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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 9/05/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-8, 12-18, and 21-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(2) as being anticipated by MolavianJazi et al. (US-20240057190-A1, hereinafter, MolavianJazi).
Regarding Claim 1, MolavianJazi teaches, an apparatus for wireless communication at a wireless repeater (Fig. 8, NCR), comprising: one or more processors; one or more memories coupled with the one or more processors (Fig. 2, "…The controller/processor 225 is also capable of executing programs and other processes resident in the memory 230, processes to support resource association and link recovery for repeaters in accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure. For The controller/processor 225 can move data into or out of the memory 230 as required by an executing process."[¶0044]), Here, an NCR is a "smarter" repeater for coverage enhancement; and
instructions stored in the one or more memories and executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to ("…FIG. 10 can be implemented in specialized circuitry configured to perform the noted functions or one or more of the components can be implemented by one or more processors executing instructions to perform the noted functions." [¶0203]):
receive, from a network entity at a mobile termination functionality of the wireless repeater, control signaling indicating at least one of a first configuration for directional communications between the wireless repeater and a user equipment (UE) or a second configuration for directional communications between the wireless repeater and the network entity ("In terms of UE configuration, a UE can be configured with at least one CSI or calibration coefficient reporting band. This configuration can be semi-static (via higher-layer signaling or RRC) or dynamic (via MAC CE or L1 DL control signaling). When configured with multiple (N) CSI or calibration coefficient reporting bands (e.g., via RRC signaling), a UE can report CSI associated with n≤N CSI reporting bands... Alternatively, the UE can report a recommended value of n via an UL channel.” [¶0150], see also, "The NCR-MT is defined as a functional entity to communicate with a gNB via a control link (C-link) to enable exchange of control information (e.g., side control information at least for the control of NCR-Fwd). The C-link is based on NR Uu interface..." [¶0193]);
relay, via a forwarding functionality of the wireless repeater, uplink communication from the UE to the network entity or downlink communication from the network entity to the UE, or both, in accordance with at least one of the first configuration for directional communications or the second configuration for directional communications ("...In the C-plane, an NCR may be provided or configured by the gNB with information on semi-static and/or dynamic downlink/uplink configuration, adaptive transmitter/receiver spatial beamforming, Tx on/off status, etc. In the user plane (U-plane), the NCR is still non-regenerative, e.g., the NCR employs amplify-and-forward to relay the actual UE signals from/to the gNB..." [¶0096];
perform, at the mobile termination functionality of the wireless repeater, a beam failure recovery procedure in accordance with a beam failure associated with the mobile termination functionality of the wireless repeater ("FIG. 10 illustrates a flowchart of procedure 1000 for a determination of ON or OFF state for NCR-Fwd based on RLF or BFR event for NCR-MT. The procedure 1000 as may be performed by a TRP (e.g., TRP 200 in FIG. 2). An embodiment of the procedure 1000 shown in FIG. 10 is for illustration only. One or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 10 can be implemented in specialized circuitry configured to perform the noted functions or one or more of the components can be implemented by one or more processors executing instructions to perform the noted functions." [¶0203], see also, "...In one example, the NCR-Fwd can continue to operate with previous beam indications only after successful completion of the BFR procedure, but not for RLF....' [¶0208], see also, [¶0205]); and
set the forwarding functionality of the wireless repeater to an ON state or an OFF state based at least in part on the beam failure recovery procedure ("An NCR-MT determines a RLF or BFR event, 1010. In response to RLF/BFD event for NCR-MT, the NCR-Fwd goes to an OFF state, 1020. The NCR-MT successfully completes a radio link reestablishment or a BFR, 1030. In response to a successful radio link reestablishment or BFR, the NCR-Fwd goes to an ON state based on previous or new beam/on-off indications, 1040." [¶0204]).
