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 § 112
1. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
2. Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the limitation "the second time-frequency resource" in lines 3-4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim. Examiner suggests amending as “a second time-frequency resource” or define “second time-frequency resource” early in the claim.
In addition, line 6 of independent claim 1 recites “a second time-frequency resource”. It is unclear whether the “second time-frequency resource” recited in line 6 is the same as “the second time-frequency resource” recited in lines 3-4. If they are the same, examiner suggests appropriately amending the “second time-frequency resource” (as recited in line 6) to refer back to “the second time-frequency resource” (as recited in lines 3-4).
Independent claim 17 also contains same issue (i.e., “the second time-frequency resource” as recited in lines 6-7 as well as “a second time-frequency resource” as recited in line 9.
The respective dependent claims (i.e., dependent claims 2-8 and 18-20) are also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 112 second paragraph since they dependent on independent claims (i.e., 1 and 17) rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 112 second paragraph.
Lines 7-8 of independent claim 9 recites “the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource” (with much emphasis on the italicized limitation(s)). There is insufficient antecedent basis for the limitation(s) and it is therefore suggested to amend as “a first time-frequency resource and a second time-frequency resource” or define “first time-frequency resource and second time-frequency resource” early in the claim.
The respective dependent claims (i.e., dependent claims 2-8 and 18-20) are also rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 112 second paragraph since they dependent on independent claims (i.e., 1 and 17) rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 112 second paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
3. 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.
4. Claim(s) 1 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Manolakos (US PG Pub. No. 2021/0185632).
As per claim 1:
Manolakos teaches a method of wireless communication of a first wireless device (see paragraph [0008], teaches a method for supporting positioning of a user equipment (UE) performed by a first wireless entity in a wireless network), comprising:
reporting, to a base station, at least one of (a) a capability of the UE for path selection (Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art) or path combining (see Figure 14, stage 2, paragraph [0154], UE 115 returns a capability message to the location server 196. The capability message may indicate that it is capable of processing aggregated PRS. The UE 115 may further indicate that it supports X ms of PRS symbols every T ms assuming 272 PRBs. Note: Even though from figure 14 the location server 196 appears to be distinct from TRP1 105a, TRP2 105b and TRP3 105c, paragraph [0152] of the prior art disclose the location server 196 may be “coincident” with a TRP such as serving TRP 105a. Therefore, said location server 196 could be any one of the TRPs) and (b) a supported frequency range on the second time-frequency resource (Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art), wherein the capability of the path selection requires that the first wireless device receive data either on a first time-frequency resource from the base station or on a second time-frequency resource from a second device (Note: Limitation(s) relies on previous limitation(s), specifically, “path selection” recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art), and wherein the capability of the path combining requires that the first wireless device receive data on both the first and second time-frequency resources (still referring to paragraph [0154], the UE 115 also supports X/N ms of PRS symbols for an aggregated PRS of 272 PRBs for each of the N PRS components. Figure 14, steps 5a, 6a and 7a shows UE 115 actually receiving said aggregated PRS transmissions from TRP1 105a, TRP2 105b, TRP3 105c. Therefore, the UE 115 supports aggregated reception of the aggregated PRS from the respective TRPs);
