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 .
Priorities and Examiner Remarks
This application claims priority from provisional application 63363379
(filed 04/21/2022).
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 08/11/2026 has been entered.
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-6, 10, 19-24, 27, and 29-31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BALDEMAIR et al. (WO 2020/167221 A1, hereinafter BALDEMAIR, NOTE: corresponding US 2022/0124510 A1 used below for rejection citation purposes), in view of YOKOMAKURA et al. (US 2020/0092740 A1, hereinafter YOKOMAKURA).
Regarding claim 1,
BALDEMAIR teaches a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: one or more memories; and one or more processors coupled to the one or more memories, the one or more memories storing instructions configurable to be executed by the one or more processors (BALDEMAIR, see at least fig. 6, e.g. various device components)
to cause the UE to (BALDEMAIR, see in general, see fig. 11-12 in view of one or more of fig. 13-16 along with their respective paragraphs):
receive an indication of a configuration that specifies a transmission pattern for a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block (SSB) of a first radio access technology (RAT) (BALDEMAIR, see at least para. 114-115, “…obtaining (Block S136), such as via receiver unit 34 and/or processing circuitry 84 and/or radio interface 82, a configuration of at least one reference signal of a first radio access technology that overlaps in time with a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service Single Frequency Network, MBSFN, subframe of a second radio access technology…”, note that “…the at least one reference signal of the first radio access technology includes a synchronization signal block, SSB…”);
and
receive the SSB, according to the configuration, in a spectrum that is shared between the first RAT and a second RAT, the first RAT different from the second RAT (BALDEMAIR, see at least para. 116 along with para. 111, “…and receiving, such as via radio interface 82, receiver unit 34, processing circuitry 84 and/or processor 86, the SSB on at least one radio resource according to the configured overlap in time…”),
wherein the configuration specifies signals of the SSB (BALDEMAIR, see at least para. 116 along with claim 10, “...obtaining... a configuration of a synchronization signal block, SSB, of the first radio access technology to overlap in time with the MBSFN subframe of the second radio access technology; and receiving...the SSB on at least one radio resource according to the configured overlap in time...”, note that claim 10 states “...obtain a configuration of at least one reference signal of a first radio access technology to overlap in time with a Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service Single Frequency Network, MBSFN, subframe of a second radio access technology, the at least one reference signal of the first radio access technology including a synchronization signal block, SSB...”),
and
wherein a quantity of symbols or resource elements (REs) configured for the SSB of the first RAT is based at least in part on a slot format, a numerology, a duplex mode, a waveform, a channel raster, a carrier frequency, or a carrier bandwidth of the second RAT (BALDEMAIR, see at least para. 47-50 and fig. 2-3, for one non-limiting example, “...Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) is a DL signal that spans 4 symbols in NR. For example, for 15 kHz numerology, SSB can occur in symbols 2-5 or 8-11 in a slot (see e.g., FIG. 3 for an example of an SSB mapped to symbols 2-5)...”, note that “...FIG. 3 illustrates an example SSB symbol allocation in a slot when sent in symbol 2-5 (symbol counting starts with symbol 0). If LTE uses an MBSFN subframe which only contains common signals in symbols 0 and 1 collisions with LTE common signals may be avoided...”).
BALDEMAIR does not specifically teach a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) are frequency division multiplexed in same symbols of the SSB, the SSS and a re- synchronization signal (RSS) are frequency division multiplexed in the same symbols of the SSB, or the PSS and the RSS of the SSB are frequency division multiplexed in the same symbols of the SSB.
