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 .
Response to Arguments
In response to applicant's argument, on page 13, that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies (i.e., per-CLI hypothesis condition) are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
Applicant’s arguments, on pages 13-14, with respect to claim(s) 1, 19, and 34-35 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Applicant's arguments, on page 15, with respect to claims 5-6, 9-11, 14-18, 23-24, 27-29, and 32-33 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. For at least the reason above with respect to their respective independent claim and the rejection shown below for claims 5-6, 9-11, 14-18, 23-24, 27-29, and 32-33, claims 5-6, 9-11, 14-18, 23-24, 27-29, and 32-33 are rejected.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim(s) 1-35 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Regarding claims 1, 19, and 34-35, these claims has been amended or similarly amended to have “the respective CLI information” “corresponds to a respective condition for each of the one or more CLI determinations”. Applicant state that support is found in ¶ 69, 120, and 122 and figure 2. After a review of these paragraphs, figure 2 and the rest of the specification, the specification does not support the above amendment. Paragraphs 69, 120, and 122 recite or similarly recite “each hypothesis corresponds to a respective condition under which values of parameters associated with CLI are determined”. This shows that a hypothesis (not any sort of “CLI information”) corresponds to a condition for CLI determination. Claims 2-18 and 20-33 fails to resolve the deficiency of their respective independent claim and are thus rejected under similar rationale.
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 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1, 5-6, 11, 14-19, 23-24, 29, and 32-35 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 20200106488 by Akoum et al. (hereinafter Akoum) in view of WO 2020144624 by Faxer et al. (hereinafter Faxer) (IDS filed 11/11/24) and in further view of US 20260032490 by Liu et al. (hereinafter Liu).
Regarding claim 1, Akoum teaches a first network entity for wireless communication (fig. 3, UE 302(1); ¶ 65, Referring now to FIG. 10, illustrated is a schematic block diagram of an example end-user device such as a user equipment) that can be a mobile device 1000; ¶ 31), comprising:
at least one communication interface (fig. 10, communication component 1010);
and at least one processor coupled to the at least one communication interface (fig. 10, shows processor 1002 coupled to communication component 1010),
wherein the first network entity is configured to (fig. 3, UE 302(1)):
receive, from a second network entity, first control information that includes first information and second information (¶ 42, a user equipment (e.g., 302(1)) receives resource report setting 1 310 and report setting 2 312, wherein report setting 2 comprises an instruction or the like for the user equipment to consider at least one interference (I/F) hypothesis as described herein with respect to the beam sweep/beam management and reporting operations. Note that although not explicitly shown in FIG. 3, one or more resource settings are also communicated to the user equipment; fig. 3, network device 304 sending report setting 310 and 312 to UE 302(1)),
wherein the first information is indicative of one or more interference measurement resources for measurement of cross-link interference (CLI) (¶ 42, one or more resource settings are also communicated to the user equipment ¶ 21, an additional resource setting is considered for interference measurement performed on CSI-IM (channel state information-interference measurement)…interference—e.g. cross link interference; ¶ 23, a CSI resource setting such as resource setting 102 contains a configuration of one or more CSI Resource Sets (S), with one or more CSI-RS resources (Ks) within the set…As described herein, a CSI resource set can specify CSI-RS resources (e.g., NZP CSI-RS or CSI-IM); ¶ 27, CSI-IM resources to measure interference)
and the second information is indicative of a plurality of hypotheses for CLI (¶ 42, a user equipment (e.g., 302(1)) receives resource report setting 1 310 and report setting 2 312, wherein report setting 2 comprises an instruction or the like for the user equipment to consider at least one interference (I/F) hypothesis; ¶ 21, interference—e.g. cross link interference; ¶ 105, articles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appended claims should generally be construed to mean “one or more”);
and transmit, to the second network entity, a report that includes respective CLI information (fig. 3, UE 302(1) transmit, to network device 304, report 2 + I/F 316; ¶ 43, user equipment returns a report 1 314 and report 2 316 (including interference considerations) to the network device 304; ¶ 21, interference—e.g. cross link interference; ¶ 53, include interference information in the report generated by the user equipment device).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Akoum’s teachings with Akoum’s one or more other embodiments’ teachings. The motivation is steering beams in the correct direction (Akoum ¶ 17).
Although Akoum teaches a plurality of hypotheses for CLI, a report that includes respective CLI information, each hypothesis of two or more of the plurality of hypotheses, the respective CLI information, and the first information indicative of the one or more interference measurement resources, Akoum does not explicitly disclose a plurality of hypotheses for one or more CLI determinations, a report that includes respective CLI information for each hypothesis of two or more of the plurality of hypotheses, and the respective CLI information for each hypothesis of the two or more hypotheses is based on the first information indicative of the one or more interference measurement resources.
