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 .
Claims 1, 2, 4-19, 21-30 are pending.
RCE of 02/27/2026 is entered.
Response to Arguments
The amendments in the RCE of 02/27/2026 is considered. Applicant’s remarks argue that the reference of record does not disclose the amendment of “one or more criteria that indicate a wireless node is allowed to request that the apparatus to modify at least one of a plurality of wireless operating parameters”. A new ground of rejection has been established to address the new scope of the claim. The arguments are thus moot.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4-12, 14-19, 21-24, 26-30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Awoniyi-Oteri et al. (US 2023/0033336) in view of Park et al. (US 2018/0254812).
As to claim 1:
Awoniyi-Oteri discloses
An apparatus for wireless communications, the apparatus comprising: at least one transceiver (Fig. 14, 16, Abstract, ¶0185 Base station, with transceiver 1615), comprising:
One or more memories storing computer executable code;
One or more processors configured to, individually or collectively, execute the computer executable code to cause the apparatus to (Fig. 16, processor, memory with software) and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:
Transmit, via the at least one transceiver, information that indicates (i) one or more criteria that indicate a wireless node is allowed to request that the apparatus to modify at least one of a plurality of wireless operating parameters and (ii) one or more options for modifying at least one of a plurality of operating parameters; (Fig. 7, Fig. 8, ¶0096-0097, 0118, 0120-0122, base station outputs configuration data for UE, indicating UE to perform necessary measurements and requests reconfiguration updates as appropriate, the reconfiguration update requests include requests to update one or more operating wireless parameters such as beamwidth, TRP change etc. See also “the base station 105-e may determine that the UE 115-e has a capability to perform beam update requests that are based on pose information from an XR application, and that the connection is to exchange XR traffic. The measurement configuration may indicate that the UE 115-e is to perform beam measurements and use pose information to determine preferred beam or beam adjustment (…) the base station 105-e may transmit, and the UE 115-e may receive, the measurement configuration” via the transceiver)
Receive, via the at least one transceiver, a first request that requests the apparatus to modify the at least one or more wireless operating parameters; and perform, via the at least one transceiver, one or more actions based on the first request based on the information. (¶0099, 0101-0107, a change request sent to the base station. 0108-0114, base station, responsive to the received request, activates the changed beam or beam sequences and appropriate timing for communication with new beam configuration. See also Fig. 8, 830, 835)
Awoniyi-Oteri discloses the reconfiguration to be requested from the UE to the network including various operating parameters such as beam width, TRPs etc., however does not explicitly disclose they also include at least one of : a quantity of spatial streams, a transmit power, or a resource unit size
Park, in a related field of endeavor of beam management in a user equipment, for example ¶0017-0020, 0308, a UE might receive a wireless operating configuration from a base station (¶0292-0295) and UE might send beam modification request in which the UE can also request reconfiguration of number of resources allocated and number of antenna ports (i.e. number of concurrent streams).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing time of the invention that the beam reconfiguration request from the UE in AWONIYI-OTERI can also incorporate resource/antenna ports reconfiguration requests. This implementation advantageously promote smooth feedback process between UE and eNB, and the clarification of resources and antenna numbers can prevent report errors (¶0020 of Park).
As to claim 2:
Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 1, Awoniyi-Oteri discloses wherein the instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor further cause the apparatus to transmit, via the at least one transceiver, additional information that indicates an update to at least one of: the one or more criteria or the one or more options. (Awoniyi-Oteri ¶0083, mobility of the UE, misalignment causes further updates for new necessary beam adjustments. See also 865, update to the UE on the acceptance of new option(s))
As to claim 4:
Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 1, wherein the one or more options include one or more options to increase or decrease a quantity of active primary channels or a quantity of active links.
