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 .
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.
Claim(s) 13-15, 24 and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kang et al (US 20260045991).
As to claims 13 and 28 Kang discloses a method of wireless communication performed by a base station (Kang 100/200 of Fig.6), and a base station comprising: a memory storing processor-readable code (110 of Fig.6 ¶0164); and at least one processor coupled to the memory (Zhang 110 of Fig.6), the at least one processor configured to execute the processor-readable code to cause the at least one processor for: receiving control information from a user equipment device (UE) that identifies one or more beam pairs for use in communicating with the UE(Kang ¶0137- last sentence-the UE may report, to the base station, CSI including information related to the ‘simultaneous transmission capable beam pair’ or the ‘simultaneous reception and transmission capable beam pair’ ); determining one or more beam pairs identified by the control information (Kang ¶0139- Information related to the ‘simultaneous reception and transmission capable beam pair’ or the ‘simultaneous transmission capable beam pair’ may be based on two CRIs (or two SSBRIs) of each group of one or more groups),; determining a first beam pair from among the one or more beam pairs, wherein the first beam pair is capable of both transmitting and receiving data(Zang ¶0136-2nd sentence-That is, a resource pair belonging to the same group may correspond to a beam pair that supports simultaneous reception (and/or simultaneous transmission); and communicating with the UE using the first beam pair (Zang ¶0143-reoporting configuration of the base station is the same as the existing method, but the UE may additionally report, to each group, an indicator for whether the simultaneous transmission is capable or incapable. In other words, the base station may perform group based beam reporting configuration from a DL perspective (e.g., groupBasedBeamReporting=‘enabled’ or groupBasedBeamReporting-r17).
As to claims 14 and 29 Kang discloses the method and base station of claims 13 and 28 respectively, wherein the control information includes, for at least a subset of the one or more beam pairs, direction indicators that indicate transmitting capabilities for corresponding beam pairs and/or receiving capabilities of corresponding beam pairs, wherein the direction indicators indicate at least one of corresponding beam pairs capable of transmitting data, corresponding beam pairs capable of receiving data, and corresponding beam pairs capable of both transmitting data and receiving data(Kang ¶0094- -2nd sentence- if a beam measurement RS set/group is divided into two subsets/sub-groups, and the base station configures them, the UE will select RS(s) for each subset/sub-group and report them ; Kang ¶0137-1st sentence- the UE may report a ‘simultaneous reception and transmission capable beam pair’ or a ‘simultaneous transmission capable beam pair’ based on the reporting configuration of the base station .Kang ¶0139-Information related to the ‘simultaneous reception and transmission capable beam pair’ or the ‘simultaneous transmission capable beam pair’ may be based on two CRIs (or two SSBRIs) of each group of one or more groups)..
As to claim 15 Kang discloses the method of claim 14, wherein the direction indicators may include a one- bit indicator, wherein a first value of the one-bit indicator identifies a first combination of transmitting capabilities and receiving capabilities and a second value of the one-bit indicator identifies a second combination of transmitting capabilities and receiving capabilities Kang ¶0143- last sentence- the UE may additionally report, to each group (e.g., resource group or beam group), an (1 bit) indicator for whether the simultaneous transmission is capable or incapable).
As to claim 24 Kang discloses the method of claim 13, wherein the control information includes signal information for at least a subset of the one or more beam pairs, the signal information including at least one of (i) reference signal received power (RSRP) and (ii) signal interference/noise ratio (SINR) (Kang ¶0094- -2nd sentence- if a beam measurement RS set/group is divided into two subsets/sub-groups, and the base station configures them, the UE will select RS(s) for each subset/sub-group and report them along with a quality value (L1-RSRP, [L1-SINR]) of the corresponding RS.).
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.
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) 1-3, 5-6, 12, 17-18, and 25-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kang in view of Zhang et al (US 20250287243).
