DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is in response to the amendment filed 21 April 2026. Claims 1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 17, 19, and 21-25 are pending in this application.
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 § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 7, 11, 12, 14, 17, and 21-24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu et al. (US 2023/0058765) in view of Kim et al. (US 11888566) and Khoshnevisan et al. (US 2022/0322333).
For Claims 1, 11, and 21, Zhu teaches a communication method performed by a communication apparatus, a communication apparatus, comprising: at least one processor coupled to one or more memories storing programming instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the communication apparatus to execute a method (see paragraphs 25-27), and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions that, when executed by a communication apparatus, cause the communication apparatus to execute a method (see paragraphs 25-27), the communication method comprising:
receiving first configuration information from a radio access network device, wherein the first configuration information indicates a plurality of channel measurement resources (see paragraphs 37-38, 56);
performing channel measurement based on the first configuration information to obtain a first measurement result (see paragraphs 52, 55); and
sending the first measurement result to the radio access network device, wherein the first measurement result comprises a joint channel measurement result, the joint channel measurement result is a channel measurement result of a first resource pair, the first resource pair comprises one or more resource pairs, each resource pair of the one or more resource pairs comprising two channel measurement resources, the two channel measurement resources belong to the plurality of channel measurement resources, and the joint channel measurement result comprises first indication information of the first resource pair (see paragraphs 55-57); wherein
the first configuration information further comprises second indication information, the second indication information indicates a second resource pair, the second resource pair comprises one or more resource pairs that are in the plurality of channel measurement resources and that are used for joint channel measurement, and the second resource pair comprises the first resource pair (see paragraphs 55-56).
Zhu as applied above is not explicit as to, but Kim teaches a quantity of channel state information processing units (CPUs) occupied by the channel measurement is Q+k*P, wherein Q is a quantity of channel measurement resources comprised in a first resource, and the first resource comprises one or more channel measurement resources used for single channel measurement in the plurality of channel measurement resources, P is a quantity of resource pairs comprised in the second resource pair, and Q, P, and k are positive integers (see claims 1-3).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was filed to calculate the number of CPUs as in Kim when arranging channel measurements as in Zhu. The motivation would be to ensure the apparatus is using sufficient resources for determining CSI.
The references as applied above are not explicit as to, but Khoshnevisan teaches k being a value reported by the communication apparatus (see paragraph 94).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was filed for the apparatus to provide the network side with capability information as in Khoshnevisan when implementing the method of Zhu and Kim. The motivation would be for the network to have information necessary to appropriately configure the apparatus.
For Claims 2, 12, and 22, Zhu further teaches the communication method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of channel measurement resources correspond to two groups of channel measurement resources, and two channel measurement resources of the each resource pair in the first resource pair are from the two groups of channel measurement resources respectively (see paragraphs 55-57).
For Claims 4, 14, and 23, though Zhu does teach time and frequency separation of channel measurement resources (see paragraphs 50-51), the references as applied above are not explicit as to, but Khoshnevisan teaches the communication method 1, wherein, when a frequency band used by the radio access network device falls within a frequency range (FR) 2, channel measurement resources of different resource pairs in the second resource pair are different (see paragraphs 93, 116).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art the time the application was filed to use different channel measurement resources when operating in the frequency band FR2 as in Khoshnevisan when performing channel measurement as in Zhu. The motivation would be to optimize reception in a manner appropriate for the frequency range.
For Claims 7, 17, and 24, Zhu further teaches the communication method, wherein the first configuration information further comprises third indication information, and the third indication information indicates at least one interference measurement resource (see paragraph 56); and
a type of the interference measurement resource is a non-zero power channel state information-reference signal (NZP CSI-RS) resource or a channel state information-interference measurement (CSI-IM) resource (see paragraph 56).
The references as applied above are not explicit as to, but Khoshnevisan teaches a quantity of interference measurement resources in the at least one interference measurement resource being equal to a sum of Q and P (see paragraphs 125, 129).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was filed to make channel measurements as in Khoshnevisan when performing channel measurements as in Zhu. The motivation would be to optimize reception in accord with the sharing capabilities of the UE.
Claim(s) 9, 19, and 25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu et al. (US 2023/0058765), Kim (US 11888566) and Khoshnevisan et al. (US 2022/0322333) as applied to claims above, and further in view of Kim et al. (US 2022/0256561, hereinafter Kim ‘561).
For Claims 9, 19, and 25, the references as applied above are not explicit as to, but Kim ‘561 teaches the communication method, wherein first Q interference measurement resources in the at least one interference measurement resource are in a one-to-one correspondence with Q channel measurement resources comprised in the first resource, and remaining P interference measurement resources in the at least one interference measurement resource are in a one-to-one correspondence with P resource pairs comprised in the second resource pair (see paragraphs 8, 267-269).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the application was filed to configure the interference measurement resources as in Kim when making measurements as in Zhu and Khoshnevisan. The motivation would be to make allocations in accord with the TRPs in the measurement environment.
Response to Arguments
The amendment filed 21 April 2026 has been entered.
The previous rejections under 35 USC 112 are withdrawn in light of the amendments.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to rejections over prior art have been fully considered, but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection introduced herein. The claims remain rejected under 35 USC 103.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Chen et al. (US 2021/0337415), Yang et al. (US 2022/0247470), and Hao et al. (US 2023/0056106) all teach similar ways to calculating the number of CSI processing units.
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.
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/CASSANDRA L DECKER/Examiner, Art Unit 2466 4/30/2026
/FARUK HAMZA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2466
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