multiple TRPs.For beamforming at TRP, it typically may include a intra/inter-TRP Tx beam sweep from a set of different beams. For beamforming at UE, it may include a UE Rx beam sweep from a set of different beams.
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Kang in view of Abedini and Centonza The network node of Claim 19, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to perform operations to update a beam relationship of beams used in the cell relative to beams used in a neighbor cell based on the change in beam sweeping timing. as taught by Park2 to identify metrics for beam sweep time.
Regarding Claim 23, Kang in view of Abedini and Centonza i does not teach, The network node of Claim 19, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to perform operations to discard existing beam relations associated with the cell
Park2 teaches, The network node of Claim 19, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to perform operations to discard existing beam relations associated with the cell. [433]- That may enable the network to send a RAR in this best DL beam and/or perform a more optimized beam sweeping procedure e.g. not transmitting the same RAR message in possible beams.
It would have been obvious to a person having an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Kang in view of Abedini and Centonza The network node of Claim 19, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to perform operations to discard existing beam relations associated with the cell as taught by Park2 to identify metrics for beam sweep time.
Conclusion
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/ANINDITA SEN/
Examiner, Art Unit 2478
/KODZOVI ACOLATSE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2478