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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 1/6/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant presented arguments that the prior art of Gao fails to teach the limitation “receiving, from the UE, a transmission comprising a CSI reference signal indication (CRI), the CRI indicating whether the UE prefers a single transmission and reception point (TRP) mode or a multiple TRP (multi-TRP) mode.”
The examiner respectfully disagrees with applicant’s arguments. Gao teaches that the BS receives from the UE a set of CRIs, with a certain number selected for use. If only one is selected, it corresponds to a single TRP mode, while multiple selected corresponds to a multiple TRP mode, otherwise known as non-coherent joint transmission, or NC-JT. In NC-JT, multiple TRPs are used simultaneously for transmission, using multiple CSI-RS resources per TRP for transmission. And thus, when multiple CRIs are selected, NC-JT is preferred as it can take advantage of the extra CSI-RSs on multiple TRPs (Page 4, Paragraphs 0052 – 0053, 0055, 0125 and 0128).
Therefore, Gao clearly teaches the above limitations for claims 26 and 46 respectfully and the rejection is sustained.
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.
Claims 26 – 33, 35, 41, 42, 45 and 46 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 102(a)(1) as being unpatentable by Gao et al. (US PG Pub. 2021/0391967 A1, hereinafter “Gao”).
Regarding claim 26, Gao teaches A processor of a base station configured to perform operations comprising (gNB has processor that is configured to provide functions; Page 10, Paragraph 0142): generating, for transmission to a user equipment (UE), at least one channel state information (CSI) report configuration, wherein each CSI report configuration includes at least one reference resource set configuration (CSI-RS resource settings), wherein each reference resource set configuration includes at least one reference resource configuration (NZP CSI-RS resources) (gNB sends UE configuration of CSI-RS resource settings, where each one includes NZP CSI-RS resources associated with different TRPs; Page 8, Paragraph 128); and receiving, from the UE, a transmission comprising a CSI reference signal indication (CRI), the CRI indicating whether the UE prefers a single transmission and reception point (TRP) mode or a multiple TRP (multi-TRP) (non-coherent joint transmission) mode (UE feeds back two CSI reports, then gNB can decide whether to use DPS or NC-JT, a number of NZP CSI-RS resources, where each NZP CSI-RS resource is associated with different TRPs. UE then transmits CRI identifying the resource(s) it selects; Page 4, Paragraphs 0052 – 0053, 0055, 0125 and 0128).
Regarding claim 27, Gao teaches one or more of (a) the at least one CSI report configuration, (b) at least one reference resource set configuration, and (c) at least one reference resource configuration correspond to one of the single TRP mode or the multi-TRP mode (Page 9, Paragraph 0132; NZP CSI-RS can be either DPS or NC-JT).
Regarding claim 28, Gao teaches the at least one CSI report configuration includes one or more CSI report configurations corresponding to the single TRP mode and one or more CSI configurations corresponding to the multi-TRP mode (Page 8, Paragraph 0117; CSI-RSs correspond to either a single or multi-TRP mode), and wherein the transmission includes a CSI report including CSI measurements corresponding to the at least one CSI report configuration that corresponds to a preferred TRP mode (Page 8, Paragraph 0117; UE configured to perform CSI reporting measurements on N NZP CSI-RS resources, and CSI measurements correspond to N NZP CSI-RS resources, of which are associated with a certain TRP mode).
Regarding claim 29, Gao teaches the at least one reference resource set configuration includes one or more reference resource sets corresponding to the single TRP mode and one or more reference resource sets corresponding to the multi-TRP mode (Page 9, Paragraph 0132; NZP CSI-RS can be either DPS or NC-JT), and wherein the transmission includes a reference resource set index identifying one of the at least one reference resource set corresponding to a preferred TRP mode (Page 8, Paragraphs 0128 and 0055; a number of CSI-RS resource settings include a number of NZP CSI-RS resources, associated with different TRPs. UE then transmits CSI resource indicator identifying the resource(s) it selects).
Regarding claim 30, Gao teaches the at least one reference resource configuration includes one or more reference resources corresponding to the single TRP mode and one or more reference resources corresponding to the multi-TRP mode (Page 9, Paragraph 0132; NZP CSI-RS can be either DPS or NC-JT).
Regarding claim 31, Gao teaches the operations further comprise receiving a CSI from the UE, wherein the CSI is based on the at least one reference resource configuration (Page 8, Paragraph 0128; UE sends CSI feedback to base station based on the N NZP CSI-RS resources settings).
Regarding claim 32, Gao teaches the CSI comprises a first CSI report corresponding to a first TRP and a second CSI report corresponding to a second TRP (Page 8, Paragraph 0128; N CSI reports have N NZP CSI-RS resources corresponding to N TRPs).
Regarding claim 33, Gao teaches the CSI comprises a first CSI resource set corresponding to a first TRP and a second CSI resource set corresponding to a second TRP (Page 8, Paragraph 0128; CSI feedback comprises N sets of NZP CSI-RS resources, corresponding to N TRPs).
Regarding claim 35, Gao teaches the operations further comprise: receiving, from the UE, a CSI report comprising at least one rank indicator (RI) corresponding to at least one TRP (Page 3, Paragraph 0023 and Page 8, Paragraph 0127; UE sends CSI feedback to the base station, which includes a transmission rank indicator that corresponds to each TRP).
Regarding claim 41, Gao teaches the operations further comprise: receiving, from the UE, a CSI report comprising at least one precoding matrix indicator (PMI) corresponding to at least one TRP (Page 4, Paragraph 0053; UE sends CSI feedback to the base station, which includes a precoding matrix indicator that corresponds to each TRP).