Regarding Claim 2, MolavianJazi discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
MolavianJazi also teaches, wherein the instructions to set the forwarding functionality of the wireless repeater to the ON state or the OFF state are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to: set the forwarding functionality of the wireless repeater to the OFF state until second control signaling indicates at least one of an updated first configuration for directional communications between the wireless repeater and the UE or an updated second configuration for directional communications between the wireless repeater and the network entity, or both ("...When the NCR-Fwd is in OFF state, the NCR-Fwd does not perform the amplify-and-forward operation, for example, applies a power amplification gain or with a certain output power level that is less than or equal to an “off” threshold, which can be also predetermined or (pre)configured or indicated by higher layer configuration or L1/L2 signaling." [¶0103], see also, “In one example, when the PHY/MAC layer of NCR-MT determines and declares an RLF or a BFD, the NCR-Fwd suspends any amplify-and-forward operation and goes to OFF state. In another example, when the NCR-MT initiates a random access procedure in response to the trigger by the RLF or BFD event, the NCR-Fwd can suspend any amplify-and-forward operation and go to the OFF state when the NCR-MT: (1) transmits a first/initial PRACH; (2) receives a RAR in response to the PRACH; or (3) successfully completes the random access procedure.” [¶0205], see also, “For example, when the NCR-MT successfully completes the radio link re-establishment or beam failure recovery, the NCR-Fwd continues to operate with previous beam indications for access and/or backhaul link, that were provided to the NCR before RLF/BFD/BFR by higher layers or by layer 1 such as by a DCI format.” [¶0208]).
Regarding Claim 3, MolavianJazi discloses the apparatus of claim 2.
MolavianJazi also teaches, wherein, to set the forwarding functionality, the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to:
determine the updated first configuration and the updated second configuration based at least in part on a successful beam failure recovery procedure ("In one example, the NCR-Fwd can continue to operate with previous beam indications only after successful completion of the BFR procedure, but not for RLF. For example, after successful completion of the radio link re-establishment, the NCR can assume that any previous beam indication for access and/or backhaul link is invalid. Then, a new beam indication needs to be provided to the NCR, by higher layers or by Layer 1, for the access link or the backhaul link. In yet another example, a new beam indication needs to be provided to the NCR after both RLF and BFD/BFR for the access link or the backhaul link after successful completion of both the radio link re-establishment and BFR." [¶0208]). Here new/previous beam indication means new/previous beam configuration.
Regarding Claim 4, MolavianJazi discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
MolavianJazi also teaches, wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to:
receive, from the network entity at the mobile termination functionality of the wireless repeater, an indication of whether the wireless repeater is to set the forwarding functionality of the wireless repeater to the ON state or the OFF state after the beam failure recovery procedure ("Herein, on-off information refers to configuration or indication from gNB to NCR about an ON state in which the NCR-Fwd is switched on and operational to perform an amplify and forward operation, or an OFF state in which the NCR-Fwd is switched off or not operational, so the NCR-Fwd does not perform an amplify and forward operation." [¶0137]).
Regarding Claim 5, MolavianJazi discloses the apparatus of claim 4.
MolavianJazi also teaches, wherein the instructions to receive the indication from the network entity are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to:
receive the indication via a response to a recovery indication associated with the beam failure recovery procedure (Fig.10, see also, "...In response to a successful radio link reestablishment or BFR, the NCR-Fwd goes to an ON state based on previous or new beam/on-off indications, 1040." [¶0204]).
Regarding Claim 6, MolavianJazi discloses the apparatus of claim 4.
MolavianJazi also teaches, wherein the instructions to receive the indication from the network entity are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to:
receive the indication via separate signaling after a response to a recovery indication associated with the beam failure recovery procedure ("...After a successful radio link re-establishment or after successful BFR for the C-link, the NCR-Fwd can go back to the ON state and transmit with a beam based on a previous beam indication, such as provided by higher layers (MAC or RRC layer) or by layer 1 (PHY layer), such as by a DCI format, or based on a new beam indication information." [¶0142], see also, "In one embodiment, when an NCR-MT receives an indication for side control information of NCR-Fwd, such as beamforming or on-off indication, and at least when the indication is provided by a DCI format in a PDCCH..." [¶0144]).
