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 .
Introduction
This is a final office action in response to remarks filed on 15 April 2026. Claims 1, 4-6, 10-11, 15-16, and 20 were amended. No claims were cancelled or added. Claims 1-20 are pending.
Claim Interpretation
The claims have been considered according to the latest Patent Eligibility Guidelines and are considered eligible.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 8-9, filed 15 April 2026, with respect to the claim amendments and the previous claim objections of claims 1, 4-6, 10-11, 15-16, and 20 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The objections of claims 1, 4-6, 10-11, 15-16, and 20 has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 9-13, filed 15 April 2026, with respect to the applicability of the cited prior art and the amended claim language have been fully considered and are persuasive. The 35 USC 103 rejections of claims 1-20 have been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made incorporating newly discovered prior art Chen et al. (U.S. Patent Publication 2020/0280929).
Examiner has relied upon Chen in the rejections below to teach the unique mapping being included in the control information that is described in the amendments.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2, 4, 7, 9, 12, 14, 17, and 19 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art of record (in particular Zhou and Chen) failed to disclose the entirety of the claimed invention, according to the claimed language, in particular the combination of the details described in parent claims 1, 6, 11, and 16 with the details of the mapping described in claims 2, 7, 12, and 17 and the details about the indices included in the CSI report as described in claims 4, 9, 14, and 19.
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.
Claims 1, 3, 5-6, 8, 10-11, 13, 15-16, 18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhou et al. (U.S. Patent Publication 2022/0167279) in view of Chen et al. (U.S. Patent Publication 2020/0280929).
Regarding claim 1, Zhou disclosed a method performed by a terminal in a wireless communication system (see Zhou Fig. 1B: wireless system including UE #156 and gNB #160B/ng-eNB #162 | Fig. 15: components for wireless device #1502 and base station #1504), the method comprising:
receiving, from a base station, control information preconfiguring the terminal with a set of channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources (see Zhou [0163]: BS transmits CSI-RS to UE; BS configures UE with one or more CSI-RSs; [0164]: BS semi-statically configures UE with one or more CSI-RS resource sets | [0180]: BS transmits CSI-RS 1101-1103 and are used by UE for measurements), wherein the control information includes information uniquely mapping each CSI-RS resource in the set of CSI-RS resources to a powerControlOffsetSS value (see Zhou-Chen combination below);
receiving a set of CSI-RS signals (see Zhou [0163]: BS transmits CSI-RS to UE; BS configures UE with one or more CSI-RSs; [0164]: BS semi-statically configures UE with one or more CSI-RS resource sets | [0180]: BS transmits CSI-RS 1101-1103 and are used by UE for measurements);
performing a measurement of each of the CSI-RS signals of the set of the CSI-RS signals (see Zhou [0163]: UE measures the one or more CSI-RSs and generates a CSI report based on the measuring | [0165]: BS configures UE to report CSI measurements | [0180]: BS transmits CSI-RS 1101-1103 and are used by UE for measurements; UE measures reference signal received power (RSRP) of configured CSI-RS resources and sends these measurements to BS via CSI Report); and
transmitting a CSI report including the measurements of each of the CSI-RS signals in the set of the CSI-RS signals (see Zhou [0118]: while in RRC_CONNECTED state, the UE measures signal levels, e.g., reference signal levels, from a service cell and neighboring cells and reports these measurements to the base station currently serving the UE | [0163]: UE measures the one or more CSI-RSs and generates a CSI report based on the measuring; UE provides the CSI report to the base station and the BS uses the UE feedback to perform link adaptation; [0165]: BS configures UE to report CSI measurements | [0180]: UE measures reference signal received power (RSRP) of configured CSI-RS resources and sends these measurements to BS via CSI Report; BS selects and indicates UL beams (Tx beam) for the UE based on measurements transmitted by the UE).
Although Zhou disclosed the base station transmits RRC messages comprising CSI-RS configuration parameters, e.g., CSI-RS power parameters that include integers and indices (see Zhou [0178], Fig. 27) such as powerControlOffsetSS (see Zhou [0334]), Zhou did not explicitly disclose the entirety of “wherein the control information includes information uniquely mapping each CSI-RS resource in the set of CSI-RS resources to a powerControlOffsetSS value”.