As to claims 1 and 25 Kang discloses a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), and a user equipment (UE) comprising: a memory storing processor-readable code; and at least one processor coupled to the memory, the at least one processor configured to execute the processor-readable code to cause the at least one processor to the method comprising: determining one or more beam pairs available for wireless communication, wherein the one or more beam pairs are capable of transmitting data, receiving data, or both (Kang ¶0135- the UE to which the report is configured/indicated selects one resource (i.e., CRI or SSBRI) from each CSI resource set and reports resource pair information on a group basis. That is, a resource pair belonging to the same group may correspond to a beam pair that supports simultaneous reception (and/or simultaneous transmission); determining one or more transmitting capabilities of the one or more beam pairs and one or more receiving capabilities of the one or more beam pairs (Kang ¶0136-The method can be extendedly applied to not only a report of ‘simultaneous reception capable beam pair’ but also a report of ‘simultaneous transmission capable beam pair’); determining, based on the transmitting capabilities and the receiving capabilities, control information that identifies the one or more beam pairs- control information regarded as CRIs/ SSBRIs (Kang ¶0139- Information related to the ‘simultaneous reception and transmission capable beam pair’ or the ‘simultaneous transmission capable beam pair’ may be based on two CRIs (or two SSBRIs) of each group of one or more groups), wherein the control information identifies at least one of the one or more beam pairs as capable of both transmitting and receiving data; and transmitting the control information to a base station (Kang ¶0137- last sentence-the UE may report, to the base station, CSI including information related to the ‘simultaneous transmission capable beam pair’ or the ‘simultaneous reception and transmission capable beam pair’ ). Kang however is silent where the beam pairs each include at least two beams capable of transmitting data, receiving data, or both . However in an analogous art Zhang remedies this deficiency: ) (Zhang ¶0055- 3rd sentence-a UE may measure and report K beam pairs rather than K single beams, where each beam pair includes two beams, one from each CMR set. The UE may receive the two beams in each pair simultaneously). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the teachings of Kang with that of Zhang for the purpose of overhead reduction based on antenna panel reduction (Zhang ¶0044-last sentence).
As to claims 2 an 26 the combined teachings of Kang and Zhang disclose the method and UE of claims 1 and 25 respectively, wherein the control information includes, for at least a subset of the one or more beam pairs, direction indicators that indicate transmitting capabilities for corresponding beam pairs and/or receiving capabilities of corresponding beam pairs, wherein the direction indicators indicate at least one of corresponding beam pairs capable of transmitting data, corresponding beam pairs capable of receiving data, and corresponding beam pairs capable of both transmitting data and receiving data (Kang ¶0094- -2nd sentence- if a beam measurement RS set/group is divided into two subsets/sub-groups, and the base station configures them, the UE will select RS(s) for each subset/sub-group and report them ; Kang ¶0137-1st sentence- the UE may report a ‘simultaneous reception and transmission capable beam pair’ or a ‘simultaneous transmission capable beam pair’ based on the reporting configuration of the base station .Kang ¶0139-Information related to the ‘simultaneous reception and transmission capable beam pair’ or the ‘simultaneous transmission capable beam pair’ may be based on two CRIs (or two SSBRIs) of each group of one or more groups).
As to claim 3 the combined teachings of Kang and Zhang disclose the method of claim 2, wherein the direction indicators include a one-bit indicator, wherein a first value of the one-bit indicator identifies a first combination of transmitting capabilities and receiving capabilities and a second value of the one-bit indicator identifies a second combination of transmitting capabilities and receiving capabilities Kang ¶0143- last sentence- the UE may additionally report, to each group (e.g., resource group or beam group), an (1 bit) indicator for whether the simultaneous transmission is capable or incapable).
As to claim 5 the combined teachings of Kang and Zhang disclose the method of claim 2, wherein the one or more beam pairs includes two or more beam pairs (Zhang ¶0055- 4th sentence- a UE may measure and report K beam pairs rather than K single beams, where each beam pair includes two beams, one from each CMR set. The UE may receive the two beams in each pair simultaneously) and wherein each of at least a subset of the direction indicators correspond to multiple beam pairs from the two or more beam pairs (Kang ¶0094- a UE measures/reports an optimal beam RS for each TRP, targeting a multi-TRP environment. To this end, if a beam measurement RS set/group is divided into two subsets/sub-groups, and the base station configures them, the UE will select RS(s) for each subset/sub-group and report them). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teachings of Kang with that of Zhang for the purpose of overhead reduction based on antenna panel reduction (Zhang ¶0044-last sentence).
As to claim 6 the combined teachings of Kang and Zhang disclose the method of claim 2, wherein the control information includes a capability index that identifies a quantity of ports available for each beam of a predetermined quantity of the one or more beam pairs (Zhang ¶0057-2nd – 4th sentences- a UE may report its panel entity index (also referred to as a “capability index”) for each reported SSB/CSI-RS in a beam report. The panel entity index that is reported in the beam report corresponding to a particular SSB or CSI-RS may serve as an indication to the base station that the UE will use a particular panel corresponding to the panel entity index for uplink transmissions. Further, for each panel, the UE may report a maximum number of ports (e.g., Sounding Reference Signal [SRS] ports) that the panel can support.). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teachings of Kang with that of Zhang for the purpose of overhead reduction based on antenna panel reduction (Zhang ¶0044-last sentence).
