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 (IDS) submitted on 01 March 2024 was filed after the mailing date of the patent application on 17 January 2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings, received on 17 January 2024, are acceptable for examination.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Nimbalker et al. (US 20250350333 A1 using the provisional filing date of 29 April 2022 corresponding to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/336,717; hereinafter referred to as “Nimbalker”).
Regarding Claim 1, Nimbalker discloses an apparatus comprising:
at least one processor (¶162 & Fig. 3, Nimbalker discloses a wireless device (WD) 22 comprising a processor 86); and
at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least (¶162 & Fig. 3, Nimbalker discloses the WD 22 further comprising memory 88 storing software for execution by the processor 86) to:
receive a configuration (¶176 & Fig. 8 (S134 & S136) & Fig. 3 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 20:31-22:9 & Fig. 8, Nimbalker discloses receiving, by the WD from a network node 16, channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) measurement configuration and a CSI-RS port muting pattern indication) used to determine availability of at least one slot or at least one symbol based on a spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol (¶330-337 & Fig. 13 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 38:14-39:2 & Fig. 11, Nimbalker discloses that the CSI-RS measurement configuration and the CSI-RS muting pattern indication are used to determine whether at least one symbol is available for CSI-RS measurement based upon the CSI-RS measurement configuration and the CSI-RS port muting pattern indication);
determine the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol based at least on the configuration and the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol (¶330-337 & Fig. 13 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 38:14-39:2 & Fig. 11, Nimbalker discloses determining whether at least one symbol is available for CSI-RS measurement based upon the CSI-RS measurement configuration and the CSI-RS port muting pattern indication); and
apply at least one transmission method or reception method to the at least one slot or the at least one symbol, based on the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol (¶176 & Fig. 8 (S138) & Fig. 3 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 20:31-22:9, Nimbalker discloses performing, by the WD, channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) measurement based on the CSI-RS measurement configuration and the CSI-RS port muting pattern indication. Here, the CSI-RS measurement requires reception of the CSI-RS).
Regarding Claim 2, Nimbalker discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
Nimbalker further discloses wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
determine a number of at least one spatial element of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol, based on the spatial pattern (¶330-337 & Fig. 13 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 38:14-39:2 & Fig. 11, Nimbalker discloses determining at least one resource element corresponding to the at least one symbol. Fig. 13, Lee discloses that resource elements associated with antenna ports 1-16 are available for transmission of CSI-RS with energy and that resource elements associated with antenna ports 17-32 are not available for transmission of the CSI-RS with energy. Examiner correlates a resource element associated with a set of antenna ports to "a spatial element");
wherein the determination of the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol is based at least on the number of the at least one spatial element of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol (¶330-337 & Fig. 13 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 38:14-39:2 & Fig. 11, Nimbalker discloses determining whether at least one symbol is available for CSI-RS measurement based upon the number of resource elements corresponding to antenna ports 1-16).
Regarding Claim 3, Nimbalker discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
Nimbalker further discloses wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
determine a spatial condition of a user equipment (¶176 & Fig. 8 (S134 & S136) & Fig. 3 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 38:14-39:2 & Fig. 11, Nimbalker discloses determining a spatial condition of the WD in response to receiving, by the WD from a network node 16, a CSI-RS port muting pattern indication. ¶330-337 & Fig. 13, Nimbalker further discloses that the CSI-RS port muting pattern indication indicates a spatial pattern by muting, or not allowing power to, a set of antenna ports. Examiner correlates the spatial condition of the UE to the current muting pattern of the WD/UE).
Regarding Claim 4, Nimbalker discloses the apparatus of claim 3.
Nimbalker further discloses wherein the configuration specifies at least one parameter to determine the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol based at least on the spatial condition of the user equipment (¶15 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 38:14-39:2 & Fig. 11, Nimbalker discloses that the CSI-RS measurement configuration includes at least one parameter, such as slot offset and periodicity, that would affect the spatial pattern or the number of symbols configured for the CSI-RS measurement).
Regarding Claim 5, Nimbalker discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
Nimbalker further discloses wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
determine the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol in response to a change of the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol (¶123-124 & ¶250-251 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 38:14-39:2 & Fig. 11, Nimbalker discloses determining a second number of symbols for CSI-RS measurement in response to a change of an adjusted parameter of the CSI-RS measurement configuration and the CSI-RS muting pattern indication).
Regarding Claim 6, Nimbalker discloses the apparatus of claim 5.