However in a related art, Chen disclosed preconfiguring one or more CSI-RS resources and determining a relationship between one or more pieces of CSI-RS resource indication information and a power control parameter (see Chen [0065]), e.g. power offset (see Chen [0076]). For example, CSI-RS resource 1 corresponds to power control parameter group 1, CSI-RS resource 2 corresponds to power control parameter group 2, etc. and each power control parameter group corresponds to different values of a same group of the power control parameters (see Chen [0086]), i.e. “wherein the control information includes information uniquely mapping each CSI-RS resource in the set of CSI-RS resources to” power offset parameters.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Zhou and Chen to further clarify that CSI-RS resources are uniquely mapped to power parameters. Including Chen’s teachings would improve the accuracy of uplink power control and thereby improve system transmission performance (see Chen [0066]).
Regarding claim 3, Zhou-Chen disclosed the method of claim 1, wherein the control information includes radio resource control (RRC) signaling (see Zhou [0116]: RRCs provide control plane functionality between the UE and RAN via RRC messages).
Regarding claim 5, Zhou-Chen disclosed the method of claim 1, wherein performing the measurement of each of the CSI-RS signals of the set of the CSI-RS signals comprises:
performing blind decoding (see Zhou [0215]: blind decoding) to identify a received CSI-RS based on the set of CSI-RS resources (see Zhou [0336]: the base station indicates which cell to use; [0339]: transmitting DCI that indicates an index identifying one of the CSI-RSs | examiner notes that “to identify a received CSI-RS based on the set of CSI-RS resources” is intended use and is not explicitly performed within the claims); and
identifying a powerControlOffsetSS value of the received CSI-RS, based on the control information (see Zhou [0334]: pathloss reference linking configuration; a pathloss reference RS may be configured with a CSI-RS index that identifies a CSI-RS of a cell and the CSI-RS is configured with powerControlOffsetSS).
Regarding claim 6, the claim contains the limitations, substantially as claimed, as described in claim 1 above. Examiner notes that claim 1 is a method from the terminal’s perspective whereas claim 6 is a method from the base station’s perspective. Zhou disclosed, as recited in claim 6: A method performed by a base station in a wireless communication system (see Zhou Fig. 1B: wireless system including UE #156 and gNB #160B/ng-eNB #162 | Fig. 15: components for wireless device #1502 and base station #1504), the method comprising:
transmitting control information preconfiguring a terminal with a set of channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources (see Zhou [0163]: BS transmits CSI-RS to UE; BS configures UE with one or more CSI-RSs; [0164]: BS semi-statically configures UE with one or more CSI-RS resource sets | [0180]: BS transmits CSI-RS 1101-1103 and are used by UE for measurements), wherein the control information includes information uniquely mapping each CSI-RS resource in the set of CSI-RS resources to a powerControlOffsetSS value (see Zhou-Chen combination below);
transmitting a set of CSI-RS signals (see Zhou [0163]: BS transmits CSI-RS to UE; BS configures UE with one or more CSI-RSs; [0164]: BS semi-statically configures UE with one or more CSI-RS resource sets | [0180]: BS transmits CSI-RS 1101-1103 and are used by UE for measurements);
receiving, from the terminal, a CSI report including measurements of each of the CSI-RS signals in the set of the CSI-RS signals (see Zhou [0118]: while in RRC_CONNECTED state, the UE measures signal levels, e.g., reference signal levels, from a service cell and neighboring cells and reports these measurements to the base station currently serving the UE | [0163]: UE measures the one or more CSI-RSs and generates a CSI report based on the measuring; UE provides the CSI report to the base station and the BS uses the UE feedback to perform link adaptation; [0165]: BS configures UE to report CSI measurements | [0180]: UE measures reference signal received power (RSRP) of configured CSI-RS resources and sends these measurements to BS via CSI Report; BS selects and indicates UL beams (Tx beam) for the UE based on measurements transmitted by the UE),
wherein the terminal performs a measurement of each of the CSI-RS signals of the set of the CSI-RS signals (see Zhou [0163]: UE measures the one or more CSI-RSs and generates a CSI report based on the measuring | [0165]: BS configures UE to report CSI measurements | [0180]: BS transmits CSI-RS 1101-1103 and are used by UE for measurements; UE measures reference signal received power (RSRP) of configured CSI-RS resources and sends these measurements to BS via CSI Report).