receiving, from the base station, first control information (see Figure 14, stage 3, UE 115 receiving from locations server 196 assistance data message) indicating whether the first wireless device should receive data on the first time-frequency resource from the base station (see paragraph [0155], the assistance data message is to configure the UE 115 to acquire and process aggregated DL PRS transmissions from TRP1 105a, TRP2 105b, TRP3 105c. That is, the assistance data may include configuration for the aggregated DL PRS for each of the TRPs. Note: Paragraph [0101] discloses, each PRS configuration may comprise a distinct frequency offset, distinct carrier frequency, a distinct bandwidth, a distinct code sequence and/or a distinct sequence of PRS positioning occasions with a particular number of subframes per positioning occasion and a particular periodicity. Therefore, the PRS configuration indicates time-frequency resources), on the second time-frequency resource from the second device (see paragraph [0155], the assistance data message is to configure the UE 115 to acquire and process aggregated DL PRS transmissions from TRP1 105a, TRP2 105b, TRP3 105c. That is, the assistance data may include configuration for the aggregated DL PRS for each of the TRPs. Note: Paragraph [0101] discloses, each PRS configuration may comprise a distinct frequency offset, distinct carrier frequency, a distinct bandwidth, a distinct code sequence and/or a distinct sequence of PRS positioning occasions with a particular number of subframes per positioning occasion and a particular periodicity. Therefore, the PRS configuration indicates time-frequency resources), or both the first and second time-frequency resources, wherein the data are transmitted from the base station on the first time-frequency resource (see paragraph [0155], the assistance data message is to configure the UE 115 to acquire and process aggregated DL PRS transmissions from TRP1 105a, TRP2 105b, TRP3 105c. That is, the assistance data may include configuration for the aggregated DL PRS for each of the TRPs. Note: Paragraph [0101] discloses, each PRS configuration may comprise a distinct frequency offset, distinct carrier frequency, a distinct bandwidth, a distinct code sequence and/or a distinct sequence of PRS positioning occasions with a particular number of subframes per positioning occasion and a particular periodicity. Therefore, the PRS configuration indicates time-frequency resources. Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not necessarily needed to all be shown by the prior art);
and receiving the data based on the first control information (see Figure 14, after receiving the assistance data message (i.e., stage 3) and request location information (i.e., stage 4), the UE 115 receives aggregated PRS transmissions from respective TRP1 105a, TRP2 105b, and TRP3 105c (i.e., stages 5a, 6a and 7a)).
As per claim 17:
Manolakos teaches an apparatus for wireless communication (see Figure 20, paragraph [0214], UE 115), the apparatus being a first wireless device (Note: Examiner is reading UE 115 as said first wireless device), comprising:
a memory (see Figure 20, memory 2004);
and at least one processor coupled to the memory (see Figure 20, paragraph [0214], one or more procesors 2002 and memory 2004 are operatively coupled with one or more connections 2006 such as buses, lines, fibers, links, etc.) and configured to:
report, to a base station, at least one of (a) a capability of the UE for path selection (Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art) or path combining (see Figure 14, stage 2, paragraph [0154], UE 115 returns a capability message to the location server 196. The capability message may indicate that it is capable of processing aggregated PRS. The UE 115 may further indicate that it supports X ms of PRS symbols every T ms assuming 272 PRBs. Note: Even though from figure 14 the location server 196 appears to be distinct from TRP1 105a, TRP2 105b and TRP3 105c, paragraph [0152] of the prior art disclose the location server 196 may be “coincident” with a TRP such as serving TRP 105a. Therefore, said location server 196 could be any one of the TRPs) and (b) a supported frequency range on the second time-frequency resource (Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art), wherein the capability of the path selection requires that the first wireless device receive data either on a first time-frequency resource from the base station or on a second time-frequency resource from a second device (Note: Limitation(s) relies on previous limitation(s), specifically, “path selection” recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art), and wherein the capability of the path combining requires that the first wireless device receive data on both the first and second time-frequency resources (still referring to paragraph [0154], the UE 115 also supports X/N ms of PRS symbols for an aggregated PRS of 272 PRBs for each of the N PRS components. Figure 14, steps 5a, 6a and 7a shows UE 115 actually receiving said aggregated PRS transmissions from TRP1 105a, TRP2 105b, TRP3 105c. Therefore, the UE 115 supports aggregated reception of the aggregated PRS from the respective TRPs);
