DETAILED ACTION
In response to communication filed on 6/25/2026.
Claims 2-20 and 22 are pending.
Claims 2-20 and 22 are rejected.
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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicants’ submission filed on 6/25/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendments
This communication is in response to Applicant’s reply filed under 3 CFR 1.111 on 6/25/2026. Claims 2,11, and 20 were amended and claims 2-20 and 22 remain pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 2-5,7-9,11-14,16-18, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Cha et al. (US Pub. 2021/0376894)(C1 hereafter) in view of Etemad et al. (US Pub. 2014/0036796)(E1 hereafter).
Regarding claims 2,11 and 20, C1 teaches an apparatus (i.e. UE)[refer Fig. 25; 200] for wireless communication [paragraph 0144], comprising:
one or more processors [refer Fig. 25; 202], memory coupled with the one or more processors [refer Fig. 25; 204]; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors [paragraph 0533] to cause the apparatus to:
receive configuration information via radio resource control (RRC) signaling that indicates a transmission-reception point (i.e. base station) from which the apparatus is to receive periodic tracking reference signals (i.e. CSI-RS)[paragraph 0316](CSI-RSs are periodic)[paragraph 0277].
measure one or more periodic tracking reference signals (i.e. CSI-RS) from one or more transmission-reception points [paragraph 0324]; and
transmit a measurement report to the one or more transmission-reception points based at least in part on measurement of the one or more periodic tracking reference signals (i.e. measured CSI)[paragraph 0328].
However, C1 fails to disclose receive configuration information via radio resource control (RRC) signaling that indicates a set of transmission-reception points from which the apparatus is to receive joint communications and periodic tracking reference signals, and the measuring of one or more periodic tracking reference signals is from one or more transmission-reception points of the set of transmission-reception points.
E1 discloses RRC signaling for CSI measurement and feedback configuration for coordinated multi-point (CoMP) so that a UE can perform CSI measurements and report those measurements [paragraph 0019], CoMP is defined as coordinated scheduling and joint transmission [paragraph 0013], the CSI-RS are transmitted with a configurable periodicity (i.e. periodic)[paragraph 0017].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of C1 to incorporate the implementation of coordinated multi-point communication with other base stations or transmission points and performing measurement of transmitted CSI-RS’s from coordinated base stations as taught by E1. One would be motivated to do so to provide reduced interference [refer E1; Abstract].
Regarding claims 3,12 and 21, C1 in view of E1 teaches perform a beam management procedure [paragraph 0151] with the one or more transmission-reception points of the set of transmission-reception points [paragraph 0153] based at least in part on the measurement report [paragraph 0152].
Regarding claims 4 and 13, C1 in view of E1 teaches determining that at least one transmission-reception point of the set of transmission-reception points possesses a highest (i.e. best) reference signal received power among transmission-reception points associated with the apparatus [paragraph 0168].
Regarding claims 5 and 14, C1 teaches the configuration information is based at least in part on at least one periodic tracking reference signal (i.e. CSI-RS) received prior to the configuration information [paragraph 0316].
Regarding claims 7 and 16, C1 fails to disclose receiving the periodic tracking reference signals as separate tracking reference signals from each transmission-reception point of the set of transmission-reception points.
E1 discloses that CSI-RS are transmitted from one or more of the cooperating transmission points (TP) as part of the CoMP measurement set [paragraph 0032], the CSI-RS are transmitted with a configurable periodicity (i.e. periodic)[paragraph 0017].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of C1 to incorporate the implementation of coordinated multi-point communication with other base stations or transmission points and performing measurement of transmitted CSI-RS’s from coordinated base stations as taught by E1. One would be motivated to do so to provide reduced interference [refer E1; Abstract].
Regarding claims 8 and 17, C1 fails to disclose receiving the periodic tracking reference signals as joint tracking reference signals from each transmission-reception point of the set of transmission-reception points.