Faxer in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches a plurality of hypotheses for one or more CLI determinations (¶ 97, To allow for flexibility in probing different sets of interference hypotheses, multiple CLI-IMR sets may be configured to the UE. Different CLI measurement reports may be configured or triggered for the different sets of hypotheses; ¶ 96, in a certain CLI measurement report, a CLI measurement for each CLI-IMR in the CLI-IMR set may be reported. This may be useful if each CLI-IMR corresponds to a certain interference hypothesis, where for instance each hypothesis corresponds to different UEs or sets of UEs transmitting interference from adjacent cells), a report that includes respective CLI information for each hypothesis of two or more of the plurality of hypotheses (¶ 97, To allow for flexibility in probing different sets of interference hypotheses, multiple CLI-IMR sets may be configured to the UE. Different CLI measurement reports may be configured or triggered for the different sets of hypotheses; ¶ 96, in a certain CLI measurement report, a CLI measurement for each CLI-IMR in the CLI-IMR set may be reported. This may be useful if each CLI-IMR corresponds to a certain interference hypothesis, where for instance each hypothesis corresponds to different UEs or sets of UEs transmitting interference from adjacent cells; ¶ 107, each CLI-IMR in the CLI-IMR set corresponds to a certain CLI hypothesis (e.g., always CLI, potential CLI, or no CLI). In this case, the RSRP/RSSI associated to the CLI-IMR that will not be affected by CLI is assumed to be the reference and reported as an absolute value, while the RSRP/RSSI associated to other interference hypotheses are reported as a differential value relative to the reference value), and the respective CLI information for each hypothesis of the two or more hypotheses is based on information indicative of one or more interference measurement resources (¶ 97, To allow for flexibility in probing different sets of interference hypotheses, multiple CLI-IMR sets may be configured to the UE. Different CLI measurement reports may be configured or triggered for the different sets of hypotheses; ¶ 96, one or more CLI-IMRs may be grouped into a CLI-IMR set…in a certain CLI measurement report, a CLI measurement for each CLI-IMR in the CLI-IMR set may be reported. This may be useful if each CLI-IMR corresponds to a certain interference hypothesis, where for instance each hypothesis corresponds to different UEs or sets of UEs transmitting interference from adjacent cells; ¶ 107, each CLI-IMR in the CLI-IMR set corresponds to a certain CLI hypothesis (e.g., always CLI, potential CLI, or no CLI). In this case, the RSRP/RSSI associated to the CLI-IMR that will not be affected by CLI is assumed to be the reference and reported as an absolute value, while the RSRP/RSSI associated to other interference hypotheses are reported as a differential value relative to the reference value). By modifying Akoum’s teachings of a plurality of hypotheses for CLI, a report that includes respective CLI information, each hypothesis of two or more of the plurality of hypotheses, the respective CLI information, and the first information indicative of the one or more interference measurement resources with Faxer’s teachings of a plurality of hypotheses for one or more CLI determinations, a report that includes respective CLI information for each hypothesis of two or more of the plurality of hypotheses, and the respective CLI information for each hypothesis of the two or more hypotheses is based on information indicative of one or more interference measurement resources, the modification results in a plurality of hypotheses for one or more CLI determinations, a report that includes respective CLI information for each hypothesis of two or more of the plurality of hypotheses, and the respective CLI information for each hypothesis of the two or more hypotheses is based on the first information indicative of the one or more interference measurement resources.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Akoum’s teachings with Faxer’s above teachings. The motivation is providing large flexibility in configuring and triggering different types of CLI measurements without introducing separate mechanisms, which may incur additional overhead and complexity (Faxer ¶ 67). Known work in one field of endeavor (Faxer prior art) may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or a different one (Akoum prior art) based on design incentives (providing large flexibility in configuring and triggering different types of CLI measurements without introducing separate mechanisms, which may incur additional overhead and complexity) or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one or ordinary skill in the art.
Although the combination teaches the respective CLI information and the one or more CLI determinations, the combination does not explicitly disclose the respective CLI information corresponds to a respective condition for each of the one or more CLI determinations.
