DETAILED ACTION
Notice of 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 .
Priority
The provisional applications no. 63436017, 63441133 and 63535924 filed on 12/29/2022, 01/25/2023 and 08/31/2023 respectively are acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/14/2025 and 06/19/2024 are acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
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.
Claim 2 is 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 2 (in Lines [1-2]) recites the limitation "…the resource is based on (i) amount of information in the beam report or (ii) contents of the beam report." However, the base claim 1 referenced two different resources (PUSCH resource and Beam Measurement resource) and it is unclear what resource is being referred to in claim 2. On the other hand, Para. [0175-0176] of the instant specification recites, “the report from the UE can be a one-part report (e.g., single stage) or a two-part report (e.g., with two-parts or two stages). Whether to have one-part or two-parts can depend on a condition ... The condition can be based on one or more of the following: (1) depends on amount of UL resources. If there are sufficient uplink resources, two-part UE report is used, else a one-part UE report is used.” Hence, for examination purposes, the referenced “resource” in claim 2 has been construed to mean the “beam measurement resource” in claim 1. The office respectfully requests the applicant to amend the claim(s) in order to clarify the claimed invention.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
(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 1-5, 7-12 and 14-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Löhr et al. (US 20250150918 A1), hereinafter referenced as Lohr.
Regarding claims 1 and 15, Lohr teaches a user equipment (UE), comprising: a transceiver (Para. [0006]-Lohr discloses methods, apparatuses, and systems that enable a communication device (e.g., a UE, a base station, a network entity) to perform beam management. Fig. 5, Para. [0129]-Lohr discloses device 502 may include components for bi-directional communications including components for transmitting and receiving communications, such as a communications manager 504, a processor 506, a memory 508, a receiver 510, a transmitter 512, and an I/O controller 514) configured to:
receive first information related to resources for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) (Para. [0137]-Lohr discloses triggering the user equipment to trigger a random access procedure or a scheduling request to request uplink shared channel resources. Para. [0086]-Lohr discloses PUSCH retransmission indicated by the configured scheduling radio network temporary identifier (CS-RNTI) PDCCH. Para. [0062-0063]-Lohr discloses the base station 102 transmits an Rach Response message to the UE 104 … one or more data transmissions ... from the base station 102 to the UE 104 ... using CG or dynamic grant (DG) scheduling),
receive second information related to (i) beam measurement resources (Para. [0008]-Lohr discloses the method and apparatuses receive, from the base station, a beam measurement configuration including a periodicity; and check whether to trigger beam measurements to determine whether the current serving beam has changed at the periodicity indicated in the beam measurement configuration) and
(ii) a beam report configuration (Para. [0103]-Lohr discloses the network (NW), such as the base station 102 or the core network 106, configures beam (group) reporting for the UE 104, i.e. CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI). The NW configures for which CRIs the UE 104 shall report, e.g. L1-RSRP. In Rel-15 the NW can configure CSI reporting for beam reporting with different types of time periodicities, including periodic, semi-persistent, and aperiodic), and
receive third information related to a condition to transmit a beam report (Fig. 1, Para. [0107]-Lohr discloses the UE 104 triggers the report of DL beam information to the base station 102 in situations where the serving beam, e.g., the most recent beam used for transmission of data and/or control information to the UE 104, changes during an SDT session. Para. [0116]-Lohr discloses the UE 104 triggers a beam recovery procedure (e.g. as specified for the legacy Rel-16 specifications) for cases that the serving beam has changed or the reception quality of the current serving beam is not considered sufficient anymore. In one example the UE 104 evaluates during an SDT session one or more candidate DL beams when certain criteria have been fulfilled to trigger the beam recovery procedure); and
a processor operably coupled to the transceiver, the processor configured to: measure the beam measurement resources (Para. [0008]-Lohr discloses the method and apparatuses receive, from the base station, a beam measurement configuration including a periodicity; and check whether to trigger beam measurements to determine whether the current serving beam has changed at the periodicity indicated in the beam measurement configuration),