Although Zhou disclosed the base station transmits RRC messages comprising CSI-RS configuration parameters, e.g., CSI-RS power parameters that include integers and indices (see Zhou [0178], Fig. 27) such as powerControlOffsetSS (see Zhou [0334]), Zhou did not explicitly disclose the entirety of “wherein the control information includes information uniquely mapping each CSI-RS resource in the set of CSI-RS resources to a powerControlOffsetSS value”.
However in a related art, Chen disclosed preconfiguring one or more CSI-RS resources and determining a relationship between one or more pieces of CSI-RS resource indication information and a power control parameter (see Chen [0065]), e.g. power offset (see Chen [0076]). For example, CSI-RS resource 1 corresponds to power control parameter group 1, CSI-RS resource 2 corresponds to power control parameter group 2, etc. and each power control parameter group corresponds to different values of a same group of the power control parameters (see Chen [0086]), i.e. “wherein the control information includes information uniquely mapping each CSI-RS resource in the set of CSI-RS resources to” power offset parameters.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Zhou and Chen to further clarify that CSI-RS resources are uniquely mapped to power parameters. Including Chen’s teachings would improve the accuracy of uplink power control and thereby improve system transmission performance (see Chen [0066]).
Regarding claim 8, the claim contains the limitations, substantially as claimed, as described in claim 3 above. Zhou-Chen disclosed, as recited in claim 8: The method of claim 6, wherein the control information includes radio resource control (RRC) signaling (see Zhou [0116]: RRCs provide control plane functionality between the UE and RAN via RRC messages).
Regarding claim 10, the claim contains the limitations, substantially as claimed, as described in claim 5 above. Zhou-Chen disclosed, as recited in claim 10: The method of claim 6, wherein the terminal performs the measurement of each of the CSI-RS signals of the set by performing blind decoding (see Zhou [0215]: blind decoding) to identify a received CSI-RS based on the set of CSI-RS resources (see Zhou [0336]: the base station indicates which cell to use; [0339]: transmitting DCI that indicates an index identifying one of the CSI-RSs | examiner notes that “to identify a received CSI-RS based on the set of CSI-RS resources” is intended use and is not explicitly performed within the claims), and identifying a powerControlOffsetSS value of the received CSI-RS, based on the control information (see Zhou [0334]: pathloss reference linking configuration; a pathloss reference RS may be configured with a CSI-RS index that identifies a CSI-RS of a cell and the CSI-RS is configured with powerControlOffsetSS).
Regarding claim 11, the claim contains the limitations, substantially as claimed, as described in claim 1 above. Examiner notes that claim 1 is a method from the terminal’s perspective whereas claim 11 is a terminal. Zhou disclosed, as recited in claim 11: A terminal for use in a wireless communication system (see Zhou Fig. 1B: wireless system including UE #156 and gNB #160B/ng-eNB #162 | Fig. 15: components for wireless device #1502 and base station #1504), the terminal comprising:
a transceiver (see Zhou Fig. 15: Tx and Rx components for wireless device #1502); and
a processor (see Zhou Fig. 15: processing components for wireless device #1502) configured to:
receive, from a base station, control information preconfiguring the terminal with a set of channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources (see Zhou [0163]: BS transmits CSI-RS to UE; BS configures UE with one or more CSI-RSs; [0164]: BS semi-statically configures UE with one or more CSI-RS resource sets | [0180]: BS transmits CSI-RS 1101-1103 and are used by UE for measurements), wherein the control information includes information uniquely mapping each CSI-RS resource in the set of CSI-RS resources to a powerControlOffsetSS value (see Zhou-Chen combination below);
receive a set of CSI-RS signals (see Zhou [0163]: BS transmits CSI-RS to UE; BS configures UE with one or more CSI-RSs; [0164]: BS semi-statically configures UE with one or more CSI-RS resource sets | [0180]: BS transmits CSI-RS 1101-1103 and are used by UE for measurements);
perform a measurement of each of the CSI-RS signals of the set of the CSI-RS signals (see Zhou [0163]: UE measures the one or more CSI-RSs and generates a CSI report based on the measuring | [0165]: BS configures UE to report CSI measurements | [0180]: BS transmits CSI-RS 1101-1103 and are used by UE for measurements; UE measures reference signal received power (RSRP) of configured CSI-RS resources and sends these measurements to BS via CSI Report); and
transmit a CSI report including the measurements of each of the CSI-RS signals in the set of the CSI-RS signals (see Zhou [0118]: while in RRC_CONNECTED state, the UE measures signal levels, e.g., reference signal levels, from a service cell and neighboring cells and reports these measurements to the base station currently serving the UE | [0163]: UE measures the one or more CSI-RSs and generates a CSI report based on the measuring; UE provides the CSI report to the base station and the BS uses the UE feedback to perform link adaptation; [0165]: BS configures UE to report CSI measurements | [0180]: UE measures reference signal received power (RSRP) of configured CSI-RS resources and sends these measurements to BS via CSI Report; BS selects and indicates UL beams (Tx beam) for the UE based on measurements transmitted by the UE).