Liu in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches CLI information corresponding to a respective condition for each of one or more CLI determinations (¶ 85, The CLI measurement report includes indication information related to the CLI measurement resources satisfying the entering condition of the CLI measurement event; ¶ 86, the indication information may include a list of CLI measurement resources satisfying the entering condition of the CLI measurement event; ¶ 126, the number of resources triggering first CLI measurement and/or the number of resources triggering second CLI measurement, indicating that the UE triggers a CLI measurement report only when the number of first CLI measurement resources and/or the number of second CLI measurement resources satisfying an entering condition of a CLI measurement event reaches this number). By modifying the combination’s teachings of the respective CLI information and the one or more CLI determinations with Liu’s teachings of CLI information corresponding to a respective condition for each of one or more CLI determinations, the modification results in the respective CLI information corresponds to a respective condition for each of the one or more CLI determinations.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Liu’s above teachings. The motivation is reducing unnecessary reporting of CLI measurement reports (Liu ¶ 4). Known work in one field of endeavor (Liu prior art) may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or a different one (Akoum prior art) based on design incentives (reducing unnecessary reporting of CLI measurement reports) or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one or ordinary skill in the art.
Regarding claim 5, the combination teaches the first network entity of claim 1, wherein at least one interference measurement resource of the one or more interference measurement resources is associated with multiple hypotheses of the two or more hypotheses (Akoum ¶ 23 and ¶ 27; ¶ 42 and ¶ 21 and ¶ 105; Faxer ¶ 97, multiple CLI-IMR sets may be configured to the UE. Different CLI measurement reports may be configured or triggered for the different sets of hypotheses; ¶ 96, one or more CLI-IMRs may be grouped into a CLI-IMR set…in a certain CLI measurement report, a CLI measurement for each CLI-IMR in the CLI-IMR set may be reported. This may be useful if each CLI-IMR corresponds to a certain interference hypothesis, where for instance each hypothesis corresponds to different UEs or sets of UEs transmitting interference from adjacent cells; ¶ 107, each CLI-IMR in the CLI-IMR set corresponds to a certain CLI hypothesis; ¶ 114, evaluate different UE interference hypotheses on the same CLI-IMR).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Akoum’s one or more other embodiments’ teachings. The motivation is steering beams in the correct direction (Akoum ¶ 17).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Faxer’s teachings of at least one interference measurement resource of one or more interference measurement resources is associated with multiple hypotheses of two or more hypotheses. The motivation is providing large flexibility in configuring and triggering different types of CLI measurements without introducing separate mechanisms, which may incur additional overhead and complexity (Faxer ¶ 67).
Regarding claim 6, the combination teaches the first network entity of claim 1, wherein a first interference measurement resource of the one or more interference measurement resources is associated with a first hypothesis of the two or more hypotheses and a second interference measurement resource of the one or more interference measurement resources is associated with a second hypothesis of the two or more hypotheses (Akoum ¶ 23 and ¶ 27; ¶ 42 and ¶ 21 and ¶ 105; Faxer ¶ 97, multiple CLI-IMR sets may be configured to the UE. Different CLI measurement reports may be configured or triggered for the different sets of hypotheses; ¶ 96, one or more CLI-IMRs may be grouped into a CLI-IMR set…in a certain CLI measurement report, a CLI measurement for each CLI-IMR in the CLI-IMR set may be reported. This may be useful if each CLI-IMR corresponds to a certain interference hypothesis, where for instance each hypothesis corresponds to different UEs or sets of UEs transmitting interference from adjacent cells; ¶ 107, each CLI-IMR in the CLI-IMR set corresponds to a certain CLI hypothesis; ¶ 114, evaluate different UE interference hypotheses on the same CLI-IMR).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Akoum’s one or more other embodiments’ teachings. The motivation is steering beams in the correct direction (Akoum ¶ 17).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Faxer’s teachings of a first interference measurement resource of one or more interference measurement resources is associated with a first hypothesis of two or more hypotheses and a second interference measurement resource of the one or more interference measurement resources is associated with a second hypothesis of the two or more hypotheses. The motivation is providing large flexibility in configuring and triggering different types of CLI measurements without introducing separate mechanisms, which may incur additional overhead and complexity (Faxer ¶ 67).
Regarding claim 11, the combination teaches the first network entity of claim 1, wherein the two or more hypotheses include a first hypothesis associated with a third network entity and a second hypothesis associated with a fourth network entity (Akoum ¶ 42, at least one interference (I/F) hypothesis as described herein with respect to the beam sweep/beam management and reporting operations; ¶ 105, articles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appended claims should generally be construed to mean “one or more”; Faxer ¶ 96, each hypothesis corresponds to different UEs or sets of UEs transmitting interference from adjacent cells; ¶ 97. different sets of interference hypotheses).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Akoum’s one or more other embodiments’ teachings. The motivation is steering beams in the correct direction (Akoum ¶ 17).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Faxer’s teachings of two or more hypotheses include a first hypothesis associated with a third network entity and a second hypothesis associated with a fourth network entity. The motivation is providing large flexibility in configuring and triggering different types of CLI measurements without introducing separate mechanisms, which may incur additional overhead and complexity (Faxer ¶ 67).
