CTFR 18/533,329 CTFR 90883 DETAILED ACTION This action is a response to an amendment filed on 3/37/26 in which claims 1-20 are pending. Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 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. Claim(s) 1-4, 6-10, 13 and 16-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being anticipated by Nam et al. (Pub. No.: 2019/0223033), herein Nam and Guo et al. (Pub. No.: 2018/0048375), herein Guo. As to claim 1 , Nam teaches a wireless communication method, comprising: determining, by the wireless communication device, at least one mode from the received plurality of modes, (Nam [0051] In some aspects, the number of modes of operation may depend on the number of panels/subarrays and digital baseband chains deployed at the UE. In some cases, the network or base station may select a mode of operation based on information indicating a capability or profile of the UE (e.g., an indication of the number of modes of operation supported by the UE), and indicate the same to the UE via downlink signaling and [0050] different beam/panel reception hypotheses (i.e., different modes of operation)) ; and determining, by the wireless communication device, an uplink transmission according to at least one of the at least one beam state or the at least one mode (Nam [0114] At 520 , the UE 115 -d may transmit periodic or aperiodic channel state feedback associated with one or more of the modes of operation) Nam does not teach receiving, by a wireless communication device from a network, a plurality of modes configured by the network for the wireless communication device; wherein each of the at least one mode plurality of modes corresponds to at least one beam state; However Guo does teach receiving, by a wireless communication device from a network, a plurality of modes configured by the network for the wireless communication device (Guo [0223] the UE can be configured to derive X Rx modes) wherein each of the at least one mode plurality of modes corresponds to at least one beam state (Guo [0245] In some embodiment, a UE can be indicated of the X TRP Tx beam IDs (that are reported in the beam state information based on previous measurement on CSI-RS or BRS) in RRC, MAC-CE or DCI signaling, and the then UE is configured to use the X Rx modes which those TRP Tx beam IDs are QCL'ed to in Rx beams) It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Nam and Guo, because Guo teaches us [0053] As described in more detail below, one or more of the UEs 111 - 116 include circuitry, programming, or a combination thereof, for efficient CSI reporting on PUCCH in an advanced wireless communication system. In certain embodiments, and one or more of the eNBs 101 - 103 includes circuitry, programming, or a combination thereof, for receiving efficient CSI reporting on PUCCH in an advanced wireless communication system. As to claim 18 , Nam teaches a wireless communication device, comprising: at least one processor configured to (Nam Fig. 6 and [00118] a wireless device may include a processor) : determine at least one mode from the received plurality of modes; (Nam [0051] In some aspects, the number of modes of operation may depend on the number of panels/subarrays and digital baseband chains deployed at the UE. In some cases, the network or base station may select a mode of operation based on information indicating a capability or profile of the UE (e.g., an indication of the number of modes of operation supported by the UE), and indicate the same to the UE via downlink signaling and [0050] different beam/panel reception hypotheses (i.e., different modes of operation)) ; and determine an uplink transmission according to at least one of the at least one beam state or the at least one mode (Nam [0114] At 520 , the UE 115 -d may transmit periodic or aperiodic channel state feedback associated with one or more of the modes of operation) Nam does not teach receiving, by a wireless communication device from a network, a plurality of modes configured by the network for the wireless communication device; wherein each of the at least one mode plurality of modes corresponds to at least one beam state; However Guo does teach receiving, by a wireless communication device from a network, a plurality of modes configured by the network for the wireless communication device (Guo [0223] the UE can be configured to derive X Rx modes) wherein each of the at least one mode plurality of modes corresponds to at least one beam state (Guo [0245] In some embodiment, a UE can be indicated of the X TRP Tx beam IDs (that are reported in the beam state information based on previous measurement on CSI-RS or BRS) in RRC, MAC-CE or DCI signaling, and the then UE is configured to use the X Rx modes which those TRP Tx beam IDs are QCL'ed to in Rx beams) It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Nam and Guo, for the same reasons stated in claim 1. As to claim 19 , Nam teaches a wireless communication method, comprising: sending, by a network to a wireless communication device, a plurality of