receive, from the base station, first control information (see Figure 14, stage 3, UE 115 receiving from locations server 196 assistance data message) indicating whether the first wireless device should receive data on the first time-frequency resource from the base station (see paragraph [0155], the assistance data message is to configure the UE 115 to acquire and process aggregated DL PRS transmissions from TRP1 105a, TRP2 105b, TRP3 105c. That is, the assistance data may include configuration for the aggregated DL PRS for each of the TRPs. Note: Paragraph [0101] discloses, each PRS configuration may comprise a distinct frequency offset, distinct carrier frequency, a distinct bandwidth, a distinct code sequence and/or a distinct sequence of PRS positioning occasions with a particular number of subframes per positioning occasion and a particular periodicity. Therefore, the PRS configuration indicates time-frequency resources), on the second time-frequency resource from the second device (see paragraph [0155], the assistance data message is to configure the UE 115 to acquire and process aggregated DL PRS transmissions from TRP1 105a, TRP2 105b, TRP3 105c. That is, the assistance data may include configuration for the aggregated DL PRS for each of the TRPs. Note: Paragraph [0101] discloses, each PRS configuration may comprise a distinct frequency offset, distinct carrier frequency, a distinct bandwidth, a distinct code sequence and/or a distinct sequence of PRS positioning occasions with a particular number of subframes per positioning occasion and a particular periodicity. Therefore, the PRS configuration indicates time-frequency resources), or both the first and second time-frequency resources, wherein the data are transmitted from the base station on the first time-frequency resource (see paragraph [0155], the assistance data message is to configure the UE 115 to acquire and process aggregated DL PRS transmissions from TRP1 105a, TRP2 105b, TRP3 105c. That is, the assistance data may include configuration for the aggregated DL PRS for each of the TRPs. Note: Paragraph [0101] discloses, each PRS configuration may comprise a distinct frequency offset, distinct carrier frequency, a distinct bandwidth, a distinct code sequence and/or a distinct sequence of PRS positioning occasions with a particular number of subframes per positioning occasion and a particular periodicity. Therefore, the PRS configuration indicates time-frequency resources. Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not necessarily needed to all be shown by the prior art);
and receive the data based on the first control information (see Figure 14, after receiving the assistance data message (i.e., stage 3) and request location information (i.e., stage 4), the UE 115 receives aggregated PRS transmissions from respective TRP1 105a, TRP2 105b, and TRP3 105c (i.e., stages 5a, 6a and 7a)).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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.
6. Claim(s) 2, 3 18 and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Manolakos in view of Ali (US PG Pub. No. 2023/0170962).
As per claim 2:
Manolakos teaches the method of claim 1 with the exception of:
further comprising:
receiving, from the base station, configuration of second one or more reference signals to be transmitted on the second time-frequency resource by the second wireless device;
measuring the second one or more reference signals on the second time-frequency resource transmitted from the second device;
reporting, to the base station, measurements of the second one or more reference signals received on the second time-frequency resource.
Ali teaches further comprising:
receiving, from the base station, configuration of second one or more reference signals to be transmitted on the second time-frequency resource by the second wireless device (see Figure 11, paragraph [0201], disclose a flow chart diagram of a method 110 performed by a user equipment apparatus 700. The user equipment receives from the base station an indication to report repeater-specific reference signal (“RS”) measurements associated with a repeater node and repeater-specific channel state information RS (“CSI-RS”), please see paragraph [0202]. Figure 4, paragraphs [0110], [0129], the transmission of repeater specific CSI-RS from the base station to the repeater and from the repeater to the user equipment occupy specific time-frequency resources and thus first and second time-frequency resources);
measuring the second one or more reference signals on the second time-frequency resource transmitted from the second device (see Figures 6A-6B, paragraph [0143], UE determines CSI-RS resources with the highest RSRP. The CSI-RS transmission received from multiple repeaters);
reporting, to the base station, measurements of the second one or more reference signals received on the second time-frequency resource (see paragraph [0143], UE may report highest measured RSRP associated with the CSI-RS resource).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the use of first and second configuration information (as disclosed in Ali) into Manolakos as a way of enabling the base station to select the beam with the highest CRI-RSRP/CRI-SINR (or a suitable beam with CSI above a threshold) reported from the UE and also used for link between the BS and smart repeater (please see paragraph [0140] of Ali).