Although Zhou disclosed the base station transmits RRC messages comprising CSI-RS configuration parameters, e.g., CSI-RS power parameters that include integers and indices (see Zhou [0178], Fig. 27) such as powerControlOffsetSS (see Zhou [0334]), Zhou did not explicitly disclose the entirety of “wherein the control information includes information uniquely mapping each CSI-RS resource in the set of CSI-RS resources to a powerControlOffsetSS value”.
However in a related art, Chen disclosed preconfiguring one or more CSI-RS resources and determining a relationship between one or more pieces of CSI-RS resource indication information and a power control parameter (see Chen [0065]), e.g. power offset (see Chen [0076]). For example, CSI-RS resource 1 corresponds to power control parameter group 1, CSI-RS resource 2 corresponds to power control parameter group 2, etc. and each power control parameter group corresponds to different values of a same group of the power control parameters (see Chen [0086]), i.e. “wherein the control information includes information uniquely mapping each CSI-RS resource in the set of CSI-RS resources to” power offset parameters.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Zhou and Chen to further clarify that CSI-RS resources are uniquely mapped to power parameters. Including Chen’s teachings would improve the accuracy of uplink power control and thereby improve system transmission performance (see Chen [0066]).
Regarding claim 13, the claim contains the limitations, substantially as claimed, as described in claim 3 above. Zhou-Chen disclosed, as recited in claim 13: The terminal of claim 11, wherein the control information includes radio resource control (RRC) signaling (see Zhou [0116]: RRCs provide control plane functionality between the UE and RAN via RRC messages).
Regarding claim 15, the claim contains the limitations, substantially as claimed, as described in claim 5 above. Zhou-Chen disclosed, as recited in claim 15: The terminal of claim 11, wherein the processor is further configured to perform the measurement of each of the CSI-RS signals of the set by performing blind decoding (see Zhou [0215]: blind decoding) to identify a received CSI-RS based on the set of CSI-RS resources (see Zhou [0336]: the base station indicates which cell to use; [0339]: transmitting DCI that indicates an index identifying one of the CSI-RSs | examiner notes that “to identify a received CSI-RS based on the set of CSI-RS resources” is intended use and is not explicitly performed within the claims), and identifying a powerControlOffsetSS value of the received CSI-RS, based on the control information (see Zhou [0334]: pathloss reference linking configuration; a pathloss reference RS may be configured with a CSI-RS index that identifies a CSI-RS of a cell and the CSI-RS is configured with powerControlOffsetSS).