YOKOMAKURA teaches
[(i)] a primary synchronization signal (PSS) and a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) are frequency division multiplexed in same symbols of the SSB (YOKOMAKURA, for condition (i), see at least para. 111 of fig. 7s, “…Time multiplexing and frequency multiplexing may be defined in combination. For example, the multiplexing method may be such that the PSS and SSS are frequency-multiplexed, whereas the PSS/SSS and PBCH are time-multiplexed. These are merely examples and may be applied in combination to any signal and channel. In a case of time multiplexing, the radio resources may be consecutive or inconsecutive. In a case of frequency multiplexing, the radio resources may be allocated at consecutive or inconsecutive frequency positions...”),
[(ii)] the SSS and a re- synchronization signal (RSS) are frequency division multiplexed in the same symbols of the SSB,
or
[(iii)] the PSS and the RSS of the SSB are frequency division multiplexed in the same symbols of the SSB.
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate YOKOMAKURA into BALDEMAIR for archiving objective to allow terminal apparatus and base station apparatus to efficiently communicate with each other.
Regarding claim 2, BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA teaches the configuration specifies one or more of a quantity of symbols, a quantity of resource elements (REs), a numerology, a quantity of beams, a periodicity, waveforms, or power boosting ratios associated with the SSB of the first RAT. (BALDEMAIR, see at least para. 47-50 and fig. 2-3, for one non-limiting example, “...Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) is a DL signal that spans 4 symbols in NR. For example, for 15 kHz numerology, SSB can occur in symbols 2-5 or 8-11 in a slot (see e.g., FIG. 3 for an example of an SSB mapped to symbols 2-5)...”)
Regarding claim 3, BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA teaches the quantity of symbols or REs comprise one or more of a quantity of consecutive or distributed symbols, and the SSB of the first RAT includes the one or more of the quantity of consecutive or distributed symbols occupying one or more slots of the second RAT. (BALDEMAIR, see at least para. 47-50 and fig. 2-3, for one non-limiting example, “...Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) is a DL signal that spans 4 symbols in NR. For example, for 15 kHz numerology, SSB can occur in symbols 2-5 or 8-11 in a slot (see e.g., FIG. 3 for an example of an SSB mapped to symbols 2-5)...”, note that “...FIG. 3 illustrates an example SSB symbol allocation in a slot when sent in symbol 2-5 (symbol counting starts with symbol 0). If LTE uses an MBSFN subframe which only contains common signals in symbols 0 and 1 collisions with LTE common signals may be avoided...”)
Regarding claim 4, BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA teaches the quantity of symbols or REs comprise one or more of a quantity of consecutive or distributed REs, and the SSB of the first RAT includes the one or more of the quantity of consecutive or distributed REs occupying one or more resource blocks (RBs) of the second RAT. (BALDEMAIR, see at least para. 47-50 of fig. 2-3 along with fig. 1, note that “...Based on this basic orthogonality between LTE and NR waveform, it may be considered to share a carrier between NR and LTE and assign different resource elements to them to obtain orthogonality. Resource elements (REs) may be grouped into resource blocks (RBs). A resource blocks may occupy 12 subcarriers (both in LTE and NR)...”), also note that SSB is in form of symbols and REs or RBs as in fig. 1 and 3)
Regarding claim 5, BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA teaches wherein a synchronization channel of the first RAT includes at least the PSS, the SSS, or the RSS, and the configuration specifies, in time, frequency, or space, a mapping order for the PSS, the SSS, the RSS, and for the PBCH. (YOKOMAKURA, see at least para. 111 and fig. 7s, for one or more of the examples, see fig. 7C and &D)
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate YOKOMAKURA into BALDEMAIR for archiving objective to allow terminal apparatus and base station apparatus to efficiently communicate with each other.
Regarding claim 6, BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA teaches wherein the configuration specifies that:
the PSS and SSS of the SSB are time division multiplexed and further multiplexed with a PBCH of the SSB in time, frequency, or space (YOKOMAKURA, see at least para. 111 of fig. 7s, “…Time multiplexing and frequency multiplexing may be defined in combination. For example, the multiplexing method may be such that the PSS and SSS are frequency-multiplexed, whereas the PSS/SSS and PBCH are time-multiplexed. These are merely examples and may be applied in combination to any signal and channel. In a case of time multiplexing, the radio resources may be consecutive or inconsecutive. In a case of frequency multiplexing, the radio resources may be allocated at consecutive or inconsecutive frequency positions...”),
the PSS and the RSS are time division multiplexed and further multiplexed with the PBCH of the SSB in time, frequency, or space,
or
the SSS and the RSS are time division multiplexed and further multiplexed with the PBCH of the SSB in time, frequency, or space.
