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 .
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.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) was submitted on 13 January 2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
The information disclosure statement filed 21 January 2025 fails to comply with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97, 1.98 and MPEP § 609 because both the citation for NPL #3 and the submission are erroneous. It has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein has not been considered as to the merits. Applicant is advised that the date of any re-submission of any item of information contained in this information disclosure statement or the submission of any missing element(s) will be the date of submission for purposes of determining compliance with the requirements based on the time of filing the statement, including all certification requirements for statements under 37 CFR 1.97(e). See MPEP § 609.05(a).
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ericsson 3GPP R2-2105999 “On L1/L2 centric inter-cell mobility” (hereinafter referred to as “Ericsson”). Note: Ericsson was cited by the applicant in the IDS received 13 January 2025.
As to claim 1, Ericsson teaches a communication method, comprising:
receiving, by a terminal device, first information, wherein the first information indicates to activate a first transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state of a candidate target cell (page 8: receive, via MAC CE, to activate a TCI associated to a PCI other than the serving cell); and
activating, by the terminal device, the first TCI state of the candidate target cell based on the first information (page 8: use MAC CE to activate the TCI state thereby switching serving cells).
As to claim 2, Ericsson teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the first information is media access control control element (MAC CE) signaling, the MAC CE signaling comprises a cell identifier field that indicates the candidate target cell (page 8: receive, via MAC CE, to activate a TCI associated to a PCI other than the serving cell).
As to claim 3, Ericsson teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein there is an association relationship between the cell identifier field and a physical cell identifier (PCI) of the candidate target cell (page 8: receive, via MAC CE, to activate a TCI associated to a PCI other than the serving cell).
As to claim 4, Ericsson teaches the method according to claim 3, wherein the association relationship is received by the terminal device by using a radio resource control (RRC) signaling (page 8: RRC configuration defines the TCI states and associations).
As to claim 5, Ericsson teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein before the receiving, by a terminal device, first information, the method further comprises: receiving, by the terminal device, second information, wherein the second information comprises configuration information of one or more candidate target cells, and the configuration information comprises one or more of: a cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI), a TCI state configuration, a synchronization broadcast signal block (SSB) receiving configuration, a random access channel (RACH) configuration, or serving cell configuration information (page 8: before receiving MAC CE indicating the switch, receive RRC configuration configuring other cell SSB/PCI and respective TCI states).
As to claim 6, Ericsson teaches a communication method, comprising:
generating, by a network device, first information, wherein the first information indicates to activate a first transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state of a candidate target cell (page 8: generate MAC CE to activate a TCI associated to a PCI other than the serving cell); and
sending, by the network device, the first information to a terminal device (page 8: transmit the MAC CE to a UE).
As to claim 7, Ericsson teaches the method according to claim 6, wherein the first information is media access control control element (MAC CE) signaling, the MAC CE signaling comprises a cell identifier field that indicates the candidate target cell (page 8:MAC CE to activate a TCI associated to a PCI other than the serving cell).
As to claim 8, Ericsson teaches the method according to claim 7, wherein there is an association relationship between the cell identifier field and a physical cell identifier (PCI) of the candidate target cell (page 8: receive, via MAC CE, to activate a TCI associated to a PCI other than the serving cell).
As to claim 9, Ericsson teaches the method according to claim 8, wherein the association relationship is configured to the terminal device by using a radio resource control (RRC) signaling (page 8: RRC configuration defines the TCI states and associations).
As to claim 10, Ericsson teaches the method according to claim 6, wherein before the sending the first information to the terminal device, the method further comprises:
sending second information to the terminal device, wherein the second information comprises configuration information of one or more candidate target cells, and the configuration information comprises one or more of the following information: a cell radio network temporary identifier (C- RNTI), a TCI state configuration, a synchronization broadcast signal block (SSB) receiving configuration, a random access channel (RACH) configuration, or serving cell configuration information (page 8: before sending MAC CE to UE indicating the switch, send, to UE, RRC configuration configuring other cell SSB/PCI and respective TCI states).
As to claim 11, claim 11 is rejected the same way as claim 1.
As to claim 12, claim 12 is rejected the same way as claim 2.
As to claim 13, claim 13 is rejected the same way as claim 3.
As to claim 14, claim 14 is rejected the same way as claim 4.
As to claim 15, claim 15 is rejected the same way as claim 5.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Matsumura et al., US 2024/0306053 A1 – Terminal, Radio Communication Method, and Base Station
Zhang et al., US 2024/0396614 A1 – Methods and Apparatus of Monitoring PDCCH Scheduling Common Information with Multiple TRP Transmission
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN T VAN ROIE whose telephone number is (571)270-0308. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ian N Moore can be reached at 571-272-3085. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JUSTIN T VAN ROIE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469