modes at least one mode, wherein the at least one mode is determined by the wireless communication device from the plurality of modes. (Nam [0051] In some aspects, the number of modes of operation may depend on the number of panels/subarrays and digital baseband chains deployed at the UE. In some cases, the network or base station may select a mode of operation based on information indicating a capability or profile of the UE (e.g., an indication of the number of modes of operation supported by the UE), and indicate the same to the UE via downlink signaling and [0050] different beam/panel reception hypotheses (i.e., different modes of operation)) ; and receiving, by the network from the wireless communication device, an uplink transmission according to the at least one mode or the at least one beam state (Nam [0114] At 520 , the UE 115 -d may transmit periodic or aperiodic channel state feedback associated with one or more of the modes of operation) Nam does not teach receiving, by a wireless communication device from a network, a plurality of modes configured by the network for the wireless communication device; wherein each of the at least one mode plurality of modes corresponds to at least one beam state; However Guo does teach receiving, by a wireless communication device from a network, a plurality of modes configured by the network for the wireless communication device (Guo [0223] the UE can be configured to derive X Rx modes) wherein each of the at least one mode plurality of modes corresponds to at least one beam state (Guo [0245] In some embodiment, a UE can be indicated of the X TRP Tx beam IDs (that are reported in the beam state information based on previous measurement on CSI-RS or BRS) in RRC, MAC-CE or DCI signaling, and the then UE is configured to use the X Rx modes which those TRP Tx beam IDs are QCL'ed to in Rx beams) It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Nam and Guo, for the same reasons stated in claim 1. As to claim 20 , Nam teaches a network node, comprising: at least one processor configured to (Nam Fig. 13 base station and [0144] processor) : wherein the at least one mode is determined by the wireless communication device from the plurality of modes. (Nam [0051] In some aspects, the number of modes of operation may depend on the number of panels/subarrays and digital baseband chains deployed at the UE. In some cases, the network or base station may select a mode of operation based on information indicating a capability or profile of the UE (e.g., an indication of the number of modes of operation supported by the UE), and indicate the same to the UE via downlink signaling and [0050] different beam/panel reception hypotheses (i.e., different modes of operation)) ; and receive, via the transceiver from the wireless communication device, an uplink transmission according to the at least one mode or the at least one beam state (Nam [0114] At 520 , the UE 115 -d may transmit periodic or aperiodic channel state feedback associated with one or more of the modes of operation) Nam does not teach sending, by a network to a wireless communication device, a plurality of modes at least one mode However Guo does teach sending, by a network to a wireless communication device, a plurality of modes at least one mode (Guo [0223] the UE can be configured to derive X Rx modes) It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Nam and Guo, for the same reasons stated in claim 1. As to claim 2 , the combination Nam and Guo teach the method of claim 1, wherein each of the at least one mode corresponds to one or more capability sets (Nam [0051] the number of modes of operation may depend on the number of panels/subarrays and digital baseband chains deployed at the UE. In some cases, the network or base station may select a mode of operation based on information indicating a capability or profile of the UE (e.g., an indication of the number of modes of operation supported by the UE), and indicate the same to the UE via downlink signaling. The information indicating the capability or profile of the UE may be provided in a UE profile report or UE assistance information. In some cases, the capability or profile of the UE may be conveyed via UE capability reporting, uplink control information (UCI), radio resource control (RRC) signaling, or medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) signaling) As to claim 3 , the combination Nam and Guo teach the method of claim 2, further comprising: reporting, by the wireless communication device to a network, the one or more capability sets (Nam [0112] At 505 , UE 115 -d may transmit a UE capability report to base station 105 -f, indicating which modes of operation are supported by the UE 115 -d, where each of the modes of operation corresponds to a reception configuration using one or more of multiple antenna panels of the UE 115 -d and one or more of multiple digital baseband chains of the UE 115 -d) ; As to claim 4 , the combination Nam and Guo teach the method of claim 2,, further comprising: reporting, by the