(Awoniyi-Oteri ¶0095, initial communication include a beam pair. ¶0102-0106, beam change request can include multiple (N) beams)
As to claim 5:
Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 1, wherein at least one of the quantity of spatial streams, the transmit power, or the RU size is associated with an operating mode. (Awoniyi-Oteri, ¶0107, 0128, beam width, timer, i.e. timing for inactive and active states of each beam/width. In view of Park, the operating parameters includes at least resource size and stream number)
As to claim 6:
Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more criteria depend on at least one of: an amount of traffic that the wireless node has to send or has sent, a type of traffic that the wireless node has to send or has sent, a type of the wireless node, a capability of the second node, a battery state of the second wireless node, or a quantity of requests that the wireless node has sent in a period of time. (Awoniyi-Oteri, ¶0119, bandwidth to be increased, decreased or change (i.e. based on quantity of data). ¶0118, configuration for UE is based on capability)
As to claim 7:
Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 1, wherein the one or more criteria include different criteria corresponding to different options for modifying the quantity of spatial streams, the transmit power, or the RU size. (Awoniyi-Oteri ,See ¶0098, 0119, several beam choices if met with measurement criteria, corresponding to options to be chosen and included in UE’s change requests; Park, ¶0020, resource size, quantity of streams )
As to claim 8:
Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 1, wherein processing the first request comprises: performing the one or more actions further based on the wireless node failing to meet at least one of the criteria. (Awoniyi-Oteri, ¶0140, base station to continue to iterate if measurements indicate adverse effects)
As to claim 9:
Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 1, wherein the one or more actions comprise at least one of: decreasing an amount of credit associated with the wireless node; rejecting one or more requests from the second node for a period of time; reducing how often the wireless node is served by the apparatus for a period of time; or disassociating the wireless node from the apparatus. (Awoniyi-Oteri See at least, ¶0088, 0035 results of adjustments/further adjustment include at least increase or reduction of beam width, 0119, increase or decrease bandwidth (i.e. amount of credit), ¶0108, timer value of each beam which indicates timing of beam sequence, i.e. how often a beam is “on” or changed, thus serving the UE)
As to claim 10.
Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 8, wherein the instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor further cause the apparatus to select the one or more actions based on a previous action. (Awoniyi-Oteri Fig. 8, action 860 is based on beams set provided in action 815, and also based on action 855)
As to claim 11:
Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 1, wherein the instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor further cause the apparatus to:
perform the one or more actions based on the wireless node meeting at least one of the one or more criteria, wherein the one or more actions comprise at least one of: increasing an amount of credit associated with the wireless node; or increasing how often the wireless node is served by the apparatus. (Awoniyi-Oteri See at least, ¶0088, 0035 results of adjustments/further adjustment include at least increase or reduction of beam width, 0119, increase or decrease bandwidth (i.e. amount of credit), ¶0108, timer value of each beam which indicates timing of beam sequence, i.e. how often a beam is “on” or changed, thus serving the UE)
As to claim 12.
Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 1, wherein the information further indicates at least one of: a type of a frame to use for signaling the first request for the apparatus to modify the quantity at least one of spatial streams, the transmit power, or the RU size, whether the frame should be protected, a type of protection for the frame, or whether the frame should be individually addressed or group addressed. (Awoniyi-Oteri ¶0078 0097, base station provide information for resource grant to be used for sending request, report, and data by UE. ¶0101, resource grant include CRS frame, such as PUSCH or PUCCH)
As to claim 14:
Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 1, wherein the instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor further cause the apparatus to at least one of: decrypt the first request; validate the first request based on a message integrity check (MIC); transmit, via at least one transceiver, a response to the first request; encrypt content of the response to the first request; or protect the content of the response to the first request via a MIC. (Awoniyi-Oteri , See at least Fig. 7, step 735-740)
As to claim 15:
Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 1, wherein the instructions stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processor further cause the apparatus to: transmit, via at least one transceiver, a response to the first request, wherein the response indicates at least one of: whether the first request is granted or denied, a reason if the first request is denied, or additional information not previously indicated in the information. (See Awoniyi-Oteri, at least Fig. 7, step 740, “change confirmation”, also optionally (i.e. “or” in the claim), ¶0137-0139, 0109-0113, new values of beam and width, which weren’t included in initial configuration)
As to claim 16:
Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 15, wherein the additional information indicates at least one of one or more wireless nodes to which the modification indicated in the first request applies, or one or more actions for the second wireless node to perform. (Awoniyi-Oteri ¶0109-0114, TRP ID, i.e. id of transmitter, also new beam sequences change for the UE to change communication )
As to claim 17:
Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 1, further comprising:
wherein the apparatus is configured to operate as an access point (AP). (Awoniyi-Oteri Fig. 7 and 8, bases station include transceiver to receive and transmit communications with UE, for example beam request and beam change confirmation)
As to claim 18:
Awoniyi-Oteri discloses:
An apparatus for wireless communications, the apparatus comprising: at least one transceiver;
One or more memories storing computer executable code and one or more processors configured to, individually or collectively, execute the computer executable code to cause the apparatus to: (Fig. 12, processor and memory with transceiver):