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate YOKOMAKURA into BALDEMAIR for archiving objective to allow terminal apparatus and base station apparatus to efficiently communicate with each other.
Regarding claim 10, BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA teaches the configuration specifies that
a product of a quantity of symbols occupied by the SSB, a quantity of resource blocks (RBs) occupied by the SSB, and a quantity of transmission beams for the SSB is a constant
or
a configurable parameter that is based at least in part on one or more of a slot format, a numerology, a waveform, a duplex mode, a carrier frequency, or a carrier bandwidth of the second RAT (BALDEMAIR, see at least para. 49-50 in view of para. 2, for one non-limiting example, “…3GPP LTE (hereinafter “LTE”) uses an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) numerology of 15 kHz. On the other hand, 3GPP NR (hereinafter “NR”) is a variable numerology system that can operate with multiple numerologies in the form of subcarrier spacing Δf=15·2μ kHz with μ being the numerology parameter. NR supports for data channel numerology parameters μ=0,1,2 for below 6 GHz. For μ=0, NR and LTE numerology are identical, i.e., NR and LTE use the same subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz…”)
Regarding claim 19, this claim is rejected for the same reasoning as claim 1. To be more specific, although reciting subject matters slightly different, one skilled in the art would have known claim 19 performs reverse (or corresponding) procedures of claim 1. For example, it would be a network entity of claim 19 that performs the reverse (or corresponding) receiving from and transmitting to the UE of claim 1. Hence, the examiner applies the same rejection reasoning as set forth in claim 1.
Regarding claims 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, and 27, in view of claim 19 above, these claims are rejected for the same reasoning as claims 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 10, respectively.
To be more specific, BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA also teaches a network entity comprising processor, transceiver, and memory (BALDEMAIR, see at least fig. 6), which is well known in the art and commonly used for providing and enabling robust and reliable data communication hardware and software.
Regarding claim 29, this claim is rejected for the same reasoning as claim 1 except this claim is in method claim format.
Regarding claim 30, this claim is rejected for the same reasoning as claim 19 except this claim is in method claim format.
Regarding claim 31, BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA teaches the first RAT is New Radio (NR) and the second RAT is Long Term Evolution (LTE). (BALDEMAIR, see at least para. 111, “...In some embodiments, the first radio access technology is Third Generation Partnership Project, 3GPP, New Radio, NR, and/or the second radio access technology is Third Generation Partnership Project, 3GPP, Long Term Evolution, LTE...”)
Claims 7-9, and 25-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA, as applied to claims 1 and 19 above, and further in view of Ye et al. (US 2021/0337494 A1, hereinafter Ye).
Regarding claim 7,
BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA teaches claim 1.
BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA does not teach
the PSS and the SSS are further frequency division multiplexed with a PBCH of the SSB in the same symbols of the SSB,
the PSS and the RSS are further frequency division multiplexed with the PBCH of the SSB in the same symbols of the SSB,
or
the SSS and the RSS are further frequency division multiplexed with the PBCH of the SSB in the same symbols of the SSB.
Ye teaches
the PSS and the SSS are further frequency division multiplexed with a PBCH of the SSB in the same symbols of the SSB (Ye, see at least para. 127 and fig. 20E, for one non-limiting example as shown in fig. 20E, “...For instance, as shown by the examples 2010, 2030 and 2040 in FIGS. 20B, 20D and 20E, respectively, PSS and SSS/PBCH can be multiplexed in frequency domain. A guard band (GB) can be possibly added between subcarriers allocated for PSS and SSS/PBCH...”),
the PSS and the RSS are further frequency division multiplexed with the PBCH of the SSB in the same symbols of the SSB,
or
the SSS and the RSS are further frequency division multiplexed with the PBCH of the SSB in the same symbols of the SSB.