As to claim 12 the combined teachings of Kang and Zhang disclose the method of claim 1, wherein the control information includes signal information for at least a subset of the one or more beam pairs, the signal information including at least one of (i) reference signal received power (RSRP) and (ii) signal interference/noise ratio (SINR) (Kang ¶0094- -2nd sentence- if a beam measurement RS set/group is divided into two subsets/sub-groups, and the base station configures them, the UE will select RS(s) for each subset/sub-group and report them along with a quality value (L1-RSRP, [L1-SINR]) of the corresponding RS.).
As to claim 17 Kang discloses the method of claim 14, wherein each of at least a subset of the direction indicators correspond to multiple beam pairs from the two or more beam pairs(Kang ¶0094- a UE measures/reports an optimal beam RS for each TRP, targeting a multi-TRP environment. To this end, if a beam measurement RS set/group is divided into two subsets/sub-groups, and the base station configures them, the UE will select RS(s) for each subset/sub-group and report them).
Kang however is silent wherein the one or more beam pairs includes two or more beam pairs. However, in an analogous art Zhang remedies this deficiency: (Zhang ¶0055- 4th sentence- a UE may measure and report K beam pairs rather than K single beams, where each beam pair includes two beams, one from each CMR set. The UE may receive the two beams in each pair simultaneously). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the teachings of Kang with that of Zhang for the purpose of overhead reduction based on antenna panel reduction (Zhang ¶0044-last sentence).
As to claim 18 Kang discloses the method of claim 14, however silent wherein the control information includes a capability index that identifies a quantity of ports available for each beam of a predetermined quantity of the one or more beam pairs. However, in an analogous art Zhang remedies this deficiency: (Zhang ¶0057-2nd – 4th sentences- a UE may report its panel entity index (also referred to as a “capability index”) for each reported SSB/CSI-RS in a beam report. The panel entity index that is reported in the beam report corresponding to a particular SSB or CSI-RS may serve as an indication to the base station that the UE will use a particular panel corresponding to the panel entity index for uplink transmissions. Further, for each panel, the UE may report a maximum number of ports (e.g., Sounding Reference Signal [SRS] ports) that the panel can support.). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the teachings of Kang with that of Zhang for the purpose of overhead reduction based on antenna panel reduction (Zhang ¶0044-last sentence).
Claim(s) 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kang in view of Zhang and further in view of Stirling-Gallacher et al (US 20160353424).
As to claim 4 the combined teachings of Kang and Zhang disclose the method of claim 2, however silent wherein the direction indicators include a two-bit indicator, wherein a first value of the two-bit indicator identifies a first combination of transmitting capabilities and receiving capabilities, a second value of the two-bit indicator identifies a second combination of transmitting capabilities and receiving capabilities, and a third value of the two-bit indicator identifies a third combination of transmitting capabilities and receiving capabilities. However, in an analogous art Stirling-Gallacher remedies this deficiency: ¶00084- penultimate sentence- the IC capability of a UE may be classified into one of four classes and may be represented by a 2-bit indicator, which may help to reduce signaling overhead in transmitting the UE capability reports. An example of the four classes and its associated indicator value may be: 00=no IC capability; 01=simple IC (e.g., SIC only); 10=advanced IC; and 11=highly advanced IC.). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the combined teachings of Kang and Zhang with that of Stirling-Gallacher for the purpose of reducing signaling overhead in transmitting UE capability reports (¶Stirling-Gallacher 0084).
Claim(s) 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kang in view of Stirling-Gallacher et al (US 20160353424).
As to claim 16 Kang discloses the method of claim 14, however silent wherein the direction indicators include a two-bit indicator, wherein a first value of the two-bit indicator identifies a first combination of transmitting capabilities and receiving capabilities, a second value of the two-bit indicator identifies a second combination of transmitting capabilities and receiving capabilities, and a third value of the two-bit indicator identifies a third combination of transmitting capabilities and receiving capabilities However, in an analogous art Stirling-Gallacher remedies this deficiency Stirling-Gallacher remedies this deficiency: ¶00084- penultimate sentence- the IC capability of a UE may be classified into one of four classes and may be represented by a 2-bit indicator, which may help to reduce signaling overhead in transmitting the UE capability reports. An example of the four classes and its associated indicator value may be: 00=no IC capability; 01=simple IC (e.g., SIC only); 10=advanced IC; and 11=highly advanced IC.). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the combined teachings of Kang and Zhang with that of Stirling-Gallacher for the purpose of reducing signaling overhead in transmitting UE capability reports (¶Stirling-Gallacher 0084).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-11, 19-23, 27, and 30 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Gao- Beam Reporting Enhancement Method and Apparatus, and Communication Device and Storage Medium- US 20260031884, ¶0096.
Matsumura et al – Terminal, Radio Communication Method, And Base Station- US 20240154667, ¶0186.
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/DERRICK V ROSE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462