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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement submitted on 09/26/2024 has been considered by the Examiner and made of record in the application file.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Species I in the reply filed on 01/23/2026 is acknowledged.
Remarks
The present Office Action is based upon the Applicant’s amendment filed on 01/23/2026. Claims 1-9, 17-25, and 31-42 are now pending in the present application.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-5, 7-9, 17-21, 23-25, 31-35, and 37-42 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Raghavan et al. -US 20200244338 A1- (hereinafter Raghavan).
Regarding claim 1, Raghavan discloses an apparatus for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE), comprising: at least one processor; at least one memory coupled with the at least one processor; and instructions stored in the at least one memory and executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to (FIG. 9, par. 0188-0189, for memory 930 and processor 940):
obtain a plurality of reference signal measurements corresponding to a plurality of transmission reception points (TRPs), the plurality of reference signal measurements associated with adaptive beam weight generation (FIG. 3 and/or FIG. 4, par. 0137 for the TRxPs 105-e and 105-f may perform the coordinated beam training over consecutive time and frequency resources (e.g., channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources) of the channels H1 and H2; And par. 0006 for each of the TRxPs may then process the co-phasing factor feedback and determine a beam weight generation at each antenna panel to support co-phasing multiple clusters in a channel);
select, in accordance with the plurality of reference signal measurements, one or more first beam weights associated with a first link between one or more antenna panels at the UE and a first TRP of the plurality of TRPs and one or more second beam weights associated with a second link between the one or more antenna panels at the UE and a second TRP of the plurality of TRPs (FIG. 3 and/or FIG. 4, par. 0100-0101, 0131-0132 for selecting the best beam pairs); and
communicate, via the one or more antenna panels of the UE, with the first TRP using the one or more first beam weights and with the second TRP using the one or more second beam weights (FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, par. 0134).
Regarding claim 2, as applied to claim 1 above, Raghavan discloses wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: receive, from the first TRP of the plurality of TRPs, signaling indicating coordination information associated with aligning one or more time-frequency resources for the communicating (par. 0111 for time and frequency resources associated with the communication links).
Regarding claim 3, as applied to claim 2 above, Raghavan discloses wherein the coordination information comprises one or more timing alignment errors (TAEs) associated with the first TRP and the second TRP, one or more carrier frequency offsets (CFOs) associated with the first TRP and the second TRP, or any combination thereof (par. 0118 for carrier frequency offset (CFO)).
Regarding claim 4, as applied to claim 1 above, Raghavan discloses wherein the instructions to obtain the plurality of reference signal measurements are executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: receive one or more first reference signals from the first TRP; and receive one or more second reference signals from the second TRP (par. 0131 and 0137).
Regarding claim 5, as applied to claim 4 above, Raghavan discloses wherein: the one or more first reference signals correspond to a first set of time-frequency resources; and the one or more second reference signals correspond to a second set of time- frequency resources (par. 0137).
Regarding claim 7, as applied to claim 1 above, Raghavan discloses wherein a numerical quantity of a plurality of reference signals corresponding to the plurality of reference signal measurements is based at least in part on a numerical quantity of antenna element arrays of the UE (par. 0056 and par. 0099).
Regarding claim 8, as applied to claim 1 above, Raghavan discloses wherein the instructions to select the one or more first beam weights associated with the first link between the one or more antenna panels at the UE and the first TRP and the one or more second beam weights associated with the second link between the one or more antenna panels at the UE and the second TRP are executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: calculate a plurality of beam weights based at least in part on co-phasing first energy associated with at least one first reference signal measurement corresponding to the first TRP with second energy associated with at least one second reference signal measurement corresponding to the second TRP, the plurality of reference signal measurements comprising the at least one first reference signal measurement and the at least one second reference signal measurement (par. 0118); quantize the plurality of calculated beam weights based at least in part on a beam weight codebook (par. 0118); and project the plurality of quantized beam weights onto the beam weight codebook, wherein the plurality of quantized beam weights comprises the one or more first beam weights and the one or more second beam weights (par. 0113, 0130).
Regarding claim 9, as applied to claim 1 above, Raghavan discloses wherein the plurality of reference signal measurements comprise channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) measurements, synchronization signal block (SSB) reference signal measurements, or both (par. 0080, 0121 and 0137).
