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 with respect to claims have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Response to Amendment
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 1-3, 5-8, 11-20 are pending.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-3, 5-8, 11 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Noh et al. (US2021/0014931), claim priority to KR 10-2019-0083952, July 11th, 2019 in view of Xu US 2023/0239748, claiming priority to US Provisional, 63/089,295.
Claims 1, 18 to 20 as amended, are interpreted in light of Fig 7 and Fig. 9 of the original application namely element 732 and corresponding written disclosure.
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The claimed “first field indicating an identity of a serving cell associated with a first CORESET POOL ID to which the control element applies” is simply Fig. 8, element 810, Serving Cell ID and Pool ID. Here the CORESET POOL ID appears to be a value of “0” or “1”.
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The claimed “second field having an index indicating a non-serving cell information unit which is a subset of one or more TCI states, being active, can be associated with a second CORESET POOL ID” is the TCI State IDs of Fig. 8, and paragraph 96 of the current application.
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Primary reference Noh, Fig. 16A and Fig. 16B, offers an identical teaching to Fig. 8 and Fig 9 of current application. Fig. 16A of Noh is the same as Fig. 9 of the current application.
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Fig. 16B of Noh is the same as Fig. 8 of the current application.
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Regarding claim 1, Noh teaches A wireless communication method, comprising: receiving, by a wireless communication device from a wireless communication node, a first message including a control element to indicate a configuration of one or more TCI states, (Noh, Fig. 17, steps 1720, obtain information from BS, via RRC; PP322)
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the control element including a first field indicating an identity of a serving cell associated with a first CORESET POOL ID to which the control element applies, (Noh, Fig. 16B, PP301, CORESET POOL ID and Serving Cell ID)
and a second field having an index indicating a (non-serving) cell information unit which is a subset of one or more TCI states, being active, can be associated with a second CORESET POOL ID. (Noh, Fig. 16B, OCT2 and OC3, T0 to T15, PP301)
and determining, by the wireless communication device, an activation status of each of one or more TCI states (Noh, Fig. 17, steps 1740, obtain information from BS, via RRC; PP324).
Noh does not state the second field having an index indicating non-serving cell information.
Xu, teaches a second field having an index indicating a (non-serving) cell information unit which is a subset of one or more TCI states, being active, can be associated with a second CORESET POOL ID. (XU, Fig. 25A, PP251 to 252 teaches “the first MAC CE may comprise a bit field indicating a neighbor cell ID (or a non-serving cell ID or a target cell ID)”).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the current application to combine the teachings of Xu with Noh. Fig. 8 of the current application is identical to Fig. 16B of Noh and Fig. 25B of Xu. Secondary reference Xu is to show that non-serving cell information is provided in the same format of DCI.
Regarding claim 18, Noh teaches A wireless communication method, comprising: sending, by a wireless communication node to a wireless communication device, a first message including a control element to indicate a configuration of one or more TCI states, (Noh, Fig. 17, steps 1720, obtain information from BS, via RRC; PP322)
the control element including a first field indicating an identity of a serving cell associated with a first CORESET POOL ID to which the control element applies, (Noh, Fig. 16B, PP301, CORESET POOL ID and Serving Cell ID)
and a second field having an index indicating a (non-serving) cell information unit which is a subset of one or more TCI states, being active, can be associated with a second CORESET POOL ID. (Noh, Fig. 16B, OCT2 and OC3, T0 to T15, PP301)
and sending, by the wireless communication node to the wireless communication device, a downlink communication; Noh, Fig. 10, element 10-20, PP221 teaches PDSCh transmission)
wherein the control element can be used by the wireless communication device to determine an activation status of each of the one or more TCI states for the downlink communication. (Noh, Fig. 17, steps 1740, obtain information from BS, via RRC; PP324).
Noh does not state the second field having an index indicating non-serving cell information.
Xu, teaches a second field having an index indicating a (non-serving) cell information unit which is a subset of one or more TCI states, being active, can be associated with a second CORESET POOL ID. (XU, Fig. 25A, PP251 to 252 teaches “the first MAC CE may comprise a bit field indicating a neighbor cell ID (or a non-serving cell ID or a target cell ID)”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the current application to combine the teachings of Xu with Noh. Fig. 8 of the current application is identical to Fig. 16B of Noh and Fig. 25B of Xu. Secondary reference Xu is to show that non-serving cell information is provided in the same format of DCI.
Regarding claim 19, Noh teaches A wireless communication device, comprising: at least one processor configured to:
receive, via a receiver from a wireless communication node, a first message including a control element to indicate a configuration of one or more TCI states, (Noh, Fig. 17, steps 1720, obtain information from BS, via RRC; PP322)
the control element including a first field indicating an identity of a serving cell associated with a first CORESET POOL ID to which the control element applies, (Noh, Fig. 16B, PP301, CORESET POOL ID and Serving Cell ID)
and a second field having an index indicating a (non-serving) cell information unit which is a subset of one or more TCI states, being active, can be associated with a second CORESET POOL ID. (Noh, Fig. 16B, OCT2 and OC3, T0 to T15, PP301)
and determining, by the wireless communication device, an activation status of each of one or more TCI states (Noh, Fig. 17, steps 1740, obtain information from BS, via RRC; PP324).