Regarding claim 42, Gao teaches the operations further comprise: receiving, from the UE, a CSI report comprising at least one channel quality indicator (CQI) corresponding to at least one TRP (Page 4, Paragraph 0053; UE sends CSI feedback to the base station, which includes a channel quality indicator that corresponds to each TRP).
Regarding claim 45, Gao teaches the operations further comprise: receiving, from the UE, a single-DCI based multi-TRP scheme preference (Page 3, Paragraph 0045; UE transmits to base station transmission configuration indicator over DCI to use multiple TRPs).
Regarding claim 46, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 26.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claims 36, 37, 38, and 39 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao et al. (US PG Pub. 2021/0391967 A1, hereinafter “Gao ‘967”) in view of Gao (US PG Pub. 2021/0258060 A1, hereinafter “Gao ‘060”).
Regarding claim 36, Gao ‘967 does not teach an RI equal to zero indicates that the UE does not prefer the corresponding TRP.
In an analogous art, Gao ‘060 teaches an RI equal to zero indicates that the UE does not prefer the corresponding TRP (Page 3, Paragraph 0059 and Page 4, Paragraph 0064; rank indicator indicates the maximum number of layers a terminal device supports, an RI of zero means terminal device does not support TRP and is not involved with transmission).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Gao ‘060 into Gao ‘967 to effectively reduce CSI reporting overhead to save computational resources (Gao ‘060: Page 2, Paragraph 0034 and Page 4, Paragraph 0062).
Regarding claim 37, the combination Gao ‘967 and Gao ‘060, specifically Gao ‘967 teach at least one RI includes a first RI corresponding to a first TRP and a second RI corresponding to a second TRP (Page 3, Paragraph 0023 and Page 8, Paragraph 0127; N transmission rank indicators correspond to N NZP CSI-RS resources), and wherein the first RI and the second RI are jointly encoded to obtain a joint RI, wherein the joint RI is included in the CSI report (Page 3, Paragraph 0023 and Page 7, Paragraph 0112; NZP CSI-RS resources and settings, which include rank indicators, are jointly encoded in the CSI report).
Regarding claim 38, the combination Gao ‘967 and Gao ‘060, specifically Gao ‘060 teach a maximum difference between the first RI and the second RI is 1 (Page 5, Paragraph 0080; if the allowed values for each RI are 1 and 2, the maximum difference between them is 1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Gao ‘060 into Gao ‘967 to effectively reduce CSI reporting overhead to save computational resources (Page 2, Paragraph 0034 and Page 4, Paragraph 0062).
Regarding claim 39, Gao ‘967 teaches for a single downlink control information (DCI) based multi-TRP spatial domain multiplexing (SDM) mode (Page 3, Paragraph 0042, 0045 and Page 4, Paragraph 0057; UE uses single DCI, spatial multiplexing based multi- TRP transmission).
However, Gao ‘967 does not teach a maximum value for each RI is 2.
In an analogous art, Gao ‘060 teaches a maximum value for each RI is 2 (Page 5, Paragraph 0080; the maximum absolute value of the RI is 2).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Gao ‘060 into Gao ‘967 to effectively reduce CSI reporting overhead to save computational resources (Page 2, Paragraph 0034 and Page 4, Paragraph 0062).
Claim 40 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao et al. (US PG Pub. 2021/0391967 A1, hereinafter “Gao”) in view of Shattil (US PG Pub. 2021/0250217 A1).
Regarding claim 40, Gao does not teach for all single-DCI based multi-TRP modes, except the single-DCI based multi-TRP SDM mode, the first RI is equal to the second RI.
In an analogous art, Shattil teaches for all single-DCI based multi-TRP modes, except the single-DCI based multi-TRP SDM mode, the first RI is equal to the second RI (Paragraph 0129; MIMO can use spatial multiplexing or transmit diversity, and in transmit diversity both RIs are the same as they are single rank transmission schemes).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Shattil into Gao to implement an effective way to reduce power consumption to ultimately reduce operating cost of base stations (Paragraphs 0006 – 0007).
Claims 43 and 44 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao et al. (US PG Pub. 2021/0391967 A1, hereinafter “Gao”) in view of Xu et al. (US PG Pub. 2020/0350967 A1, hereinafter “Xu”).
Regarding claim 43, Gao teaches the at least one CQI includes a first CQI corresponding to a first TRP and a second CQI corresponding to a second TRP (Page 4, Paragraph 0053; for each TRP, there is a corresponding CQI).
However, Gao does not teach the first CQI is jointly encoded and the second CQI is encoded using differential encoding.
In an analogous art, Xu teaches the first CQI is jointly encoded and the second CQI is encoded using differential encoding (Paragraphs 0340 and 0397; In a multi-DCI multi TRP scenario, the wireless device may transmit and encode joint CQI values).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the
effective filing date of the invention to modify Xu into Gao to effectively reduce wireless overhead of CSI reporting and improve flexibility for CSI feedback to conserve overall system resources (Paragraph 0359).
Regarding claim 44, the combination Gao and Xu, specifically Gao, teach for single-DCI based multi-TRP reporting, the at least one CQI is a single CQI (Page 3, Paragraph 0045 and Page 7, Paragraph 0113; when a single codeword is used across TRPs, only one CQI is reported in a single DCI multi-TRP report).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Khoshnevisan et al. (US 12,470,272 B2) discloses CSI report configuration with multiple CSI reports
Hao et al. (US 12,088,376 B2) discloses CSI report configuration for multi-TRP transmission
Muruganathan et al. (US 2024/0250727 A1) discloses CSI feedback for multi-trp URLLC schemes
Huang et al. (US 2025/0183961 A1) discloses port groups for reporting multiple transmission reception point coherent joint transmission channel state information
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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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/UN C CHO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2413
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