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate Ye into BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA for initial access that enables efficient beam acquisition and provides good coverage and detection performance.
Regarding claim 8, BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA teaches claim 1.
BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA does not teach wherein the configuration specifies one or more guard bands that are frequency division multiplexed with the PSS, the SSS, or the RSS, or a PBCH of the SSB.
Ye teaches wherein the configuration specifies one or more guard bands that are frequency division multiplexed with the PSS, the SSS, or the RSS, or a PBCH of the SSB. (Ye, see at least para. 127 and fig. 20E, for one non-limiting example as shown in fig. 20E, “...For instance, as shown by the examples 2010, 2030 and 2040 in FIGS. 20B, 20D and 20E, respectively, PSS and SSS/PBCH can be multiplexed in frequency domain. A guard band (GB) can be possibly added between subcarriers allocated for PSS and SSS/PBCH...”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate Ye into BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA for initial access that enables efficient beam acquisition and provides good coverage and detection performance.
Regarding claim 9, BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA teaches claim 1.
BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA does not teach the configuration specifies that symbols of the SSB are distributed such that the symbols are not contiguous in time.
Ye teaches wherein the configuration specifies that symbols of the SSB are distributed such that the symbols are not contiguous in time. (Ye, see at least para. 117-119, for one non-limiting example as shown in fig. 15, “...the guard time can be empty symbols 1501 and/or 1502 reserved by the BS, as show in FIG. 15. The guard time can be different for different transmissions, e.g., a different guard time is reserved between symbols for first synchronization signals and between symbols for one or more of the second synchronization signals or system information (e.g., PBCH)...”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate Ye into BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA for initial access that enables efficient beam acquisition and provides good coverage and detection performance.
Regarding claims 25 and 26, in view of claim 19 above, these claims are rejected for the same reasoning as claims 7 and 8, respectively.
Claims 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA, as applied to claim 10 above, and further in view of Chen et al. (US 2018/0324678 A1, hereinafter Chen).
Regarding claim 11,
BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA teaches all of the subject matters in claim 10 except the configuration specifies that the quantity of symbols occupied by the SSB of the first RAT on the spectrum shared with the second RAT is the same or different from the quantity of symbols occupied by the SSB of the first RAT on a different spectrum not shared with the second RAT.
Chen, for example, from the similar field of endeavor, teaches the configuration specifies that the quantity of symbols occupied by the SSB of the first RAT on the spectrum shared with the second RAT is the same or different from the quantity of symbols occupied by the SSB of the first RAT on a different spectrum not shared with the second RAT (in general, see sections including paragraphs 294-314 including fig. 17-18, in particular, see at least fig. 17A and 17B, for an unlimited example, the SS block 0 in both figures).
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate Chen into the apparatus of BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA for effectively avoiding resource location collisions.
Regarding claim 12, BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA teaches all of the subject matters in claim 10 except the configuration specifies that the quantity of RBs occupied by the SSB of the first RAT on the spectrum shared with the second RAT is the same or different from the quantity of RBs occupied by the SSB of the first RAT on a different spectrum not shared with the second RAT.
Chen, for example, from the similar field of endeavor, teaches the configuration specifies that the quantity of RBs occupied by the SSB of the first RAT on the spectrum shared with the second RAT is the same or different from the quantity of RBs occupied by the SSB of the first RAT on a different spectrum not shared with the second RAT (in general, see sections including paragraphs 294-314 including fig. 17-18, in particular, see at least fig. 17A and 17B, for an unlimited example, the SS block 0 in both figures, note that when comparing the quantity of RBs to the quantity of symbols, the examiner interprets that they are being different).