Noh does not state the second field having an index indicating non-serving cell information.
Xu, teaches a second field having an index indicating a (non-serving) cell information unit which is a subset of one or more TCI states, being active, can be associated with a second CORESET POOL ID. (XU, Fig. 25A, PP251 to 252 teaches “the first MAC CE may comprise a bit field indicating a neighbor cell ID (or a non-serving cell ID or a target cell ID)”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the current application to combine the teachings of Xu with Noh. Fig. 8 of the current application is identical to Fig. 16B of Noh and Fig. 25B of Xu. Secondary reference Xu is to show that non-serving cell information is provided in the same format of DCI.
Regarding claim 20, Noh teaches A wireless communication node, comprising: at least one processor configured to:
send, via a transmitter to a wireless communication device, a first message including a control element to indicate a configuration of one or more TCI states, (Noh, Fig. 17, steps 1720, obtain information from BS, via RRC; PP322)
the control element including a first field indicating an identity of a serving cell associated with a first CORESET POOL ID to which the control element applies, (Noh, Fig. 16B, PP301, CORESET POOL ID and Serving Cell ID)
and a second field having an index indicating a (non-serving) cell information unit which is a subset of one or more TCI states, being active, can be associated with a second CORESET POOL ID. (Noh, Fig. 16B, OCT2 and OC3, T0 to T15, PP301)
and send, via the transmitter to the wireless communication device, a downlink communication, (Noh, Fig. 10, element 10-20, PP221 teaches PDSCH transmission)
wherein the control element can be used by the wireless communication device to determine an activation status of each of one or more TCI states for downlink communication (Noh, Fig. 17, steps 1740, obtain information from BS, via RRC; PP324).
Noh does not state the second field having an index indicating non-serving cell information.
Xu, teaches a second field having an index indicating a (non-serving) cell information unit which is a subset of one or more TCI states, being active, can be associated with a second CORESET POOL ID. (XU, Fig. 25A, PP251 to 252 teaches “the first MAC CE may comprise a bit field indicating a neighbor cell ID (or a non-serving cell ID or a target cell ID)”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the current application to combine the teachings of Xu with Noh. Fig. 8 of the current application is identical to Fig. 16B of Noh and Fig. 25B of Xu. Secondary reference Xu is to show that non-serving cell information is provided in the same format of DCI.
Regarding claim 2, Noh in view of Xu teach the method of claim 1, wherein the downlink communication includes at least one of a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) reception, a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) reception, a Semi-Persistent (SP) Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), a Semi-Persistent (SP) Channel State Information Interference Measurement (CSI-IM), or an aperiodic Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS). (Noh, Fig. 10, element 10-20, PP221 teaches PDSCH transmission)
Regarding claim 3, Noh in view of Xu teach the method of claim 1, further comprising identifying, by the wireless communication device, the control element from the first message based on at least one of a Medium Access Control (MAC) subheader or an Extended Logic Channel Indicator (eLCID). (Noh, Fig. 16A to Fig 16C shows a MAC control element)
Regarding claim 5, Noh in view of Xu teach all the limitations with respect to claim 1 above, and the control element includes a second field indicating a Bandwidth Part Indicator (BWP ID). (Noh, Fig. 16B, BWP ID)
Regarding claim 6, Noh in view of Xu teach all the limitations with respect to claim 1 above, and the control element includes one or more third fields respectively indicating the operative statuses of the one or more TCI states. (Noh, Fig. 16A, TCI State ID)
Regarding claim 7, Noh in view of Xu teach the method of claim 6, wherein the one or more third fields form a bitmap. (Noh, PP 106 mentions bitmap)
Regarding claim 8, Noh in view of Xu teach the method of claim 6, wherein the one or more third fields form one or more codepoints (Noh, Table 15 mentions TCI code point).
Regarding claim 11, Noh in view of Xu teach the method of claim 1, wherein the single non-serving cell information unit can be associated with a cell configured with a different Physical Cell Indicator (PCI) from a serving cell. (Noh, Fig. 17, PP221)
Claims 12-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable Noh et al. (US2021/0014931) in view of Xu US 2023/0239748further in view of Zhang US 20240064725A1.
Regarding claim 12, Noh in view of Xu teach teaches the method of claim 1. Noh and Xu do not teach receiving, by the wireless communication device, second message including a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, wherein the single non-serving cell information unit can be specific to a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) of an RRC Information Element (IE).