As per claim 3:
Manolakos teaches the method of claim 1 with the exception of:
wherein the first control information further indicates a channel state information (CSI) assumption that indicates that the first wireless device should calculate CSI based on measurements on at least one of the first time-frequency resource and the second first time-frequency resource.
Ali teaches wherein the first control information further indicates a channel state information (CSI) assumption that indicates that the first wireless device should calculate CSI based on measurements on at least one of the first time-frequency resource and the second first time-frequency resource (see paragraph [0046], at the smart repeater, CSI-RS resources may be mapped in frequency and time with configurations that may include FDM and TDM based on multiple antenna ports that are used to transmit CSI-RS to the user equipment. The UE reports the CSI to the gNB of the received CSI-RS from the repeater).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the use of first and second configuration information (as disclosed in Ali) into Manolakos as a way of enabling the base station to select the beam with the highest CRI-RSRP/CRI-SINR (or a suitable beam with CSI above a threshold) reported from the UE and also used for link between the BS and smart repeater (please see paragraph [0140] of Ali).
Claim 18 is rejected in the same scope as claim 2.
Claim 19 is rejected in the same scope as claim 3.
7. Claims 4 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Manolakos in view of Freda (US PG Pub. No. 2024/0098815).
As per claim 4:
Manolakos teaches the method of claim 1 with the exception of:
further comprising:
sending a request to the second wireless device to forward data to the first wireless device on the second time-frequency resource;
and receiving, from the second wireless device, a response acknowledging the request.
Freda teaches further comprising:
sending a request to the second wireless device to forward data to the first wireless device on the second time-frequency resource (see paragraph [0714], the remote WTRU may transmit an SI request using a set of time/frequency resources to the relay WTRU(s));
and receiving, from the second wireless device, a response acknowledging the request (see paragraph [0749], a relay WTRU may transmit an updated SI to a remote WTRU based on known/interested SIBs/SI associated to each cell or all connected remote WTRUs).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the exchange of SI tag between WTRU and relay WTRU (as disclosed in Freda) into Manolakos. The motivation for doing so would be to provide coverage extension and also improve power efficiency (please see paragraph [0007] of Freda).
Claim 20 is rejected in the same scope as claim 4.
8. Claims 5 and 6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Manolakos in view of Freda and further in view of Abedini (US PG Pub. No. 2021/0127368).
As per claim 5:
Manolakos in view of Freda teaches the method of claim 4 with the exception of:
further comprising:
transmitting second control information to the second wireless device, wherein the second control information includes at least one of:
a transmission power indicator;
receive and/or transmit beamforming parameters;
a frequency translation enabling/disabling indicator;
resource allocation of the second time-frequency resource;
number of maximal allowable spatial layers for forwarding;
resource mapping information between the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource;
CSI report configuration information;
and reference signal configuration information.
Abedini teaches further comprising:
transmitting second control information to the second wireless device (see paragraph [0104], the base station 602 may transmit, to the relay device 606, configuration information 620), wherein the second control information includes at least one of:
a transmission power indicator (see paragraph [0104], the configuration information 620 may indicate one or more power settings);
receive and/or transmit beamforming parameters (see paragraph [0104], the configuration information 620 may also indicate beam pair links. Paragraph [0131] also discloses the base station may configure each of the beamforming configurations for the relay device and transmit information indicating the configuration to the relay device);
a frequency translation enabling/disabling indicator (Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art);
resource allocation of the second time-frequency resource (Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art);
number of maximal allowable spatial layers for forwarding (Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art);
resource mapping information between the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource (Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art);
CSI report configuration information (Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art);
and reference signal configuration information (Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the transmission of the configuration information (as disclosed in Abedini) into both Manolakos and Freda as a way of multiplexing control information associated with the backhaul link on the first set of resources with data/control information associated with the access link on the second set of resources (please see paragraph [0046] of Abedini).
As per claim 6:
Manolakos in view of Freda teaches the method of claim 4 with the exception of:
wherein the second control information is transmitted via sidelink, Bluetooth, or WiFi.