Regarding claim 17, Raghavan discloses a method for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE), comprising:
obtaining a plurality of reference signal measurements corresponding to a plurality of transmission reception points (TRPs), the plurality of reference signal measurements associated with adaptive beam weight generation (FIG. 3 and/or FIG. 4, par. 0137 for the TRxPs 105-e and 105-f may perform the coordinated beam training over consecutive time and frequency resources (e.g., channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources) of the channels H1 and H2; And par. 0006 for each of the TRxPs may then process the co-phasing factor feedback and determine a beam weight generation at each antenna panel to support co-phasing multiple clusters in a channel);
selecting, in accordance with the plurality of reference signal measurements, one or more first beam weights associated with a first link between one or more antenna panels at the UE and a first TRP of the plurality of TRPs and one or more second beam weights associated with a second link between the one or more antenna panels at the UE and a second TRP of the plurality of TRPs (FIG. 3 and/or FIG. 4, par. 0100-0101, 0131-0132 for selecting the best beam pairs); and
communicating, via the one or more antenna panels of the UE, with the first TRP using the one or more first beam weights and with the second TRP using the one or more second beam weights (FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, par. 0134).
Regarding claim 31, Raghavan discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium (par. 0282) storing code, the code comprising instructions executable by at least one processor to:
obtain, by a user equipment (UE), a plurality of reference signal measurements corresponding to a plurality of transmission reception points (TRPs), the plurality of reference signal measurements associated with adaptive beam weight generation (FIG. 3 and/or FIG. 4, par. 0137 for the TRxPs 105-e and 105-f may perform the coordinated beam training over consecutive time and frequency resources (e.g., channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources) of the channels H1 and H2; And par. 0006 for each of the TRxPs may then process the co-phasing factor feedback and determine a beam weight generation at each antenna panel to support co-phasing multiple clusters in a channel);
select, in accordance with the plurality of reference signal measurements, one or more first beam weights associated with a first link between one or more antenna panels at the UE and a first TRP of the plurality of TRPs and one or more second beam weights associated with a second link between the one or more antenna panels at the UE and a second TRP of the plurality of TRPs (FIG. 3 and/or FIG. 4, par. 0100-0101, 0131-0132 for selecting the best beam pairs); and
communicate, via the one or more antenna panels of the UE, with the first TRP using the one or more first beam weights and with the second TRP using the one or more second beam weights (FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, par. 0134).
Regarding claim 40, Raghavan discloses an apparatus for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE), comprising (FIG. 6):
means for obtaining (FIG. 6 for a receiver 610 and/or communications manager 615), by a user equipment (UE), a plurality of reference signal measurements corresponding to a plurality of transmission reception points (TRPs), the plurality of reference signal measurements associated with adaptive beam weight generation (FIG. 3 and/or FIG. 4, par. 0137 for the TRxPs 105-e and 105-f may perform the coordinated beam training over consecutive time and frequency resources (e.g., channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources) of the channels H1 and H2; And par. 0006 for each of the TRxPs may then process the co-phasing factor feedback and determine a beam weight generation at each antenna panel to support co-phasing multiple clusters in a channel);
means for selecting (FIG. 6 communications manager 615), in accordance with the plurality of reference signal measurements, one or more first beam weights associated with a first link between one or more antenna panels at the ULE and a first TRP of the plurality of TRPs and one or more second beam weights associated with a second link between the one or more antenna panels at the UE and a second TRP of the plurality of TRPs (FIG. 3 and/or FIG. 4, par. 0100-0101, 0131-0132 for selecting the best beam pairs); and
means for communicating (FIG. 6 for a receiver 610, communications manager 615, and/or a transmitter 620), via the one or more antenna panels of the UE, with the first TRP using the one or more first beam weights and with the second TRP using the one or more second beam weights (FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, par. 0134).
Regarding claims 18-21 and 23-25, as applied to claim 17 above, the claim is rejected for the same reason(s) as set forth claim 1-5 and 6-9 above respectively.
Regarding claims 32-35 and 37-39, as applied to claim 31 above, the claim is rejected for the same reason(s) as set forth claim 1-5 and 6-9 above respectively.
Regarding claims 41 and 42, as applied to claim 40 above, the claim is rejected for the same reason(s) as set forth claim 2 and 3 above respectively.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 6, 22 and 36 is/are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant’s disclosure.
SCHRECK et al. -US 20240372600 A1- disclose METHODS AND DEVICES FOR BEAM MANAGEMENT OPERATION.
Luo et al. -US 20210175944 A1- disclose CHANNEL SOUNDING TECHNIQUES WITH ANALOG BEAMFORMING.
Lee et al. -US 20180091212 A1- disclose APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PERFORMING MEASUREMENT.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALLAHYAR KASRAIA N whose telephone number is (571)270-1772. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 5: 00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, RAFAEL PEREZ-GUTIERREZ can be reached at (571)272-7915. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ALLAHYAR KASRAIA N/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2642