Regarding claim 14, the combination teaches the first network entity of claim 1, wherein the respective CLI information for each hypothesis of the two or more hypotheses includes a respective channel quality indicator (CQI), a respective rank indicator (RI), a respective precoding matrix indicator (PMI), a respective received signal strength indicator (RSSI), a respective reference signal receive power (RSRP), or a respective signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) (Akoum fig. 3, UE 302(1) transmit, to network device 304, report 2 + I/F 316; ¶ 43, user equipment returns a report 1 314 and report 2 316 (including interference considerations) to the network device 304; ¶ 21, interference—e.g. cross link interference; ¶ 53, include interference information in the report generated by the user equipment device; Faxer ¶ 97, To allow for flexibility in probing different sets of interference hypotheses, multiple CLI-IMR sets may be configured to the UE. Different CLI measurement reports may be configured or triggered for the different sets of hypotheses; ¶ 96, in a certain CLI measurement report, a CLI measurement for each CLI-IMR in the CLI-IMR set may be reported. This may be useful if each CLI-IMR corresponds to a certain interference hypothesis, where for instance each hypothesis corresponds to different UEs or sets of UEs transmitting interference from adjacent cells; ¶ 107, each CLI-IMR in the CLI-IMR set corresponds to a certain CLI hypothesis (e.g., always CLI, potential CLI, or no CLI). In this case, the RSRP/RSSI associated to the CLI-IMR that will not be affected by CLI is assumed to be the reference and reported as an absolute value, while the RSRP/RSSI associated to other interference hypotheses are reported as a differential value relative to the reference value).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Akoum’s one or more other embodiments’ teachings. The motivation is steering beams in the correct direction (Akoum ¶ 17).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Faxer’s teachings of respective CLI information for each hypothesis of two or more hypotheses includes a respective channel quality indicator (CQI), a respective rank indicator (RI), a respective precoding matrix indicator (PMI), a respective received signal strength indicator (RSSI), a respective reference signal receive power (RSRP), or a respective signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR). The motivation is providing large flexibility in configuring and triggering different types of CLI measurements without introducing separate mechanisms, which may incur additional overhead and complexity (Faxer ¶ 67).
Regarding claim 15, the combination teaches the first network entity of claim 1, wherein the report includes channel state information (Akoum fig. 3, UE 302(1) transmit, to network device 304, report 2 + I/F 316; ¶ 43, user equipment returns a report 1 314 and report 2 316 (including interference considerations) to the network device 304; ¶ 21, interference—e.g. cross link interference; ¶ 53, include interference information in the report generated by the user equipment device; ¶ 51, CQI can be reported as part a of CSI report, e.g., along with PMI (precoding matrix indicator) and RI (rank indicator) data; ¶ 24, which CSI parameters to report).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Akoum’s one or more other embodiments’ teachings. The motivation is steering beams in the correct direction (Akoum ¶ 17).
Regarding claim 16, the combination teaches the first network entity of claim 1, wherein each CLI determination of the one or more CLI determinations is associated with the respective CLI information (Faxer ¶ 97, To allow for flexibility in probing different sets of interference hypotheses, multiple CLI-IMR sets may be configured to the UE. Different CLI measurement reports may be configured or triggered for the different sets of hypotheses; ¶ 96, in a certain CLI measurement report, a CLI measurement for each CLI-IMR in the CLI-IMR set may be reported. This may be useful if each CLI-IMR corresponds to a certain interference hypothesis, where for instance each hypothesis corresponds to different UEs or sets of UEs transmitting interference from adjacent cells; ¶ 107, each CLI-IMR in the CLI-IMR set corresponds to a certain CLI hypothesis (e.g., always CLI, potential CLI, or no CLI). In this case, the RSRP/RSSI associated to the CLI-IMR that will not be affected by CLI is assumed to be the reference and reported as an absolute value, while the RSRP/RSSI associated to other interference hypotheses are reported as a differential value relative to the reference value; Akoum fig. 3, UE 302(1) transmit, to network device 304, report 2 + I/F 316; ¶ 43, user equipment returns a report 1 314 and report 2 316 (including interference considerations) to the network device 304; ¶ 21, interference—e.g. cross link interference; ¶ 53, include interference information in the report generated by the user equipment device; ) or a respective measurement of CLI for a respective hypothesis of the two or more hypotheses.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Faxer’s teachings of each CLI determination of one or more CLI determinations is associated with respective CLI information for each hypothesis of two or more of a plurality of hypotheses. The motivation is providing large flexibility in configuring and triggering different types of CLI measurements without introducing separate mechanisms, which may incur additional overhead and complexity (Faxer ¶ 67).