wireless communication device to a network, a first message comprising an indication of the at least one mode (Nam [0112] At 505 , UE 115 -d may transmit a UE capability report to base station 105 -f, indicating which modes of operation are supported by the UE 115 -d, where each of the modes of operation corresponds to a reception configuration using one or more of multiple antenna panels of the UE 115 -d and one or more of multiple digital baseband chains of the UE 115 -d) ; As to claim 6 , the combination Nam and Guo teach the method of claim 4, wherein at least one of: the at least one mode and the at least one beam state corresponding to the at least one mode are carried in the first message (Nam [0097] In some other cases, the UE 115 -a may transmit information related to a capability or a profile of the UE indicating which modes of operation are supported by the UE 115 -a. For instance, the UE 115 -a may indicate that it supports both mode 0 (i.e., a reference mode) and mode 1 (e.g., mode 0 and mode 1 are configured for being supported concurrently) one of the at least one mode corresponds to one of the at least beam state in the first message; one of the at least one mode corresponds to a group of the at least beam state in the first message; or one of the at least one mode corresponds to all of the at least beam state in the first message. As to claim 7 , the combination Nam and Guo teach the method of claim 1, further comprising at least one of: determining, by the wireless communication device, an association between the at least one mode and the at least one beam state; reporting, by the wireless communication device to a network, the association between the at least one mode and the at least one beam state via a first message (Nam [0097] In some other cases, the UE 115 -a may transmit information related to a capability or a profile of the UE indicating which modes of operation are supported by the UE 115 -a. For instance, the UE 115 -a may indicate that it supports both mode 0 (i.e., a reference mode) and mode 1 (e.g., mode 0 and mode 1 are configured for being supported concurrently) ; or receiving, by the wireless communication device from the network, the association between the at least one mode and the at least one beam state. As to claim 8 , the combination Nam and Guo teach the method of claim 1, wherein determining the at least one mode comprises: receiving, by the wireless communication device from a network, a second message indicating the at least one mode or the at least one beam state (Nam [0098] In some cases, the base station 105 -a may select a mode of operation, for example, based on the UE capability report, and indicate the same to the UE 115 -a via downlink signaling) ; and determining, by the wireless communication device, the at least one mode based on the second message (Nam [0098] In some cases, the base station 105 -a may select a mode of operation, for example, based on the UE capability report, and indicate the same to the UE 115 -a via downlink signaling) ; As to claim 9 , the combination Nam and Guo teach the method of claim 8, wherein: the second message indicates at least one mode determined based on capability set of the wireless communication device (Nam [0098] In some cases, the base station 105 -a may select a mode of operation, for example, based on the UE capability report, and indicate the same to the UE 115 -a via downlink signaling) ; the second message is a response to a first message; the second message indicates the at least one mode determined based on the first message; the second message indicates one or more of the at least one mode in the first message; the second message indicates the at least one mode by confirming the at least one mode in the first message; the second message is a Media Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) activating a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) resource or indicating a spatial relation for the SRS resource; or the second message is an indicated Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state message. As to claim 10 , the combination Nam and Guo teach the method of claim 1, wherein each of the at least one beam state comprises a Reference Signal (RS) resource; an RS resource indicator; an RS resource set; an RS resource set indicator; a Transmission Configuration Indication (TCI) state indicator; a spatial relation indicator; a panel indicator; a panel combination indicator (Nam [0102] Mode of operation 301 may be an example of a reference mode (or mode 0), e.g., when UE 115 -b receives data through two chains from an antenna panel 305 (e.g., antenna panel 305 -a). As illustrated, base station 105 -c may be in communication with UE 115 -b using directional beams 315 -a and 315 -b. In some cases, base station 105 -c may be referred to as the serving cell. Further, UE 115 -b may include two antenna panels 305 -a and 305 -b, each having one or more interface ports (e.g., horizontal (H) and vertical (V) polarization ports) ; a Transmission/Reception Point (TRP) indicator; an antenna port; a group of antenna ports; a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) Resource Indicator (SRI); a Synchronization Signal (SS)/ Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) Resource Block Indicator (SSBRI); or a Channel State Information (CSI)-RS Resource Indicator (CRI). As to claim 13 , the combination Nam and Guo teach the method of claim 1, further comprising reporting, by the wireless communication device, that one or more of the at least one beam state are used for downlink transmission (Nam [0106] At 402 , the base station 105 may determine if one or more downlink data packets have arrived for transmission, from upper layers. If yes, the base station 105 may proceed to 403 to determine if the reference mode of operation has been selected. If no, the base station 105 may wait for one or more downlink data packets to arrive at 420 . In some cases, the UE 115 may transmit a UE capability report, indicating the modes of operation supported by the UE 115 (not shown). For instance, the UE 115 may indicate that it supports both a reference mode (e.g., mode 0) and a different mode (e.g., mode 1) of operation. As previously described, mode 0 may refer to the case when the UE 115 receives data or control information using two chains, whereas mode 1 may refer to the case when the UE 115 receives data/control information using a single chain) As to claim 16 , the combination Nam and Guo teach the method of claim 1, wherein each of at least one capability set corresponding to each of the at least one mode or each of the at least one mode corresponds to a first-type mode or a second-type mode (Nam [0088] In some cases, the base station 105 may define multiple offset parameters Δ (i), and assign them to each possible mode of beam/panel operations at UE 115 . For instance, Δ (0) may refer to the offset parameter for the reference mode (e.g., mode 0) of operation (i.e., when the UE 115 receives data through two chains from a panel), Δ (1) may be associated with a different mode (e.g., mode 1) of operation (i.e., when UE 115 utilizes one chain for data reception from the serving cell, and the other chain is off or utilized for measuring neighboring cells)) As to claim 17 , the combination Nam and Guo teach the method of claim 16, wherein at least one of: the first-type mode comprises at least one of a number of ports, a number of rank, a coherence type, a supported Transmitted Precoding Matrix Indicator (TPMI)/TPMI group, a full-power mode, a number of SRS resources in an Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) resource set for beam management, or a power control mode; or the second-type mode comprises at least one of a number of ports, a number of rank, a number of first-type modes corresponding to the second- type mode, a list of first-type modes, capability of multi-panel simultaneous transmissions, or capability of multi-panel simultaneous transmission of uplink signals (Nam [0097] In some other cases, the UE 115 -a may transmit information related to a capability or a profile of the UE indicating which modes of operation are supported by the UE 115 -a. For instance, the UE 115 -a may indicate that it supports both mode 0 (i.e., a reference mode) and mode 1 (e.g., mode 0 and mode 1 are configured for being supported concurrently). As previously described, mode 0 may refer to the case when the UE 115 -a receives data or control information using two chains, whereas mode 1 may refer to the case when the UE 115 -a receives data/control information using a single chain. In some cases, each mode of operation may be associated with a specific operation. For instance, mode 0 may be associated with reception of data/control from the serving cell, whereas mode 1 may be associated with reception of data/control from the serving cell, as well as measurement of neighboring base station 105 -b. It should be noted that the number of modes of operation may be larger than two, and the two modes of operation described here are merely examples, and not to be construed as the only implementation of the above disclosure. In some aspects, the number of modes of operation may depend on the number of panels/subarrays and digital baseband chains deployed at the UE 115 -a. The capability or profile information may be conveyed via capability reporting, RRC signaling, UCI, or MAC-CE signaling) 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nam, Guo and Abdelghaffar et al. (WO 2022/056480), herein Abdelghaffar . As to claim 11 , the combination Nam and Guo teach the method of claim 1, Nam nor Guo teach wherein the uplink transmission comprises at least one of a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) transmission, a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission, or a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission. However Abdelghaffar does teach wherein the uplink transmission comprises at least one of a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) transmission, a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission, or