Nimbalker further discloses wherein the spatial pattern comprises a number of at least one spatial element (¶330-337 & Fig. 13 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 38:14-39:2 & Fig. 11, Nimbalker discloses that the muting pattern comprises resource elements corresponding to the active antenna ports. Examiner correlates resource elements corresponding to changes in the muting pattern to “a spatial element”), and the number of the at least one spatial element is greater than zero before and after the change of the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol (¶123-124 & ¶250-251 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 38:14-39:2 & Fig. 11, Nimbalker discloses determining a first number of symbols for CSI-RS measurement prior to a change of an adjusted parameter of the CSI-RS measurement configuration and the CSI-RS muting pattern indication and the second number of symbols where both numbers are greater than zero).
Regarding Claim 7, Nimbalker discloses the apparatus of claim 3.
Nimbalker further discloses wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
determine the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol in response to a change of the spatial condition of the user equipment (¶123-124 & ¶250-251 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 38:14-39:2 & Fig. 11, Nimbalker discloses determining a second number of symbols for CSI-RS measurement in response to a change of an adjusted parameter of the CSI-RS measurement configuration and the CSI-RS muting pattern indication).
Regarding Claim 8, Nimbalker discloses the apparatus of claim 7.
Nimbalker further discloses wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
receive an indication of the change of the spatial condition of the user equipment (¶176 & Fig. 8 (S136) & Fig. 3 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 38:14-39:2 & Fig. 11, Nimbalker discloses receiving, by the WD from a network node 16,a CSI-RS port muting pattern indication).
Regarding Claim 9, Nimbalker discloses the apparatus of claim 8.
Nimbalker further discloses wherein the indication of the change of the spatial condition of the user equipment is received with at least one of:
user equipment assistance information (Examiner notes that the use of “or” and “and/or” has a broadest reasonable interpretation of any element in the list that follows or any of those elements taken together. See Ex Parte Gross, Appeal 2011-004811, Application No. 11/565,411. Thus, Examiner has not treated all limitations separated by “and/or” and “or”),
channel state information (¶176 & Fig. 8 (S134 & S136) & Fig. 3 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 38:14-39:2 & Fig. 11, Nimbalker discloses receiving, by the WD from a network node 16, channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) measurement configuration with a CSI-RS port muting pattern indication),
downlink control information (¶253 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 38:14-39:2 & Fig. 11, Nimbalker discloses that the channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) measurement configuration and the CSI-RS port muting pattern indication may be signaled via downlink control information (DCI)), or
a time domain resource allocation table (Examiner notes that the use of “or” and “and/or” has a broadest reasonable interpretation of any element in the list that follows or any of those elements taken together. See Ex Parte Gross, Appeal 2011-004811, Application No. 11/565,411. Thus, Examiner has not treated all limitations separated by “and/or” and “or”).
Regarding Claim 10, Nimbalker discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
Nimbalker further discloses wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
delay, based on the configuration, the application of the at least one transmission method or reception method for a number of at least one slot or a number of at least one symbol determined to be at least one of secondarily available or not available (¶15 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 38:14-39:2 & Fig. 11, Nimbalker discloses that the slot offset causes the WD to delay, based on the CSI-RS measurement configuration and the slot offset, the CSI-RS measurement).