Regarding claim 17, the combination teaches the first network entity of claim 1, wherein the first network entity is further configured to: generate, based on the one or more interference measurement resources, the respective CLI information for each hypothesis of the two or more hypotheses (Akoum fig. 3, UE 302(1) transmit, to network device 304, report 2 + I/F 316; ¶ 43, user equipment returns a report 1 314 and report 2 316 (including interference considerations) to the network device 304; ¶ 21, interference—e.g. cross link interference; ¶ 53, include interference information in the report generated by the user equipment device; ¶ 23, a CSI resource setting such as resource setting 102 contains a configuration of one or more CSI Resource Sets (S), with one or more CSI-RS resources (Ks) within the set…As described herein, a CSI resource set can specify CSI-RS resources (e.g., NZP CSI-RS or CSI-IM); ¶ 27, CSI-IM resources to measure interference; Faxer ¶ 97, To allow for flexibility in probing different sets of interference hypotheses, multiple CLI-IMR sets may be configured to the UE. Different CLI measurement reports may be configured or triggered for the different sets of hypotheses; ¶ 96, one or more CLI-IMRs may be grouped into a CLI-IMR set…in a certain CLI measurement report, a CLI measurement for each CLI-IMR in the CLI-IMR set may be reported. This may be useful if each CLI-IMR corresponds to a certain interference hypothesis, where for instance each hypothesis corresponds to different UEs or sets of UEs transmitting interference from adjacent cells; ¶ 107, each CLI-IMR in the CLI-IMR set corresponds to a certain CLI hypothesis (e.g., always CLI, potential CLI, or no CLI). In this case, the RSRP/RSSI associated to the CLI-IMR that will not be affected by CLI is assumed to be the reference and reported as an absolute value, while the RSRP/RSSI associated to other interference hypotheses are reported as a differential value relative to the reference value).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Akoum’s one or more other embodiments’ teachings. The motivation is steering beams in the correct direction (Akoum ¶ 17).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Faxer’s teachings of generate, based on one or more interference measurement resources, respective CLI information for each hypothesis of two or more hypotheses. The motivation is providing large flexibility in configuring and triggering different types of CLI measurements without introducing separate mechanisms, which may incur additional overhead and complexity (Faxer ¶ 67).
Regarding claim 18, the combination teaches the first network entity of claim 17, wherein to generate, based on the one or more interference measurement resources, the respective CLI information for each hypothesis of the two or more hypotheses, the first network entity is configured to measure the one or more interference measurement resources (Akoum fig. 3, UE 302(1) transmit, to network device 304, report 2 + I/F 316; ¶ 43, user equipment returns a report 1 314 and report 2 316 (including interference considerations) to the network device 304; ¶ 21, interference—e.g. cross link interference; ¶ 53, include interference information in the report generated by the user equipment device; ¶ 23, a CSI resource setting such as resource setting 102 contains a configuration of one or more CSI Resource Sets (S), with one or more CSI-RS resources (Ks) within the set…As described herein, a CSI resource set can specify CSI-RS resources (e.g., NZP CSI-RS or CSI-IM); ¶ 27, CSI-IM resources to measure interference; ¶ 42, a user equipment (e.g., 302(1)) receives resource report setting 1 310 and report setting 2 312, wherein report setting 2 comprises an instruction or the like for the user equipment to consider at least one interference (I/F) hypothesis; abstract, user equipment performs a beam measurement operation that includes interference information when generating the beam management report sent to the network device; ¶ 54, user equipment device to use channel state information-interference measurement resources as a measure of interference; ¶ 105, articles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appended claims should generally be construed to mean “one or more”; Faxer ¶ 97, To allow for flexibility in probing different sets of interference hypotheses, multiple CLI-IMR sets may be configured to the UE. Different CLI measurement reports may be configured or triggered for the different sets of hypotheses; ¶ 96, one or more CLI-IMRs may be grouped into a CLI-IMR set…in a certain CLI measurement report, a CLI measurement for each CLI-IMR in the CLI-IMR set may be reported. This may be useful if each CLI-IMR corresponds to a certain interference hypothesis, where for instance each hypothesis corresponds to different UEs or sets of UEs transmitting interference from adjacent cells; ¶ 107, each CLI-IMR in the CLI-IMR set corresponds to a certain CLI hypothesis (e.g., always CLI, potential CLI, or no CLI). In this case, the RSRP/RSSI associated to the CLI-IMR that will not be affected by CLI is assumed to be the reference and reported as an absolute value, while the RSRP/RSSI associated to other interference hypotheses are reported as a differential value relative to the reference value).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Akoum’s one or more other embodiments’ teachings. The motivation is steering beams in the correct direction (Akoum ¶ 17).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Faxer’s teachings of to generate, based on one or more interference measurement resources, respective CLI information for each hypothesis of two or more hypotheses. The motivation is providing large flexibility in configuring and triggering different types of CLI measurements without introducing separate mechanisms, which may incur additional overhead and complexity (Faxer ¶ 67).