E1 discloses that CSI-RS are transmitted from one or more of the cooperating transmission points (TP) as part of the CoMP measurement set [paragraph 0032], the technique for performing CoMP comprises coordinated scheduling and joint transmissions [paragraph 0013].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of C1 to incorporate the implementation of coordinated multi-point communication with other base stations or transmission points and performing measurement of transmitted CSI-RS’s from coordinated base stations as taught by E1. One would be motivated to do so to provide reduced interference [refer E1; Abstract].
Regarding claims 9 and 18, C1 teaches transmitting a request for a tracking reference signal periodicity (i.e. CSI-RS) for one or more transmission-reception points of the set of transmission-reception points (a UE may request a BS to configure different beams for some or all RS resources or sets)[paragraph 0447].
Claims 6 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over C1 in view of E1, as applied to claims 2 and 11, in further view of Ko et al. (US Pub. 2017/0134111)(K1 hereafter).
Regarding claims 6 and 15, C1 fails to disclose each transmission-reception point of the set of transmission-reception points has a different cell identification from every other transmission-reception point of the set of transmission-reception points.
K1 discloses, in the field of using multiple transmission and reception points [refer Abstract], that transmission/reception points can have different physical cell identities (PCI) assigned to them [paragraph 0047].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of C1 for a UE to acquire information about a cell, such as cell ID [refer C1; paragraph 0145] to incorporate multiple transmission and reception points that can have different cell identities assigned to them as taught by K1. One would be motivated to do so to provide the use of a known procedure within the field of endeavor to yield predictable results with multiple transmission and reception points in a communication system [refer K1; paragraph 0009].
Claims 10 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over C1 in view of E1, as applied to claims 2 and 11, in further view of Xu et al. (US Pub. 2023/0371054)(X1 hereafter).
Regarding claims 10 and 19, C1 fails to explicitly disclose transmitting the request via an uplink control channel, a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE), a combination of Layer-1 signaling and MAC-CE, RRC signaling, or combinations thereof.
X1 discloses, in the field controlling UE measurement reporting and control of reporting using RRC [paragraph 0058], a UE can request system information in which dedicated RRC signaling can be used for the request and delivery of system information [paragraph 0067].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of C1 to incorporate the requesting of system information from a wireless device using RRC signaling as taught by X1. One would be motivated to do so to provide the use of a known procedure within the field of endeavor to yield predictable results with regards to UE measurement reporting and control of reporting [refer X1; paragraph 0058].
Claim 22 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over C1 in view of E1, as applied to claim 2, in further view of Priyanto et al. (US Pub. 2023/0345455)(P1 hereafter).
Regarding claim 22, C1 fails to disclose that the periodic tracking reference signals are used to estimate at least one of a timing error or a frequency error.
P1 discloses the scheduling of reference signals, such as CSI-RS [paragraph 0074], that are usable for estimating time and/or frequency error [paragraph 0059].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of C1 for the use of CSI-RS [refer C1; paragraph 0316] to incorporate the use of reference signals for the estimation of time and/or frequency error as taught by P1. One would be motivated to do so to provide efficient estimation of frequency of errors of time and frequency [refer P1; paragraph 0008].
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 6/25/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claims 2,11 and 20 under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive in view of the amendments. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of the teachings of Etemad et al. (US Pub. 2014/0036796)(E1 hereafter) as noted in the above rejection with regards to the amendments requiring that the RRC messaging being directed towards indicating a set of transmission-reception points from which the UE is to receive joint communications AND periodic tracking reference signals.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Zhu et al. (US Pub. 2015/0189626) discloses that a base station can identify a set of transmission points that may be utilized to transmit to a particular device, each transmission point can periodically transmit a CSI-RS, and the transmission points can be utilized to transmit data in a joint transmission [paragraph 0031].
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RYAN C KAVLESKI whose telephone number is (571)270-3619. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 6:30am-3pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Charles C Jiang can be reached on 571-270-7191. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Ryan Kavleski
/R.C.K/Examiner, Art Unit 2412
/CHARLES C JIANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2412
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