Regarding Claim 7, MolavianJazi discloses the apparatus of claim 4.
MolavianJazi also teaches, wherein the indication is to set the forwarding functionality of the wireless repeater to the OFF state for a time period after the beam failure recovery procedure, and wherein the wireless repeater monitors for second control signaling indicating at least one of an updated first configuration for directional communications between the wireless repeater and the UE or an updated second configuration for directional communications between the wireless repeater and the network entity, or both, for a duration of the time period ("In another example, when the NCR-MT is in a DRX off-duration or not in active time, or when the NCR-MT uses DRX in RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE state, the NCR-Fwd also goes to the OFF state and does not perform any amplify-and-forward operation. In one example, such behavior (NCR-Fwd goes to the OFF state) is applicable after all previously provided beam indications or on-off indications for the access link or the backhaul link of NCR-Fwd expire before the DRX-off cycle of NCR-MT finishes or before NCR-MT returns to the RRC_CONNECTED state from the RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE state. A timer or counter value may be provided by the gNB to the NCR-MT to configure the NCR-MT with a duration or time-period during which previously provided beam indications or on-off indications remain valid or invalid." [¶0215]).
Regarding Claim 8, MolavianJazi discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
MolavianJazi also teaches, wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to:
transmit, to the network entity via the mobile termination functionality of the wireless repeater, an indication of a decision at the wireless repeater to set the forwarding functionality of the wireless repeater to the ON state or the OFF state (" In one embodiment, an NCR determines that NCR-Fwd needs to go to the OFF state based on a RLF or BFD or BFR event for the control link (C-link) of NCR-MT. The NCR-Fwd can go to OFF state when the NCR-MT determines the RLF or BFD event, or when the NCR-MT indicates the corresponding event to the serving gNB, for example, using a PRACH transmission..." [¶0202], see also, "As illustrated in FIG. 11, an NCR-MT, in RRC_CONNECTED state, receives beam or on-off indication for NCR-Fwd operation, 1110. The NCR-MT goes to Connected-mode DRX (C-DRX) or NCR_IDLE state or NCR_INACTIVE state (if supported), 1120. The NCR-Fwd stays in ON state based on the previously received beam or on-off indication, 1130." [¶0213]).
Regarding claim 12, “Base Station”, is rejected under the same reasoning as claim 1 “Repeater”, where MolavianJazi teaches Base Station/ Repeater.
Regarding claim 21, “Method/ Repeater”, is rejected under the same reasoning as claim 1 “Repeater”, where MolavianJazi teaches Method/Repeater.
Regarding claim 27, “Method/ Base Station”, is rejected under the same reasoning as claim 1 “Repeater”, where MolavianJazi teaches Base Station/ Method/ Repeater.
Regarding claims [¶13-15] “Base Station”, are rejected under the same reasoning as claims [¶2-5] “Repeater”, where MolavianJazi teaches Base Station/ Repeater.
Regarding claims [¶22-24] “Method/ Repeater”, are rejected under the same reasoning as claims [¶2-5] “Repeater”, where MolavianJazi teaches Method/Repeater.
Regarding claims [¶28-30] “Method/ Base Station”, are rejected under the same reasoning as claims [¶2-5] “Repeater”, where MolavianJazi teaches Method/Base Station/Repeater.
Regarding claim 16, “Base Station”, is rejected under the same reasoning as claim 6 “Repeater”, where MolavianJazi teaches Base Station/ Repeater.
Regarding claim 26, “Method/ Repeater”, is rejected under the same reasoning as claim 6 “Repeater”, where MolavianJazi teaches Method/Repeater.