Regarding claim 19, Akoum teaches a first network entity for wireless communication (fig. 3, network device 304; ¶ 77, a network node (e.g., network node 304, GNB, etc.) may contain components as described in FIG. 11), comprising:
at least one communication interface (fig. 11, input device interface 1142 and network adaptor 1165);
and at least one processor coupled to the at least one communication interface (fig. 11, shows processing unit 1104 coupled to input device interface 1142 and network adaptor 1165),
wherein the first network entity is configured to (fig. 3, network device 304):
transmit, to a second network entity, first control information that includes first information and second information (¶ 42, a user equipment (e.g., 302(1)) receives resource report setting 1 310 and report setting 2 312, wherein report setting 2 comprises an instruction or the like for the user equipment to consider at least one interference (I/F) hypothesis as described herein with respect to the beam sweep/beam management and reporting operations. Note that although not explicitly shown in FIG. 3, one or more resource settings are also communicated to the user equipment; fig. 3, network device 304 sending report setting 310 and 312 to UE 302(1)),
wherein the first information is indicative of one or more interference measurement resources for measurement of cross-link interference (CLI) (¶ 42, one or more resource settings are also communicated to the user equipment ¶ 21, an additional resource setting is considered for interference measurement performed on CSI-IM (channel state information-interference measurement)…interference—e.g. cross link interference; ¶ 23, a CSI resource setting such as resource setting 102 contains a configuration of one or more CSI Resource Sets (S), with one or more CSI-RS resources (Ks) within the set…As described herein, a CSI resource set can specify CSI-RS resources (e.g., NZP CSI-RS or CSI-IM); ¶ 27, CSI-IM resources to measure interference)
and the second information is indicative of a plurality of hypotheses for CLI (¶ 42, a user equipment (e.g., 302(1)) receives resource report setting 1 310 and report setting 2 312, wherein report setting 2 comprises an instruction or the like for the user equipment to consider at least one interference (I/F) hypothesis; ¶ 21, interference—e.g. cross link interference; ¶ 105, articles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appended claims should generally be construed to mean “one or more”);
and receive, from the second network entity, a report that includes respective CLI information (fig. 3, UE 302(1) transmit, to network device 304, report 2 + I/F 316; ¶ 43, user equipment returns a report 1 314 and report 2 316 (including interference considerations) to the network device 304; ¶ 21, interference—e.g. cross link interference; ¶ 53, include interference information in the report generated by the user equipment device).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Akoum’s teachings with Akoum’s one or more other embodiments’ teachings. The motivation is steering beams in the correct direction (Akoum ¶ 17).
Although Akoum teaches a plurality of hypotheses for CLI, a report that includes respective CLI information, each hypothesis of two or more of the plurality of hypotheses, the respective CLI information, and the first information indicative of the one or more interference measurement resources, Akoum does not explicitly disclose a plurality of hypotheses for one or more CLI determinations, a report that includes respective CLI information for each hypothesis of two or more of the plurality of hypotheses, and the respective CLI information for each hypothesis of the two or more hypotheses is based on the first information indicative of the one or more interference measurement resources.