Abedini teaches wherein the second control information is transmitted via sidelink, Bluetooth, or WiFi (see paragraph [0031], disclose UEs communicate with each other using Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. See figure 5, paragraph [0089], relay 506 carry data and/or control information over the access link 512 to the UE 504).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the transmission of the configuration information (as disclosed in Abedini) into both Manolakos and Freda as a way of multiplexing control information associated with the backhaul link on the first set of resources with data/control information associated with the access link on the second set of resources (please see paragraph [0046] of Abedini).
9. Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Manolakos in view of Freda and further in view of Huang (US PG Pub. No. 2022/0264321).
As per claim 7:
Manolakos in view of Huang teaches the method of claim 4 with the exception of:
further comprising:
receiving, from the second wireless device, channel state information for a channel between the base station and the second wireless device on the first time-frequency resource.
Huang teaches further comprising:
receiving, from the second wireless device, channel state information for a channel between the base station and the second wireless device on the first time-frequency resource (see paragraph [0127], relay node may report the CSI of the DL parent BH link to parent node 205 to the parent node. Paragraph [0007], disclose time and/or frequency resources corresponding to the downlink beamforming direction).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the reporting of CSI of the DL backhaul link (as disclosed in Huang) into both Manolakos and Freda as a way of enabling the parent node to determine one or more beamforming directions and one or more radio resource allocations for both non-full duplex mode and full duplex mode (please see paragraphs [0142], [0143] of Huang).
10. Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Manolakos in view of Freda and further in view of Onodera (US PG Pub. No. 2011/0122807).
As per claim 8:
Manolakos in view of Freda teaches the method of claim 4 with the exception of:
further comprising:
receiving, from the second wireless device, channel state information for a channel between the first wireless device and the second wireless device on the second time-frequency resource.
Onodera teaches further comprising:
receiving, from the second wireless device, channel state information for a channel between the first wireless device and the second wireless device on the second time-frequency resource (see paragraph [0148], figure 6, MS 511 reports the CQI to the RS 510 on the RS uplink. Figure 1, paragraph [0077] disclose resource blocks divided on the basis of plurality of frequency channels in the frequency direction and a plurality of time slots in the time direction. The base station allocates each resource block to the mobile station or the relation station apparatus, please see paragraph [0078]. Thus, the CQI report to the RS 510 on RS uplink are sent via allocated resource block).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the reporting of CQI between the mobile station and relay station (as disclosed in Onodera) into both Manolakos and Freda. The motivation for doing so would be to reduce overhead of the CQI relay transmission from the relay station apparatus to the base station apparatus (please see paragraph [0011] of Onodera).
11. Claims 9, 14 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abedini in view of Jiang (US PG Pub. No. 2024/0356626).
As per claim 9:
Abedini teaches a method of wireless communication of a second wireless device (see abstract), comprising:
receiving second control information to be applied to the second wireless device (see paragraph [0104], the base station 602 may transmit, to the relay device 606, configuration information 620. Note: Examiner is reading the relay device 606 as said second wireless device and configuration information 620 as said second control information), wherein the second control information includes at least one of:
power control information (see paragraph [0104], the configuration information 620 may indicate one or more power settings);
transmit and/or receive beamforming information (see paragraph [0104], the configuration information 620 may also indicate beam pair links. Paragraph [0131] also discloses the base station may configure each of the beamforming configurations for the relay device and transmit information indicating the configuration to the relay device);
frequency translation enabling/disabling indicator (Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art);
resource mapping information for the mapping between the first time-frequency resource and the second time-frequency resource (Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art);
number of maximal allowable spatial layers for forwarding (Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art);
and reference signal configuration information (Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art);
receiving a first signal transmitted from a base station on a first time-frequency resource based on the second control information (see Figure 6, paragraphs [0122]-[0123], base station 602 may multiplex 630 the control information 614 and data/control information 616 for transmission on the configured first and second set of resources according to one of FDM and/or SDM to the relay device 606. Note: Prior to step 630 of multiplexing the control 614 and data/control information 616 for transmission, the base station 602 sends reconfiguration information of the configured first and second set of resources, i.e., step 626 and paragraph [0136]. Thus, the control 614 and data/control information 616 are transmission on the configured first and second set of resources based on said resource configuration information 626).