Regarding claim 17, “Base Station”, is rejected under the same reasoning as claim 7 “Repeater”, where MolavianJazi teaches Base Station/ Repeater.
Regarding claim 25, “Method/ Repeater”, is rejected under the same reasoning as claim 7 “Repeater”, where MolavianJazi teaches Method/Repeater.
Regarding claim 18, “Base Station”, is rejected under the same reasoning as claim 8 “Repeater”, where MolavianJazi teaches Base Station/Repeater.
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.
Claims 9-11, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over MolavianJazi in view of Jiang et al. (US-20250220727-A1, hereinafter, Jiang).
Regarding Claim 9, MolavianJazi discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
MolavianJazi doesn’t explicitly teach, wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to: transmit, to the network entity via the mobile termination functionality of the wireless repeater, a request for second control signaling indicating at least one of an updated first configuration for directional communications between the wireless repeater and the UE or an updated second configuration for directional communications between the wireless repeater and the network entity, or both.
Jiang in related art discloses, wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to:
transmit, to the network entity via the mobile termination functionality of the wireless repeater, a request for second control signaling indicating at least one of an updated first configuration for directional communications between the wireless repeater and the UE or an updated second configuration for directional communications between the wireless repeater and the network entity, or both ("In some embodiments, the indication information is carried by at least one of second RRC signaling, second MAC signaling, or second PHY signaling."[¶0156], see also, “...the second PHY signaling may be the above second DCI, the repeater received the second DCI, and the second DCI includes one or more indication information, wherein the first information used to indicate the second time-domain resource to which the beam corresponds is indicated by the second information field included in the second DCI;..."[¶0165], see also, "48. A network device, characterized in that the network device includes: a transmitting unit configured to transmit indication information indicating ON/OFF of a forwarding unit of a repeater to a mobile termination of the repeater, and/or, transmit second indication information to the mobile termination of the repeater, the second indication information being used to indicate that the forwarding unit performs or does not perform forwarding when the mobile termination is in an RRC_IDLE state or RRC_INACTIVE state. [¶0476- ¶0478], see also, “9. The repeater according to supplement 8, wherein when the mobile termination of the repeater is indicated by the network device to enter the RRC_IDLE state or RRC_INACTIVE state, the forwarding unit performs or does not perform forwarding according to the first indication information and/or the second indication information.” [¶0412]).
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 idea of MolavianJazi with the idea of having a wireless repeater requesting updated configuration information from a network entity using control signaling as disclosed by Jiang. The rationale for doing so helps the repeater dynamically manage and optimize its antenna directionality/configuration based on current network conditions or performance needs.
Regarding Claim 10, MolavianJazi discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
MolavianJazi doesn’t explicitly teach, wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to: receive, from the network entity at the mobile termination functionality of the wireless repeater, second control signaling indicating at least one of an updated first configuration for directional communications between the wireless repeater and the UE or an updated second configuration for directional communications between the wireless repeater and the network entity, or both, based at least in part on the beam failure recovery procedure;
set the forwarding functionality of the wireless repeater to the ON state in accordance with receiving the second control signaling; and
relay, via the forwarding functionality of the wireless repeater, second uplink communication from the UE to the network entity or second downlink communication from the network entity to the UE, or both, in accordance with at least one of the updated first configuration for directional communications and the updated second configuration for directional communications.