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate Chen into the apparatus of BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA for effectively avoiding resource location collisions.
Claims 13-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA, as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Lei et al. (US 2021/0274451 A1, hereinafter Lei).
Regarding claim 13,
BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA teaches the indication is received in system information (SI), a radio resource control (RRC) message, a medium access control element (MAC CE), or downlink control information (DCI). (YOKOMAKURA, see at least para. 156-170 that contain a list, for one non-limiting example, “…Note that reception of the synchronization signal blocks of the other cell by using the TSS may be configured via the RRC signaling...”)
BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA differs from the claim, in that, it does not specifically disclose the indication is an index value that corresponds to a value in a look-up table (LUT) of multiple SSB configurations.
Lei, for example, from the similar field of endeavor, teaches similar or known mechanism such that the indication is an index value that corresponds to a value in a look-up table (LUT) of multiple SSB configurations (in general, see fig. 3 in view of each of fig. 8-10, in particular, see at least para. 115 along with para. 147 of fig. 8, e.g. “…Some wireless communications systems may support different multiplexing patterns based on a frequency range (e.g., FR1 supports TDM patterns, FR2 supports TDM, FDM, and hybrid patterns for the multiplexing of SSBs, CSS sets, SIBs, or a combination thereof). …To accommodate different multiplexing patterns and repetition-based transmissions for broadcasting the downlink messages for the NR Light communications, look-up tables may be defined and used for default configurations of CORESET0 and Type0-PDCCH monitoring occasions, where the look-up tables may be parameterized based on the combinations of the bandwidth, SCSSSB,…”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate Lei into the apparatus of BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA for supporting efficient techniques for effectively accommodating different multiplexing patterns for downlink communication.
Regarding claim 14, BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA and Lei teaches the LUT is indexed based at least in part on a carrier frequency for a shared spectrum of the first RAT and the second RAT. (BALDEMAIR, see at least para. 2-3, “…NR supports different and wider transmission bandwidths than LTE does; however, this may not impact orthogonality between an LTE and an NR waveform if they occupy different subcarriers, or more generally resource elements. Based on this basic orthogonality between LTE and NR waveform, it may be considered to share a carrier between NR and LTE and assign different resource elements to them to obtain orthogonality…”; Lei, see at least para. 115 and 118, “…Some wireless communications systems may support different multiplexing patterns based on a frequency range (e.g., FR1 supports TDM patterns, FR2 supports TDM, FDM, and hybrid patterns for the multiplexing of SSBs,…”, note that GSCNs and SYNC raster definition can be used)
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate Lei into the apparatus of BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA for supporting efficient techniques for effectively accommodating different multiplexing patterns for downlink communication.
Regarding claim 15, BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA and Lei teaches the LUT is indexed based at least in part on a slot format, a subframe format, a waveform, a channel raster, a carrier bandwidth, a duplex mode, or a numerology of the second RAT. (BALDEMAIR, see at least para. 2-3, “…3GPP LTE (hereinafter “LTE”) uses an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) numerology of 15 kHz. On the other hand, 3GPP NR (hereinafter “NR”) is a variable numerology system that can operate with multiple numerologies in the form of subcarrier spacing Δf=15·2μ kHz with μ being the numerology parameter. NR supports for data channel numerology parameters μ=0,1,2 for below 6 GHz. For μ=0, NR and LTE numerology are identical, i.e., NR and LTE use the same subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz…”; Lei, see at least para. 115 and 118, “…Some wireless communications systems may support different multiplexing patterns based on a frequency range (e.g., FR1 supports TDM patterns, FR2 supports TDM, FDM, and hybrid patterns for the multiplexing of SSBs,…”, note that GSCNs and SYNC raster definition can be used)
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate Lei into the apparatus of BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA for supporting efficient techniques for effectively accommodating different multiplexing patterns for downlink communication.