Abedini does not teach and preform a linear transformation of the first signal to generate a second signal;
transmitting the second signal on a second time-frequency resource based on the second control information.
Jiang teaches and preform a linear transformation of the first signal to generate a second signal (see Figure 14, step 1402, paragraph [0137], repeater receives first forwarding signal and/or the second forwarding signal. Figure 14, step 1403, paragraph [0138] disclose, the repeater transmits the first forwarding signal at first transmit power and/or a first amplification gain, and/or transmits the second forwarding signal at second transmit power and/or a second amplification gain. Note: Examiner is reading the transmission of the first signal for example (by the repeater) at the first transmit power and/or a first amplification gain as said linear transformation especially since a first transmit power and/or first amplification gain is/are applied to the first forwarding signal according to first parameter, please see paragraph [0140]);
transmitting the second signal on a second time-frequency resource based on the second control information (see paragraph [0141], the second parameter includes an index of the reference signal, and/or a use sequence, and/or a time-frequency resource used for transmitting/receiving the reference signal, and/or transmit power of the reference signal. Thus, the repeater transmits the reference signal according to the second parameter).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the application of transmit power and/or transmit gain on the transmit signal (as disclosed in Jiang) into Abedini as a way of amplifying/enhancing coverage and reduce interference to other surrounding devices, thereby improving transmission efficiency of the whole network (please see paragraph [0011] of Jiang).
As per claim 14:
Abedini in view of Jiang teaches the method of claim 9, wherein the second wireless device communicates with the first wireless device via sidelink, Bluetooth, or WiFi (Abedini, see paragraph [0031], disclose UEs communicate with each other using Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. See figure 5, paragraph [0089], relay 506 carry data and/or control information over the access link 512 to the UE 504).
As per claim 16:
Abedini in view of Jiang teaches the method of claim 9, further comprising:
receiving information of resources reserved by the first wireless device or the base-station on the second time-frequency resource for the second wireless device (Abedini, see paragraphs [0106], [0107], the base station 602 may configure 624 first relay device 606 and a second set of resources for the UE 604), wherein the second signal is transmitted on resources reserved (Abedini, see paragraph [0047], the relay device 106 may be configured to forward data/control information communicated on the second set of resources between the base station 102/180 and the UE 104).
12. Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abedini in view of Jiang and further in view of Ali.
As per claim 10:
Abedini in view of Jiang teaches the method of claim 9 with the exception of:
further comprising:
measuring a reference signal transmitted from the base station or the first wireless device according to the second control information including the reference signal configuration information;
and determining the linear transformation based on the measurements.
Ali teaches further comprising:
measuring a reference signal transmitted from the base station or the first wireless device according to the second control information including the reference signal configuration information (see paragraph [0049], configuring the repeater with CSI-RS resource set that include time information to perform amplify and forward CSI-RS. Configuring the repeater to combine and forward multiple CSI-RS ports in a symbol to a configured spatial direction, please see paragraph [0051]. Configuring the repeater to measure CSI-RS beams and report cri-rsrp/cri-snr to the BS, please see paragraph [0052]);
and determining the linear transformation based on the measurements (see paragraph [0054], configure multiple repeaters to perform simultaneous DL data transmission to a UE based on the reported CSI measurement from the UE of multiple repeater specific RS).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the use of first and second configuration information (as disclosed in Ali) into Abedini and Jiang as a way of enabling the base station to select the beam with the highest CRI-RSRP/CRI-SINR (or a suitable beam with CSI above a threshold) reported from the UE and also used for link between the BS and smart repeater (please see paragraph [0140] of Ali).
13. Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abedini in view of Jiang and further in view of Liu (US PG Pub. No. 2023/0262482).
As per claim 11:
Abedini in view of Jiang teaches the method of claim 9 with the exception of:
further comprising:
measuring a reference signal transmitted from the base station or the first wireless device according to the second control information including the reference signal configuration information;
and determining at least one of receive beamforming parameters or transmit beamforming parameters based on the measurements.
Liu further comprising:
measuring a reference signal transmitted from the base station or the first wireless device according to the second control information including the reference signal configuration information (see Paragraph [0147], disclose the network device sends first indication information to the relay node indicating one or more access beams used by the relay node in a first time unit and one or more access beams used for sending and/or receiving an access link. See paragraph [0171], two CSI-RSs are sent to the relay node by the network device. The relay node may forward the CSI-RS 1 and CSI-RS 2 through different downlink access beams. After measuring the CSI-RS 1 and CSI-RS 2, the terminal separately reports signal quality of the CSI-RS 1 and signal quality of the CSI-RS 2);
and determining at least one of receive beamforming parameters or transmit beamforming parameters based on the measurements (see paragraph [0171], after the network device obtains the signal quality of the CSI-RS 1 and the signal quality of CSI-RS 2, the network device may determine an access beam suitable for the relay node serving the terminal. In a subsequent terminal scheduling process, the network device indicates the relay node to use an access beam aligned with UE, namely, a relay forwarding beam corresponding to a CSI-RS with high receiving quality of the UE).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the measurement and reporting of CSI-RSs received over the access link (as disclosed in Liu) into both Abedini and Jiang as a way of enabling both the UE and relay to use aligned beam corresponding to a CSI-RS with high receiving quality of the UE (please see paragraph [0071] of Liu).
14. Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abedini in view of Jiang and further in view of Jiang (US PG Pub. No. 2025/0088259), hereinafter referred to as Jiang’259.
As per claim 12:
Abedini in view of Jiang teaches the method of claim 9 with the exception of:
further comprising:
reporting, to a base station, at least one of (a) a frequency translation capability, (b) an antenna capability, and (3) a supported frequency range on a second time-frequency resource.
Jiang’259 teaches further comprising:
reporting, to a base station, at least one of (a) a frequency translation capability (Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art), (b) an antenna capability (see paragraphs [0169]-[0171], the repeater 181 may transmit capability information related to beam/antenna of backhaul links (i.e., A-link and C-link for example) to the first network device 182), and (3) a supported frequency range on a second time-frequency resource (Note: Limitation(s) is/are recited in alternate form and thus not addressed by the prior art).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the transmission of the capability information by the repeater to the network device (as disclosed in Jiang’259) into both Abedini and Jiang as a way of determining a beam adopted by backhaul link (please see paragraph [0169]-[0171] of Jiang’259).
14. Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abedini in view of Jiang and further in view of Freda.
As per claim 15:
Abedini in view of Jiang teaches the method of claim 9 with the exception of:
further comprising:
receiving a request from the first wireless device to transmit data on the second time-frequency resource;
and transmitting, to the first wireless device, a response acknowledging the request.
Jiang teaches further comprising:
receiving a request from the first wireless device to transmit data on the second time-frequency resource (see paragraph [0714], the remote WTRU may transmit an SI request using a set of time/frequency resources to the relay WTRU(s));
and transmitting, to the first wireless device, a response acknowledging the request (see paragraph [0749], a relay WTRU may transmit an updated SI to a remote WTRU based on known/interested SIBs/SI associated to each cell or all connected remote WTRUs).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the exchange of SI tag between WTRU and relay WTRU (as disclosed in Freda) into Abedini and Jiang. The motivation for doing so would be to provide coverage extension and also improve power efficiency (please see paragraph [0007] of Freda).
Conclusion
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PRINCE AKWASI. MENSAH
Examiner
Art Unit 2474
/PRINCE A MENSAH/Examiner, Art Unit 2474
/Michael Thier/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2474
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