Faxer in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches a plurality of hypotheses for one or more CLI determinations (¶ 97, To allow for flexibility in probing different sets of interference hypotheses, multiple CLI-IMR sets may be configured to the UE. Different CLI measurement reports may be configured or triggered for the different sets of hypotheses; ¶ 96, in a certain CLI measurement report, a CLI measurement for each CLI-IMR in the CLI-IMR set may be reported. This may be useful if each CLI-IMR corresponds to a certain interference hypothesis, where for instance each hypothesis corresponds to different UEs or sets of UEs transmitting interference from adjacent cells), a report that includes respective CLI information for each hypothesis of two or more of the plurality of hypotheses (¶ 97, To allow for flexibility in probing different sets of interference hypotheses, multiple CLI-IMR sets may be configured to the UE. Different CLI measurement reports may be configured or triggered for the different sets of hypotheses; ¶ 96, in a certain CLI measurement report, a CLI measurement for each CLI-IMR in the CLI-IMR set may be reported. This may be useful if each CLI-IMR corresponds to a certain interference hypothesis, where for instance each hypothesis corresponds to different UEs or sets of UEs transmitting interference from adjacent cells; ¶ 107, each CLI-IMR in the CLI-IMR set corresponds to a certain CLI hypothesis (e.g., always CLI, potential CLI, or no CLI). In this case, the RSRP/RSSI associated to the CLI-IMR that will not be affected by CLI is assumed to be the reference and reported as an absolute value, while the RSRP/RSSI associated to other interference hypotheses are reported as a differential value relative to the reference value), and the respective CLI information for each hypothesis of the two or more hypotheses is based on information indicative of one or more interference measurement resources (¶ 97, To allow for flexibility in probing different sets of interference hypotheses, multiple CLI-IMR sets may be configured to the UE. Different CLI measurement reports may be configured or triggered for the different sets of hypotheses; ¶ 96, one or more CLI-IMRs may be grouped into a CLI-IMR set…in a certain CLI measurement report, a CLI measurement for each CLI-IMR in the CLI-IMR set may be reported. This may be useful if each CLI-IMR corresponds to a certain interference hypothesis, where for instance each hypothesis corresponds to different UEs or sets of UEs transmitting interference from adjacent cells; ¶ 107, each CLI-IMR in the CLI-IMR set corresponds to a certain CLI hypothesis (e.g., always CLI, potential CLI, or no CLI). In this case, the RSRP/RSSI associated to the CLI-IMR that will not be affected by CLI is assumed to be the reference and reported as an absolute value, while the RSRP/RSSI associated to other interference hypotheses are reported as a differential value relative to the reference value). By modifying Akoum’s teachings of a plurality of hypotheses for CLI, a report that includes respective CLI information, each hypothesis of two or more of the plurality of hypotheses, the respective CLI information, and the first information indicative of the one or more interference measurement resources with Faxer’s teachings of a plurality of hypotheses for one or more CLI determinations, a report that includes respective CLI information for each hypothesis of two or more of the plurality of hypotheses, and the respective CLI information for each hypothesis of the two or more hypotheses is based on information indicative of one or more interference measurement resources, the modification results in a plurality of hypotheses for one or more CLI determinations, a report that includes respective CLI information for each hypothesis of two or more of the plurality of hypotheses, and the respective CLI information for each hypothesis of the two or more hypotheses is based on the first information indicative of the one or more interference measurement resources.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Akoum’s teachings with Faxer’s above teachings. The motivation is providing large flexibility in configuring and triggering different types of CLI measurements without introducing separate mechanisms, which may incur additional overhead and complexity (Faxer ¶ 67). Known work in one field of endeavor (Faxer prior art) may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or a different one (Akoum prior art) based on design incentives (providing large flexibility in configuring and triggering different types of CLI measurements without introducing separate mechanisms, which may incur additional overhead and complexity) or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one or ordinary skill in the art.
Although the combination teaches the respective CLI information and the one or more CLI determinations, the combination does not explicitly disclose the respective CLI information corresponds to a respective condition for each of the one or more CLI determinations.
Liu in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches CLI information corresponding to a respective condition for each of one or more CLI determinations (¶ 85, The CLI measurement report includes indication information related to the CLI measurement resources satisfying the entering condition of the CLI measurement event; ¶ 86, the indication information may include a list of CLI measurement resources satisfying the entering condition of the CLI measurement event; ¶ 126, the number of resources triggering first CLI measurement and/or the number of resources triggering second CLI measurement, indicating that the UE triggers a CLI measurement report only when the number of first CLI measurement resources and/or the number of second CLI measurement resources satisfying an entering condition of a CLI measurement event reaches this number). By modifying the combination’s teachings of the respective CLI information and the one or more CLI determinations with Liu’s teachings of CLI information corresponding to a respective condition for each of one or more CLI determinations, the modification results in the respective CLI information corresponds to a respective condition for each of the one or more CLI determinations.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Liu’s above teachings. The motivation is reducing unnecessary reporting of CLI measurement reports (Liu ¶ 4). Known work in one field of endeavor (Liu prior art) may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or a different one (Akoum prior art) based on design incentives (reducing unnecessary reporting of CLI measurement reports) or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one or ordinary skill in the art.
Claims 23-24, 29, 32, 33, 34, and 35 recite similar limitations of claims 5-6, 11, 14, 16, 1, and 19, respectively, and are thus rejected under similar rationale.
Claim(s) 9-10 and 27-28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Akoum and Faxer and Liu and in further view of US 20230155711 by Zhang et al. (hereinafter Zhang).