receive, via the at least one transceiver, information that indicates (i) one or more criteria that indicate the apparatus is allowed to request that the apparatus to modify at least one of a plurality of wireless operating parameters and (ii) one or more options for modifying at least one of a plurality of operating parameters; (Fig. 7, Fig. 8, ¶0096-0097, 0118, 0120-0122, receive from base station outputs configuration data for UE, indicating UE to perform necessary measurements and requests reconfiguration updates as appropriate, the reconfiguration update requests include requests to update one or more operating wireless parameters such as beamwidth, TRP change etc. See also “the base station 105-e may determine that the UE 115-e has a capability to perform beam update requests that are based on pose information from an XR application, and that the connection is to exchange XR traffic. The measurement configuration may indicate that the UE 115-e is to perform beam measurements and use pose information to determine preferred beam or beam adjustment (…) the base station 105-e may transmit, and the UE 115-e may receive, the measurement configuration” via the transceiver)
transmit, via the at least one transceiver, a first request that requests the wireless node to modify the at least one or more wireless operating parameters; and perform, via the at least one transceiver, one or more actions based on the first request based on the information. (¶0099, 0101-0107, a change request sent by UE to the base station. 0108-0114, base station, responsive to the received request, activates the changed beam or beam sequences and appropriate timing for communication with new beam configuration. See also Fig. 8, 830, 835)
Awoniyi-Oteri discloses the reconfiguration to be requested from the UE to the network including various operating parameters such as beam width, TRPs etc., however does not explicitly disclose they also include at least one of : a quantity of spatial streams, a transmit power, or a resource unit size
Park, in a related field of endeavor of beam management in a user equipment, for example ¶0017-0020, 0308, a UE might receive a wireless operating configuration from a base station (¶0292-0295) and UE might send beam modification request in which the UE can also request reconfiguration of number of resources allocated and number of antenna ports (i.e. number of concurrent streams).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing time of the invention that the beam reconfiguration request from the UE in AWONIYI-OTERI can also incorporate resource/antenna ports reconfiguration requests. This implementation advantageously promote smooth feedback process between UE and eNB, and the clarification of resources and antenna numbers can prevent report errors (¶0020 of Park).
As to claim 19:
Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 18, wherein the instructions stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors further cause the apparatus to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, additional information that indicates an update to at least one of: the criteria or the options; and transmit, via at least one transceiver, a second request that requests the first wireless node to modify the quantity of spatial streams, the transmit power, or the RU size based on the additional information. (Awoniyi-Oteri ¶0083, mobility of the UE, misalignment causes further updates for new necessary beam adjustments. See also 865, update to the UE on the acceptance of new option(s), Park, ¶0020, 0292-0295, resource, number of streams)
As to claim 21:
Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 18, wherein the one or more options include one or more options to increase or decrease a quantity of active primary channels or a quantity of active links. (Awoniyi-Oteri ¶0095, initial communication include a beam pair. ¶0102-0106, beam change request can include multiple (N) beams)
As to claim 22:
Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 18, wherein: at least one of the wireless operating parameters is associated with an operating mode, . (Awoniyi-Oteri ¶0107, 0128, beam width, timer, i.e. timing for inactive and active states of each beam/width, Park, ¶0020, 0295) and the one or more criteria include different criteria corresponding to different options for modifying at least one of the quantity of spatial streams, the transmit power, or the RU size. (See Awoniyi-Oteri ¶0098, 0119, several beam choices if met with measurement criteria, corresponding to options to be chosen and included in UE’s change requests. Park, ¶0020, 0295)
As to claim 23:
Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 18, wherein at least one of the one or more criteria depend on at least one of: an amount of traffic that the apparatus has to send or has sent, a type of traffic that the apparatus has to send or has sent, a type of the apparatus, a capability of the apparatus, a battery state of the apparatus, or a quantity of requests that the apparatus has sent in a period of time, in accordance with the criteria. (Awoniyi-Oteri ¶0119, bandwidth to be increased, decreased or change (i.e. based on quantity of data). ¶0118, configuration for UE is based on capability)
As to claim 24:
Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 18, wherein the information further indicates at least one of: a type of a frame to use for signaling the first request for the wireless node to modify the quantity of spatial streams, the transmit power, or the RU size, whether the frame should be protected, a type of protection for the frame, or whether the frame should be individually addressed or group addressed. (Awoniyi-Oteri ¶0078 0097, base station provide information for resource grant to be used for sending request, report, and data by UE. ¶0101, resource grant include CRS frame, such as PUSCH or PUCCH)
As to claim 26:
Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 18, wherein the one or more processors further cause the apparatus to at least one of: protect the first request via at least one of encryption or a message integrity check (MIC); receive, via the at least one transceiver, a response to the first request; decrypt content of the response to the first request; or validate the content of the response to the first request via a MIC. (See Awoniyi-Oteri at least Fig. 7, step 735-740)
As to claim 27:
Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 18, wherein to receive, the at least one transceiver, a response to the first request, wherein the response indicates at least one of: whether the first request is granted or denied, a reason if the first request is denied, or additional information not previously indicated in the information. (See Awoniyi-Oteri at least Fig. 7, step 740, “change confirmation”, also optionally (i.e. “or” in the claim), ¶0137-0139, 0109-0113, new values of beam and width, which weren’t included in initial configuration)
As to claim 28:
Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 27, wherein: the additional information indicates at least one of: (i) one or more wireless nodes to which the modification indicated in the first request applies, or (ii) one or more actions for the apparatus to perform, and the one or more processors further cause the apparatus to at least one of: generate a second request based on the additional information; or perform the one or more actions. (Awoniyi-Oteri ¶0109-0114, TRP ID, i.e. id of transmitter, also new beam sequences change for the UE to change communication at. The UE thus moved to communication via the changed beams)
As to claim 29:
Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 18, further comprising:
wherein the apparatus is configured to operate as a wireless station. (Awoniyi-Oteri Fig. 7 and 8, UE include transceiver to receive and transmit communications with base station, for example beam request and beam change confirmation)
As to claim 30:
Awoniyi-Oteri discloses a method for wireless communications at a wireless node, the method comprising:
Transmitting, via the at least one transceiver, information that indicates (i) one or more criteria that indicate a wireless node is allowed to request that the apparatus to modify at least one of a plurality of wireless operating parameters and (ii) one or more options for modifying at least one of a plurality of operating parameters; (Fig. 7, Fig. 8, ¶0096-0097, 0118, 0120-0122, base station outputs configuration data for UE, indicating UE to perform necessary measurements and requests reconfiguration updates as appropriate, the reconfiguration update requests include requests to update one or more operating wireless parameters such as beamwidth, TRP change etc. See also “the base station 105-e may determine that the UE 115-e has a capability to perform beam update requests that are based on pose information from an XR application, and that the connection is to exchange XR traffic. The measurement configuration may indicate that the UE 115-e is to perform beam measurements and use pose information to determine preferred beam or beam adjustment (…) the base station 105-e may transmit, and the UE 115-e may receive, the measurement configuration” via the transceiver)
Receiving, via the at least one transceiver, a first request that requests the apparatus to modify the at least one or more wireless operating parameters; and perform, via the at least one transceiver, one or more actions based on the first request based on the information. (¶0099, 0101-0107, a change request sent to the base station. 0108-0114, base station, responsive to the received request, activates the changed beam or beam sequences and appropriate timing for communication with new beam configuration. See also Fig. 8, 830, 835)
Awoniyi-Oteri discloses the reconfiguration to be requested from the UE to the network including various operating parameters such as beam width, TRPs etc., however does not explicitly disclose they also include at least one of : a quantity of spatial streams, a transmit power, or a resource unit size
Park, in a related field of endeavor of beam management in a user equipment, for example ¶0017-0020, 0308, a UE might receive a wireless operating configuration from a base station (¶0292-0295) and UE might send beam modification request in which the UE can also request reconfiguration of number of resources allocated and number of antenna ports (i.e. number of concurrent streams).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing time of the invention that the beam reconfiguration request from the UE in AWONIYI-OTERI can also incorporate resource/antenna ports reconfiguration requests. This implementation advantageously promote smooth feedback process between UE and eNB, and the clarification of resources and antenna numbers can prevent report errors (¶0020 of Park).
Claim(s) 13, 25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Awoniyi-Oteri et al. (US 2023/0033336) in view of Park et al. (US 2018/0254812) in view of Bhamri et al. (WO 2022/087190).
As to claims 13, 25:
Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park discloses all limitations of claim 1/18, however is silent on a modification at least one of the quantity of spatial streams, the transmit power, or the RU size indicated in the first request will be valid for at least one duration; and the at least one duration is at least one of: indicated in the information.
Bhamri, in a related field of beamforming, discloses a wireless node such as a UE might receive a configurations for wireless operation wherein such configuration includes configuration duration of validity for the beam configuration (Abstract, ¶0084).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing time of the invention that the configuration information from the network in Awoniyi-Oteri in view of Park to incorporate the duration of validity. The inclusion of duration of validity can be beneficial in reducing signal overhead as the network does not need to individually track each beam’s validity by delegating the timer locally to the UE.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2009/0303908 - A system for setting WLAN node operating parameters includes at least one access point (AP) radio and a plurality of nodes in wireless communication with the AP radio according to media access control (MAC) parameters. Each of the plurality of nodes has a quality of service (QoS) threshold for wireless communication with the AP radio that is a function of the MAC parameters and includes a controller configured to provide individualized control of the MAC parameters. The controller is programmed to measure current settings for at least a portion of the MAC parameters for the node, input the current settings for those MAC parameters of the node into a WLAN system model to generate a system model output, and adapt a setting of at least one of the MAC parameters for the node to meet the QoS threshold for the node based on the system model output.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to QUAN M HUA whose telephone number is (571)270-7232. The examiner can normally be reached 10:30-6:30.
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/QUAN M HUA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645
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