Regarding claim 16, the claim contains the limitations, substantially as claimed, as described in claim 6 above. Examiner notes that claim 6 is a method whereas claim 16 is a base station. Zhou disclosed, as recited in claim 16: A base station for use in a wireless communication system (see Zhou Fig. 1B: wireless system including UE #156 and gNB #160B/ng-eNB #162 | Fig. 15: components for wireless device #1502 and base station #1504), the base station comprising:
a transceiver (see Zhou Fig. 15: Tx and Rx components for base station #1504); and
a processor (see Zhou Fig. 15: processing components for base station #1504) configured to:
transmit control information preconfiguring a terminal with a set of channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources (see Zhou [0163]: BS transmits CSI-RS to UE; BS configures UE with one or more CSI-RSs; [0164]: BS semi-statically configures UE with one or more CSI-RS resource sets | [0180]: BS transmits CSI-RS 1101-1103 and are used by UE for measurements), wherein the control information includes information uniquely mapping each CSI-RS resource in the set of CSI-RS resources to a powerControlOffsetSS value (see Zhou-Chen combination below);
transmit a set of CSI-RS signals (see Zhou [0163]: BS transmits CSI-RS to UE; BS configures UE with one or more CSI-RSs; [0164]: BS semi-statically configures UE with one or more CSI-RS resource sets | [0180]: BS transmits CSI-RS 1101-1103 and are used by UE for measurements);
receive, from the terminal, a CSI report including measurements of each of the CSI-RS signals in the set of the CSI-RS signals (see Zhou [0118]: while in RRC_CONNECTED state, the UE measures signal levels, e.g., reference signal levels, from a service cell and neighboring cells and reports these measurements to the base station currently serving the UE | [0163]: UE measures the one or more CSI-RSs and generates a CSI report based on the measuring; UE provides the CSI report to the base station and the BS uses the UE feedback to perform link adaptation; [0165]: BS configures UE to report CSI measurements | [0180]: UE measures reference signal received power (RSRP) of configured CSI-RS resources and sends these measurements to BS via CSI Report; BS selects and indicates UL beams (Tx beam) for the UE based on measurements transmitted by the UE),
wherein the terminal performs a measurement of each of the CSI-RS signals of the set of the CSI-RS signals (see Zhou [0163]: UE measures the one or more CSI-RSs and generates a CSI report based on the measuring | [0165]: BS configures UE to report CSI measurements | [0180]: BS transmits CSI-RS 1101-1103 and are used by UE for measurements; UE measures reference signal received power (RSRP) of configured CSI-RS resources and sends these measurements to BS via CSI Report).
Although Zhou disclosed the base station transmits RRC messages comprising CSI-RS configuration parameters, e.g., CSI-RS power parameters that include integers and indices (see Zhou [0178], Fig. 27) such as powerControlOffsetSS (see Zhou [0334]), Zhou did not explicitly disclose the entirety of “wherein the control information includes information uniquely mapping each CSI-RS resource in the set of CSI-RS resources to a powerControlOffsetSS value”.
However in a related art, Chen disclosed preconfiguring one or more CSI-RS resources and determining a relationship between one or more pieces of CSI-RS resource indication information and a power control parameter (see Chen [0065]), e.g. power offset (see Chen [0076]). For example, CSI-RS resource 1 corresponds to power control parameter group 1, CSI-RS resource 2 corresponds to power control parameter group 2, etc. and each power control parameter group corresponds to different values of a same group of the power control parameters (see Chen [0086]), i.e. “wherein the control information includes information uniquely mapping each CSI-RS resource in the set of CSI-RS resources to” power offset parameters.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Zhou and Chen to further clarify that CSI-RS resources are uniquely mapped to power parameters. Including Chen’s teachings would improve the accuracy of uplink power control and thereby improve system transmission performance (see Chen [0066]).
Regarding claim 18, the claim contains the limitations, substantially as claimed, as described in claim 3 above. Zhou-Chen disclosed, as recited in claim 18: The base station of claim 16, wherein the control information includes radio resource control (RRC) signaling (see Zhou [0116]: RRCs provide control plane functionality between the UE and RAN via RRC messages).
Regarding claim 20, the claim contains the limitations, substantially as claimed, as described in claim 5 above. Zhou-Chen disclosed, as recited in claim 20: The method of claim 6, wherein the terminal performs the measurement of each of the CSI-RS signals of the set by performing blind decoding (see Zhou [0215]: blind decoding) to identify a received CSI-RS based on the set of CSI-RS resources (see Zhou [0336]: the base station indicates which cell to use; [0339]: transmitting DCI that indicates an index identifying one of the CSI-RSs | examiner notes that “to identify a received CSI-RS based on the set of CSI-RS resources” is intended use and is not explicitly performed within the claims), and identifying a powerControlOffsetSS value of the received CSI-RS, based on the control information (see Zhou [0334]: pathloss reference linking configuration; a pathloss reference RS may be configured with a CSI-RS index that identifies a CSI-RS of a cell and the CSI-RS is configured with powerControlOffsetSS).
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 Angela Widhalm de Rodriguez whose telephone number is (571)272-1035. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 6am-2:30pm EST.
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/ANGELA WIDHALM DE RODRIGUEZ/Examiner, Art Unit 2443
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