Regarding Claim 11, Nimbalker discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
Nimbalker further discloses wherein the at least one transmission method or reception method comprises at least one of:
on duration associated with discontinuous reception of a user equipment (Examiner notes that the use of “or” and “and/or” has a broadest reasonable interpretation of any element in the list that follows or any of those elements taken together. See Ex Parte Gross, Appeal 2011-004811, Application No. 11/565,411. Thus, Examiner has not treated all limitations separated by “and/or” and “or”),
on duration associated with discontinuous transmission of a user equipment,
sleeping status of a user equipment (¶337 & Fig. 14 & Fig. 13 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 38:14-39:2 & Fig. 11, Nimbalker discloses that the sleep state of the WD should be a receive operation when performing the CSI-RS measurement),
repetition for uplink (Examiner notes that the use of “or” and “and/or” has a broadest reasonable interpretation of any element in the list that follows or any of those elements taken together. See Ex Parte Gross, Appeal 2011-004811, Application No. 11/565,411. Thus, Examiner has not treated all limitations separated by “and/or” and “or”),
repetition for downlink (Examiner notes that the use of “or” and “and/or” has a broadest reasonable interpretation of any element in the list that follows or any of those elements taken together. See Ex Parte Gross, Appeal 2011-004811, Application No. 11/565,411. Thus, Examiner has not treated all limitations separated by “and/or” and “or”),
quadrature amplitude modulation configuration (Examiner notes that the use of “or” and “and/or” has a broadest reasonable interpretation of any element in the list that follows or any of those elements taken together. See Ex Parte Gross, Appeal 2011-004811, Application No. 11/565,411. Thus, Examiner has not treated all limitations separated by “and/or” and “or”),
transform precoding (Examiner notes that the use of “or” and “and/or” has a broadest reasonable interpretation of any element in the list that follows or any of those elements taken together. See Ex Parte Gross, Appeal 2011-004811, Application No. 11/565,411. Thus, Examiner has not treated all limitations separated by “and/or” and “or”),
a modulation and coding scheme table or configuration (Examiner notes that the use of “or” and “and/or” has a broadest reasonable interpretation of any element in the list that follows or any of those elements taken together. See Ex Parte Gross, Appeal 2011-004811, Application No. 11/565,411. Thus, Examiner has not treated all limitations separated by “and/or” and “or”),
a physical downlink control channel aggregation level (Examiner notes that the use of “or” and “and/or” has a broadest reasonable interpretation of any element in the list that follows or any of those elements taken together. See Ex Parte Gross, Appeal 2011-004811, Application No. 11/565,411. Thus, Examiner has not treated all limitations separated by “and/or” and “or”),
a configured grant (Examiner notes that the use of “or” and “and/or” has a broadest reasonable interpretation of any element in the list that follows or any of those elements taken together. See Ex Parte Gross, Appeal 2011-004811, Application No. 11/565,411. Thus, Examiner has not treated all limitations separated by “and/or” and “or”),
a TimeDomainResourceAllocationList (Examiner notes that the use of “or” and “and/or” has a broadest reasonable interpretation of any element in the list that follows or any of those elements taken together. See Ex Parte Gross, Appeal 2011-004811, Application No. 11/565,411. Thus, Examiner has not treated all limitations separated by “and/or” and “or”),
a scheduling request (Examiner notes that the use of “or” and “and/or” has a broadest reasonable interpretation of any element in the list that follows or any of those elements taken together. See Ex Parte Gross, Appeal 2011-004811, Application No. 11/565,411. Thus, Examiner has not treated all limitations separated by “and/or” and “or”), or
a random access channel (Examiner notes that the use of “or” and “and/or” has a broadest reasonable interpretation of any element in the list that follows or any of those elements taken together. See Ex Parte Gross, Appeal 2011-004811, Application No. 11/565,411. Thus, Examiner has not treated all limitations separated by “and/or” and “or”).
Regarding Claim 12, Nimbalker discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
Nimbalker further discloses wherein the spatial pattern comprises at least one of:
a number of at least one antenna port (¶330-337 & Fig. 13 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 38:14-39:2 & Fig. 11, Nimbalker discloses that the muting pattern comprises a set of active/unmuted antenna ports and a set of inactive/muted antenna ports),
a number of at least one active transceiver chain (Examiner notes that the use of “or” and “and/or” has a broadest reasonable interpretation of any element in the list that follows or any of those elements taken together. See Ex Parte Gross, Appeal 2011-004811, Application No. 11/565,411. Thus, Examiner has not treated all limitations separated by “and/or” and “or”), or
a channel state information reference signal resource set configuration (Examiner notes that the use of “or” and “and/or” has a broadest reasonable interpretation of any element in the list that follows or any of those elements taken together. See Ex Parte Gross, Appeal 2011-004811, Application No. 11/565,411. Thus, Examiner has not treated all limitations separated by “and/or” and “or”).
Regarding Claim 13, Nimbalker discloses an apparatus comprising:
at least one processor (¶162 & Fig. 3, Nimbalker discloses a network node (NN) 16 comprising a processor 70); and
at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least (¶162 & Fig. 3, Nimbalker discloses the NN 16 further comprising memory 72 storing software for execution by the processor 70) to:
determine a configuration (¶176 & Fig. 8 (S134 & S136) & Fig. 3 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 38:14-39:2 & Fig. 11, Nimbalker discloses determining, by the NN, channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) measurement configuration and a CSI-RS port muting pattern indication for transmission to a wireless device (WD)) used to determine availability of at least one slot or at least one symbol based on a spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol (¶330-337 & Fig. 13 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 38:14-39:2 & Fig. 11, Nimbalker discloses that the CSI-RS measurement configuration and the CSI-RS muting pattern indication are used to determine whether at least one symbol is available for CSI-RS measurement based upon the CSI-RS measurement configuration and the CSI-RS port muting pattern indication);
determine the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol based at least on the configuration and the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol (¶330-337 & Fig. 13 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 38:14-39:2 & Fig. 11, Nimbalker discloses determining whether at least one symbol is available for CSI-RS measurement based upon the CSI-RS measurement configuration and the CSI-RS port muting pattern indication); and
apply at least one transmission method or reception method to the at least one slot or the at least one symbol, based on the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol (¶176 & Fig. 8 (S138) & Fig. 3 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 20:31-22:9, Nimbalker discloses performing, by the NN, channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) transmission based on the CSI-RS measurement configuration and the CSI-RS port muting pattern indication).