Jiang in related art discloses, wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to:
receive, from the network entity at the mobile termination functionality of the wireless repeater, second control signaling indicating at least one of an updated first configuration for directional communications between the wireless repeater and the UE or an updated second configuration for directional communications between the wireless repeater and the network entity, or both, based at least in part on the beam failure recovery procedure ("In some embodiments, the indication information is carried by at least one of second RRC signaling, second MAC signaling, or second PHY signaling."[¶0156], see also, “...the second PHY signaling may be the above second DCI, the repeater received the second DCI, and the second DCI includes one or more indication information, wherein the first information used to indicate the second time-domain resource to which the beam corresponds is indicated by the second information field included in the second DCI;..."[¶0165], see also, "48. A network device, characterized in that the network device includes: a transmitting unit configured to transmit indication information indicating ON/OFF of a forwarding unit of a repeater to a mobile termination of the repeater, and/or, transmit second indication information to the mobile termination of the repeater, the second indication information being used to indicate that the forwarding unit performs or does not perform forwarding when the mobile termination is in an RRC_IDLE state or RRC_INACTIVE state. [¶0476- 0478], see also, " 38. The repeater according to supplement 1, wherein the random access is used for at least one of the following:" [¶0441], and "beam failure recovery;" [¶0450]);
set the forwarding functionality of the wireless repeater to the ON state in accordance with receiving the second control signaling (“In some embodiments, the indication information is carried by the second RRC signaling and the second MAC signaling and/or the second PHY signaling, the second RRC signaling including one or more second configuration information, the second configuration information including all or a part of information in the indication information, the second MAC signaling and/or the second PHY signaling further including identification information for indicating one or more second configurations in the multiple second configuration information and/or a part of information in the indication information.” [¶0160], see also, "...For example, the second PHY signaling may be the above second DCI, the repeater received the second DCI, and the second DCI includes one or more indication information, wherein the first information used to indicate the second time-domain resource to which the beam corresponds is indicated by the second information field included in the second DCI; however, the embodiments of this disclosure are not limited thereto." [¶0165], see also, "For another example, the second DCI includes two TDRA fields. One of the TDRA fields is used to indicate the second time-domain resource to which the ON/OFF state(s) of the forwarding unit correspond, and the other indicates the fourth time-domain resource to which the PDSCH/PUSCH of the NCR-MT correspond(s). Thus, the second DCI may support simultaneously scheduling the PDSCH/PUSCH of the NCR-MT and controlling the forwarding behavior of the forwarding unit (indicating that the forwarding unit is ON/OFF)." [¶0168]; and
relay, via the forwarding functionality of the wireless repeater, second uplink communication from the UE to the network entity or second downlink communication from the network entity to the UE, or both, in accordance with at least one of the updated first configuration for directional communications and the updated second configuration for directional communications ("…As shown in FIG. 6, the method includes: 601: a network device transmits indication information indicating ON/OFF of a forwarding unit of a repeater to a mobile termination of the repeater, and/or, transmits second indication information to the mobile termination of the repeater, the second indication information being used to indicate that the forwarding unit performs or does not perform forwarding when the mobile termination is in an RRC_IDLE state or RRC_INACTIVE state." [¶0274-0276], see also, "In some embodiments, simultaneously transmitting by the NCR-Fwd and NCR-MT refers to transmitting uplink signals by the NCR-MT to the network device and (receiving uplink signals to be forwarded to the network device from the UE and) forwarding the uplink signals from the UE by the NCR-Fwd to the network device..." [¶0072]).
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 idea of MolavianJazi with the idea of a wireless repeater to handle beam failure recovery procedures in a directional communication system as disclosed by Jiang. The rationale for doing so is to ensure seamless connectivity via the Beam Failure Recovery (BFR) procedure.
Regarding Claim 11, MolavianJazi discloses the apparatus of claim 1.
MolavianJazi doesn’t explicitly teach, wherein setting the forwarding functionality of the wireless repeater to the OFF state is associated with a waiting for second control signaling indicating at least one of an updated first configuration for directional communications between the wireless repeater and the UE or an updated second configuration for directional communications between the wireless repeater and the network entity, or both, and
wherein the wireless repeater refrains from relaying communications between the UE and the network entity if the forwarding functionality of the wireless repeater is set to the OFF state.