a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) transmission (Abdelghaffar [0114] a first SRS transmission using an SRS resource may be for a first antenna pane) It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Nam and Guo and Abdelghaffar, because Abdelghaffar teaches us [0112] In an aspect, the base station may provide the indicators to the UE in a dynamic manner, e.g., in response to a particular event and/or condition. For example, the base station may provide the indicators when panel switching and/or configuration changes associated with the antenna panels occur, since such an event should be indicated to the UE for the UE to make proper adjustments. In an aspect, the base station may transmit the SRS resource configuration of the one or more SRS resources including the indicators when panel switching and/or configuration changes associated with the antenna panels occur . 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nam, Guo and Yuan Fang et al. (KR 20230117349 A), herein Yuan Fang . As to claim 12 , the combination Nam and Guo teach the method of claim 1, Nam nor Guo teach further comprising indicating, by the wireless communication device, whether the at least one beam state corresponding to a beam reporting group is capable of being used for uplink transmission simultaneously. However Yuan Fang does teach further comprising indicating, by the wireless communication device, whether the at least one beam state corresponding to a beam reporting group is capable of being used for uplink transmission simultaneously (Yuan Fang [0032] In some implementations, a UE may transmit one or more reference signals using multiple spatial domain transmit filters based on receiving control signaling enabling a group-based beam reporting mode for uplink transmission at the UE. can A UE can transmit one or more reference signals simultaneously) It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Nam, Guo and Yuan Fang, because Yuan Fang teaches us [0032] this can reduce signaling overhead associated with transmitting reference signals at different times 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nam, Guo and Saber et al. (Pub. No.: 2022/0116981), herein Saber . As to claim 15 , the combination Nam and Guo teach the method of claim 1, Nam nor Guo teach further comprising determining, by the wireless communication device, the at least one mode or at least one capability set corresponding to each of the at least one mode for at least one of: a bandwidth part (BWP), a Component Carrier (CC) a group of CCs, a group of CCs within a band, all BWPs in a CC, all BWPs in a group of CC, or all BWPs in a group of CCs within a band. However Saber does teach further comprising determining, by the wireless communication device, the at least one mode or at least one capability set corresponding to each of the at least one mode for at least one of: a bandwidth part (BWP), a Component Carrier (CC) a group of CCs, a group of CCs within a band, all BWPs in a CC, all BWPs in a group of CC, or all BWPs in a group of CCs within a band (Saber [0241] The UE can report its capability to perform certain features in specific component carrier(s) (CC) in particular band combination) It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Nam, Guo and Saber, Saber teaches us [0241] In this case, a mechanism referred to as feature sets per cc can be used to allow for such flexibility in reporting . Allowable Subject Matter 12-151-08 AIA 07-43 12-51-08 Claim s 5 and 14 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-20 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. Conclusion 07-40 AIA Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL . See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AYANAH S GEORGE whose telephone number is (571)272-8880. The examiner can normally be reached 7:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hassan Phillips can be reached at 572-272-3940. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. AYANAH S. GEORGE Primary Examiner Art Unit 2467 /AYANAH S GEORGE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2467 Application/Control Number: 18/533,329 Page 2 Art Unit: 2467 Application/Control Number: 18/533,329 Page 3 Art Unit: 2467 Application/Control Number: 18/533,329 Page 4 Art Unit: 2467 Application/Control Number: 18/533,329 Page 5 Art Unit: 2467 Application/Control Number: 18/533,329 Page 6 Art Unit: 2467 Application/Control Number: 18/533,329 Page 7 Art Unit: 2467 Application/Control Number: 18/533,329 Page 8 Art Unit: 2467 Application/Control Number: 18/533,329 Page 9 Art Unit: 2467 Application/Control Number: 18/533,329 Page 10 Art Unit: 2467 Application/Control Number: 18/533,329 Page 11 Art Unit: 2467 Application/Control Number: 18/533,329 Page 12 Art Unit: 2467 Application/Control Number: 18/533,329 Page 13 Art Unit: 2467 Application/Control Number: 18/533,329 Page 14 Art Unit: 2467 Application/Control Number: 18/533,329 Page 15 Art Unit: 2467
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