Regarding claim 16, BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA and Lei teaches the LUT is indexed based at least in part on a slot format, a subframe format, or a numerology of the first RAT. (Lei, see at least para. 115 in view of para. 108, “…Some wireless communications systems may support different multiplexing patterns based on a frequency range (e.g., FR1 supports TDM patterns, FR2 supports TDM, FDM, and hybrid patterns for the multiplexing of SSBs,…”, note that “…for some wireless communications systems, a minimum channel bandwidth (e.g., on a single component carrier) may be related to the frequency bands (e.g., FR1 or FR2) as well as an SCS of an SS or PBCH (e.g., an SSB)…. For example, for FR1, the minimum channel bandwidth for an SCSSSB of 15/30 kHz may be given by 5/10 MHz, respectively…”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate Lei into the apparatus of BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA for supporting efficient techniques for effectively accommodating different multiplexing patterns for downlink communication.
Claims 13, and 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA, as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Yu et al. (US 2019/0037426 A1, hereinafter Yu).
Regarding claim 13,
BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA teaches the indication is received in system information (SI), a radio resource control (RRC) message, a medium access control element (MAC CE), or downlink control information (DCI). (YOKOMAKURA, see at least para. 156-170 that contain a list, for one non-limiting example, “…Note that reception of the synchronization signal blocks of the other cell by using the TSS may be configured via the RRC signaling...”)
BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA differs from the claim, in that, it does not specifically disclose the indication is an index value that corresponds to a value in a look-up table (LUT) of multiple SSB configurations.
Yu, for example, from the similar field of endeavor, teaches similar or known mechanism such that the indication is an index value that corresponds to a value in a look-up table (LUT) of multiple SSB configurations (see at least fig. 7 and para. 34, “…the entire beam indication and RS resource mapping table is signaled to UE via RRC configuration as depicted by arrow 710. In the mapping table, each candidate beam indication index is mapped to a RS resource set that is configured as a corresponding SSB or CSI-RS…”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate Yu into the apparatus of BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA for supporting efficient techniques for effectively providing information that enables UE to determine how to receive NW transmissions for RS, for incoming control channel, and for incoming data channel.
Regarding claim 17, BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA and Yu teaches the LUT is indexed based at least in part on a quantity of transmission beams for the SSB of the first RAT. (Yu, see at least fig. 7 and para. 34, “…the entire beam indication and RS resource mapping table is signaled to UE via RRC configuration as depicted by arrow 710. In the mapping table, each candidate beam indication index is mapped to a RS resource set that is configured as a corresponding SSB or CSI-RS…”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate Yu into the apparatus of BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA for supporting efficient techniques for effectively providing information that enables UE to determine how to receive NW transmissions for RS, for incoming control channel, and for incoming data channel.
Regarding claim 18, BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA and Yu teaches the LUT is indexed based at least in part on a periodicity for the SSB of the first RAT. (Yu, see at least fig. 7 and para. 34 along with para. 29, “…the entire beam indication and RS resource mapping table is signaled to UE via RRC configuration as depicted by arrow 710. In the mapping table, each candidate beam indication index is mapped to a RS resource set that is configured as a corresponding SSB or CSI-RS…”, note that “…The periodic beam RS resource set repetition pattern can be given by RRC configuration…”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to a person having ordinary skill in the art to incorporate Yu into the apparatus of BALDEMAIR in view of YOKOMAKURA for supporting efficient techniques for effectively providing information that enables UE to determine how to receive NW transmissions for RS, for incoming control channel, and for incoming data channel.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 07/13/2026 have been fully considered. Regarding independent claims 1, 19, 29, and 30, since applicant's amendment necessitated new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action, previous Office action's rejections are moot. Accordingly, corresponding dependent claims have also been rejected in this Office action.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YEE F LAM whose telephone number is (571)270-7577. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ayman Abaza can be reached on 571-270-0422. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/YEE F LAM/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
Prosecution Insights