However, in the analogous art, Zhang teaches receiving, by the wireless communication device, second message including a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling (ZHANG, paragraph 40, teach receiving RRC signaling.) that configures the single non-serving cell information unit, (ZHANG, paragraph 49, teach receiving RRC signaling configuring the TRP index.)
wherein the single non-serving cell information unit can be specific to a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) of an RRC Information Element (IE). (ZHOU, paragraphs 54, teach receiving a downlink beam specific to a SSB of an RRC IE.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of ZHANG with the teachings of XU to configure receiving, by the wireless communication device, second message including a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling that configures the single non-serving cell information unit, wherein the single non-serving cell information unit can be specific to a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) of an RRC Information Element (IE). The motivation would be to support the provisioning of multiple TCI states with an indication of their correspondence (ZHANG, paragraph 17).
Regarding claim 13, Noh in view of Xu teach the method of claim 1, Noh and Xu do not teach the index further indicates a PCI additional to a PCI of a serving cell and associated with the single non-serving cell information unit.
However, in the analogous art, Zhang further teaches the index further indicates a PCI additional to a PCI of a serving cell and associated with the single non-serving cell information unit. (ZHANG, Fig. 6C, paragraph 43, teach fields indexing TRP IDs, wherein the TRP ID field corresponds to PCI from a non-serving cell ID 624.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of ZHANG with the teachings of XU to configure the index further indicates a PCI additional to a PCI of a serving cell and associated with the single non-serving cell information unit. The motivation would be to support the provisioning of multiple TCI states with an indication of their correspondence (ZHANG, paragraph 17).
Regarding claim 14, Noh in view of Xu teach the method of claim 1, Noh and Xu do not teach the fifth field can be present in the control element when the non-serving cell information unit can be configured with the index, and wherein the fifth field can be specific to the configured index in the non-serving cell information unit.
However, in the analogous art, Zhang further teaches the fifth field can be present in the control element when the non-serving cell information unit can be configured with the index, and wherein the fifth field can be specific to the configured index in the non-serving cell information unit. (ZHANG, Fig. 6C, paragraph 43, teach fields indexing TRP IDs, wherein the TRP ID field corresponds to PCI from a non-serving cell ID 624.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of ZHANG with the teachings of XU to configure the fifth field can be present in the control element when the non-serving cell information unit can be configured with the index, and wherein the fifth field can be specific to the configured index in the non-serving cell information unit. The motivation would be to support the provisioning of multiple TCI states with an indication of their correspondence (ZHANG, paragraph 17).
Regarding claim 15, Noh in view of Xu teach the method of claim 12, Noh and Xu do not teach a number of the activated TCI states associated with the non-serving cell information unit corresponds to the additional PCI, and depends on User Equipment (UE) capability of the wireless communication device.
However, in the analogous art, Zhang further teaches a number of the activated TCI states associated with the non-serving cell information unit corresponds to the additional PCI, and depends on User Equipment (UE) capability of the wireless communication device. (ZHANG, paragraphs 17-18, teach the TCI states corresponding to indications of supporting band or band group (i.e. capabilities).)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of ZHANG with the teachings of XU to configure a number of the activated TCI states associated with the non-serving cell information unit corresponds to the additional PCI, and depends on User Equipment (UE) capability of the wireless communication device. The motivation would be to support the provisioning of multiple TCI states with an indication of their correspondence (ZHANG, paragraph 17).
Regarding claim 16, Noh in view of Xu teach the method of claim 15, Noh and Xu do not teach the wireless communication device is capable of supporting inter-cell multi transmission and reception point (MTRP) operation, in response to the UE reporting the UE capability associated with a maximum number.
However, in the analogous art, Zhang further teaches the wireless communication device is capable of supporting inter-cell multi transmission and reception point (MTRP) operation, in response to the UE reporting the UE capability associated with a maximum number. (ZHANG, paragraph 22, teach the UE supporting and connecting through massive MIMO functionality.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of ZHANG with the teachings of XU to configure the UE as capable of supporting inter-cell multi transmission and reception point (MTRP) operation, in response to the UE reporting the UE capability associated with a maximum number. The motivation would be to support the provisioning of multiple TCI states with an indication of their correspondence (ZHANG, paragraph 17).
Regarding claim 17, Noh in view of Xu teach the method of claim 15, Noh and Xu do not teach the wireless communication device is not capable of supporting inter-cell multi transmission and reception point (MTRP) operation, in response to the UE forgoing reporting the UE capability associated with a maximum number.
However, in the analogous art, Zhang further teaches the wireless communication device is not capable of supporting inter-cell multi transmission and reception point (MTRP) operation, in response to the UE forgoing reporting the UE capability associated with a maximum number. (ZHANG, paragraph 23, teach the UE transmitting corresponding credential information to associate with a specific base station.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to combine the teachings of ZHANG with the teachings of XU to configure the UE as not capable of supporting inter-cell multi transmission and reception point (MTRP) operation, in response to the UE forgoing reporting the UE capability associated with a maximum number. The motivation would be to support the provisioning of multiple TCI states with an indication of their correspondence (ZHANG, paragraph 17).
Conclusion
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/CHARLES C JIANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2412
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