Jiang in related art discloses, wherein setting the forwarding functionality of the wireless repeater to the OFF state is associated with a waiting for second control signaling indicating at least one of an updated first configuration for directional communications between the wireless repeater and the UE or an updated second configuration for directional communications between the wireless repeater and the network entity, or both ("...When the second indication information indicates that the NCR-Fwd may perform forwarding when the NCR-MT is in the RRC_IDLE state or RRC_INACTIVE state, the forwarding unit perform forwarding according to the first indication information, that is, that the NCR-Fwd is in the ON/OFF state needs to be further determined according to one or more first indication information received by the NCR-MT, wherein, (before the NCR-MT receives the first paging message (triggers the random access in 301)), the NCR-MT is in the RRC_IDLE state or RRC_INACTIVE state, and the NCR-Fwd determines that the NCR-Fwd is in the ON/OFF state according to the one or more first indication information received by the NCR-MT. The one or more first indication information is received when the NCR-MT is in the RRC_CONNECTED and/or RRC_INACTIVE state and/or RRC_IDLE state." [¶0130]), and
wherein the wireless repeater refrains from relaying communications between the UE and the network entity if the forwarding functionality of the wireless repeater is set to the OFF state ("In some embodiments, in 302, the ON/OFF state(s) of the NCR-Fwd is/are related to the NCR-MT, and when the NCR-MT transmits a random access preamble, the NCR-Fwd is in the off state (a transmitter is turned off, and is unable to perform a forwarding behavior), that is, before the NCR-MT transmits the random access preamble, the NCR-Fwd enters (is transferred) into the off state, and if the NCR-Fwd is currently in the on state, it is able to be in the off state only after a short period of transferring time after the NCR-Fwd enters (is transferred) into the off state." [¶0092], see also, "For example, the second indication information is a second paging message, the NCR-MT is in the RRC_IDLE state or RRC_INACTIVE state, and the NCR-MT receives the second paging message indicating ON/OFF of the NCR-Fwd. The second paging message is not limited to whether to trigger a random access procedure, that is, the second paging message triggers or does not trigger the NCR-MT to perform random access (or a state switching procedure), wherein the second paging message includes a message indicating the NCR-Fwd to stop forwarding (may not forward, off state). After the NCR-MT receives the second paging message, the NCR-Fwd does not forward and is in the off state, and optionally, the NCR-MT performs random access." [¶0131]).
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 idea of MolavianJazi with the idea of the "OFF" state for forwarding functionality which designates a specific operational phase where the repeater pauses signal relaying while remaining under network control as disclosed by Jiang. The rationale for doing so is to ensure the NCR remains synchronized with the network during the OFF state to receive these dynamic configuration updates, and ensure that when it resumes forwarding, its beams are accurately aligned with both the gNB and the UE.
Regarding claim 19, “Base Station”, is rejected under the same reasoning as claim 9 “Repeater”, where Jiang teaches Base Station/ Repeater.
Regarding claim 20, “Base Station”, is rejected under the same reasoning as claim 11 “Repeater”, where JIang teaches Base Station/ Repeater.
Conclusion
References cited but not used: 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #111 (R1-2212058) Toulouse, France, November 14th -18th, 2022; Agenda Item: 9.8.1
References cited but not used: HAMIDREZA SHARIATMADARI ET AL: "Discussion on side control information and NCR behavior", V3GPP DRAFT; Rl-2211602; TYPE DISCUSSION; NR_NETCON_REPEATER-CORE, 3gpp; 7 November 2022 (2022-11-07)
References cited but not used: US 2023/007513 Al (BABAEI ALIREZA [¶US])- abstract, paragraphs [¶0050] - [¶0222]; claims 1, 6-8
References cited but not used: MAKK et al. (US-20250167864-A1)
References cited but not used: Li et al. (US-20230268982-A1)
References cited but not used: Chen et al. (US-20240057191-A1)
References cited but not used: Li et al. (US 20240244446 A1)
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/MUHAMMAD AINUL HUDA/Examiner, Art Unit 2467
/HASSAN A PHILLIPS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2467