Regarding Claim 14, Nimbalker discloses the apparatus of claim 13.
Nimbalker further discloses wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
determine a number of at least one spatial element of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol, based on the spatial pattern (¶330-337 & Fig. 13 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 38:14-39:2 & Fig. 11, Nimbalker discloses determining at least one resource element corresponding to the at least one symbol. Fig. 13, Lee discloses that resource elements associated with antenna ports 1-16 are available for transmission of CSI-RS with energy and that resource elements associated with antenna ports 17-32 are not available for transmission of the CSI-RS with energy. Examiner correlates a resource element associated with a set of antenna ports to "a spatial element");
wherein the determination of the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol is based at least on the number of the at least one spatial element of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol (¶330-337 & Fig. 13 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 38:14-39:2 & Fig. 11, Nimbalker discloses determining whether at least one symbol is available for CSI-RS measurement based upon the number of resource elements corresponding to antenna ports 1-16).
Regarding Claim 15, Nimbalker discloses the apparatus of claim 13.
Nimbalker further discloses wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
determine a spatial condition of a user equipment (¶176 & Fig. 8 (S134 & S136) & Fig. 3 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 38:14-39:2 & Fig. 11, Nimbalker discloses determining a spatial condition of the WD in response to receiving, by the WD from a network node 16, a CSI-RS port muting pattern indication. ¶330-337 & Fig. 13, Nimbalker further discloses that the CSI-RS port muting pattern indication indicates a spatial pattern by muting, or not allowing power to, a set of antenna ports. Examiner correlates the spatial condition of the UE to the current muting pattern of the WD/UE).
Regarding Claim 16, Nimbalker discloses the apparatus of claim 15.
Nimbalker further discloses wherein the configuration specifies at least one parameter to determine the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol based at least on the spatial condition of the user equipment (¶15, Nimbalker discloses that the CSI-RS measurement configuration includes at least one parameter, such as slot offset and periodicity, that would affect the spatial pattern or the number of symbols configured for the CSI-RS measurement).
Regarding Claim 17, Nimbalker discloses the apparatus of claim 13.
Nimbalker further discloses wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
determine the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol in response to a change of the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol (¶123-124 & ¶250-251 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 38:14-39:2 & Fig. 11, Nimbalker discloses determining a second number of symbols for CSI-RS measurement in response to a change of an adjusted parameter of the CSI-RS measurement configuration and the CSI-RS muting pattern indication).
Regarding Claim 18, Nimbalker discloses the apparatus of claim 17.
Nimbalker further discloses wherein the spatial pattern comprises a number of at least one spatial element (¶330-337 & Fig. 13 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 38:14-39:2 & Fig. 11, Nimbalker discloses that the muting pattern comprises resource elements corresponding to the active antenna ports), and the number of the at least one spatial element is greater than zero before and after the change of the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol (¶123-124 & ¶250-251 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 38:14-39:2 & Fig. 11, Nimbalker discloses determining a first number of symbols for CSI-RS measurement prior to a change of an adjusted parameter of the CSI-RS measurement configuration and the CSI-RS muting pattern indication and the second number of symbols where both numbers are greater than zero).
Regarding Claim 19, Nimbalker discloses the apparatus of claim 15.
Nimbalker further discloses wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:
determine the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol in response to a change of the spatial condition of the user equipment (¶123-124 & ¶250-251 | Supported by U.S. Provisional Application 63/336,717: Specification: 38:14-39:2 & Fig. 11, Nimbalker discloses determining a second number of symbols for CSI-RS measurement in response to a change of an adjusted parameter of the CSI-RS measurement configuration and the CSI-RS muting pattern indication).
Regarding Claim 20, Claim 20 is rejected on the same basis as Claim 1.
Internet Communications
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Conclusion
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/ERIC NOWLIN/Examiner, Art Unit 2474