Regarding claim 9, the combination teaches the first network entity of claim 1, wherein the two or more hypotheses include a first hypothesis associated with a first transmit beam and a second hypothesis associated with a second transmit beam (Akoum ¶ 42, a user equipment (e.g., 302(1)) receives resource report setting 1 310 and report setting 2 312, wherein report setting 2 comprises an instruction or the like for the user equipment to consider at least one interference (I/F) hypothesis as described herein with respect to the beam sweep/beam management and reporting operations; ¶ 3, Beam management comprises a set of procedures to acquire and maintain a set of transmit (Tx) and/or receive (Rx) beams that can be used for downlink and uplink transmission and reception, respectively ; ¶ 105, articles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appended claims should generally be construed to mean “one or more”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Akoum’s one or more other embodiments’ teachings. The motivation is steering beams in the correct direction (Akoum ¶ 17).
Although the combination teaches the two or more hypotheses include a first hypothesis associated with a first transmit beam and a second hypothesis associated with a second transmit beam, the combination does not explicitly disclose the two or more hypotheses include a first hypothesis associated with a first transmit beam of a third network entity and a second hypothesis associated with a second transmit beam of the third network entity.
Zhang in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches a first transmit beam of a third network entity and a second transmit beam of the third network entity (¶ 121, first UE 115-a may select transmit/receive beams based on beam management procedures…In this regard, beam selection at a relay UE 115; ¶ 120, Tx…beams used by the first UE 115-a). By modifying the combination’s teachings of the two or more hypotheses include a first hypothesis associated with a first transmit beam and a second hypothesis associated with a second transmit beam with Zhang’s teachings of a first transmit beam of a third network entity and a second transmit beam of the third network entity, the modification results in the two or more hypotheses include a first hypothesis associated with a first transmit beam of a third network entity and a second hypothesis associated with a second transmit beam of the third network entity.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Zhang’s above teachings. The motivation is possibly leading to decreased CLI (Zhang ¶ 4). Known work in one field of endeavor (Zhang prior art) may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or a different one (Akoum prior art) based on design incentives (possibly leading to decreased CLI) or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one or ordinary skill in the art.
Regarding claim 10, the combination teaches the first network entity of claim 1, wherein the two or more hypotheses include a first hypothesis associated with a first receive beam and a second hypothesis associated with a second receive beam (Akoum ¶ 42, a user equipment (e.g., 302(1)) receives resource report setting 1 310 and report setting 2 312, wherein report setting 2 comprises an instruction or the like for the user equipment to consider at least one interference (I/F) hypothesis as described herein with respect to the beam sweep/beam management and reporting operations; ¶ 3, Beam management comprises a set of procedures to acquire and maintain a set of transmit (Tx) and/or receive (Rx) beams that can be used for downlink and uplink transmission and reception, respectively ; ¶ 105, articles “a” and “an” as used in this application and the appended claims should generally be construed to mean “one or more”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Akoum’s one or more other embodiments’ teachings. The motivation is steering beams in the correct direction (Akoum ¶ 17).
Although the combination teaches the two or more hypotheses include a first hypothesis associated with a first receive beam and a second hypothesis associated with a second receive beam, the combination does not explicitly disclose the two or more hypotheses include a first hypothesis associated with a first receive beam of the first network entity and a second hypothesis associated with a second receive beam of the first network entity.
Zhang in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches a first receive beam of a first network entity and a second receive beam of the first network entity (¶ 121, first UE 115-a may select transmit/receive beams based on beam management procedures…In this regard, beam selection at a relay UE 115; ¶ 120, …Rx beams used by the first UE 115-a). By modifying the combination’s teachings of the two or more hypotheses include a first hypothesis associated with a first receive beam and a second hypothesis associated with a second receive beam with Zhang’s teachings of a first receive beam of a first network entity and a second receive beam of the first network entity, the modification results in the two or more hypotheses include a first hypothesis associated with a first receive beam of the first network entity and a second hypothesis associated with a second receive beam of the first network entity.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Zhang’s above teachings. The motivation is possibly leading to decreased CLI (Zhang ¶ 4). Known work in one field of endeavor (Zhang prior art) may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or a different one (Akoum prior art) based on design incentives (possibly leading to decreased CLI) or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one or ordinary skill in the art.
Claims 27-28 recite similar limitations of claims 9-10, respectively, and are thus rejected under similar rationale.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 2-4, 7-8, 12-13, 20-22, 25-26, and 30-31 would be allowable if Applicant provides support within the specification for the amendments made to their respective independent claim that overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 1st paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER P CHAU whose telephone number is (571)270-7152. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30 A.M - 6 P.M. ET M-F.
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, Ayaz Sheikh can be reached at 571-272-3795. 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.
/PETER P CHAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476