determine, based on the measurement and the condition, whether to transmit the beam report (Fig. 1, Para. [0107]-Lohr discloses the UE 104 triggers the report of DL beam information to the base station 102 in situations where the serving beam, e.g., the most recent beam used for transmission of data and/or control information to the UE 104, changes during an SDT session. Para. [0008]-Lohr discloses the method and apparatuses receive, from the base station, a beam measurement configuration including a periodicity; and check whether to trigger beam measurements to determine whether the current serving beam has changed at the periodicity indicated in the beam measurement configuration), and
in response to determining to transmit the beam report, determine the beam report based on the measurement (Para. [0100-0101]-Lohr disclsoes beam measurement implies obtaining the characteristics, e.g. power, of the received beamformed signals … Beam reporting leads to the transmission of a beam measurement report to the transmitter),
the transceiver is further configured to transmit, via a resource from the resources for the PUSCH, the beam report (Para. [0101]-Lohr discloses the transmission of a beam measurement report to the transmitter. Para. [0113]-Lohr discloses RACH msg3 or the PUSCH in a MsgA may be comprised of a C-RNTI MAC CE (for contention resolution) … one or more of the criteria defined for triggering the report, e.g., the reason may indicate that the RSRP of the current serving DL beam is below a configured threshold. The new beam candidate information reporting is considered as successfully completed when contention resolution is successfully completed and RACH procedure is completed), and
the resource for the PUSCH is a Type 1 configured grant PUSCH resource (Para. [0051]-Lohr discloses transmission of UL data on pre-configured physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resources (e.g., reusing the configured grant type 1)).
Regarding claim 8, Lohr teaches a base station (BS), comprising: a transceiver (Para. [0006]-Lohr discloses methods, apparatuses, and systems that enable a communication device (e.g., a UE, a base station, a network entity) to perform beam management. Fig. 5, Para. [0129]-Lohr discloses device 502 may include components for bi-directional communications including components for transmitting and receiving communications, such as a communications manager 504, a processor 506, a memory 508, a receiver 510, a transmitter 512, and an I/O controller 514) configured to:
transmit first information related to resources for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) (Para. [0137]-Lohr discloses triggering the user equipment to trigger a random access procedure or a scheduling request to request uplink shared channel resources. Para. [0086]-Lohr discloses PUSCH retransmission indicated by the configured scheduling radio network temporary identifier (CS-RNTI) PDCCH. Para. [0062-0063]-Lohr discloses the base station 102 transmits an Rach Response message to the UE 104 … one or more data transmissions ... from the base station 102 to the UE 104 ... using CG or dynamic grant (DG) scheduling),
transmit second information related to (i) beam measurement resources (Para. [0008]-Lohr discloses the method and apparatuses receive, from the base station, a beam measurement configuration including a periodicity; and check whether to trigger beam measurements to determine whether the current serving beam has changed at the periodicity indicated in the beam measurement configuration) and
(ii) a beam report configuration (Para. [0103]-Lohr discloses the network (NW), such as the base station 102 or the core network 106, configures beam (group) reporting for the UE 104, i.e. CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI). The NW configures for which CRIs the UE 104 shall report, e.g. L1-RSRP. In Rel-15 the NW can configure CSI reporting for beam reporting with different types of time periodicities, including periodic, semi-persistent, and aperiodic),
transmit third information related to a condition to transmit a beam report (Fig. 1, Para. [0107]-Lohr discloses the UE 104 triggers the report of DL beam information to the base station 102 in situations where the serving beam, e.g., the most recent beam used for transmission of data and/or control information to the UE 104, changes during an SDT session. Para. [0116]-Lohr discloses the UE 104 triggers a beam recovery procedure (e.g. as specified for the legacy Rel-16 specifications) for cases that the serving beam has changed or the reception quality of the current serving beam is not considered sufficient anymore. In one example the UE 104 evaluates during an SDT session one or more candidate DL beams when certain criteria have been fulfilled to trigger the beam recovery procedure), and
receive, from a user equipment (UE) and via a resource from the resources for the PUSCH, a beam report (Fig. 1, Para. [0107]-Lohr discloses the UE 104 triggers the report of DL beam information to the base station 102 in situations where the serving beam, e.g., the most recent beam used for transmission of data and/or control information to the UE 104, changes during an SDT session. Para. [0008]-Lohr discloses the method and apparatuses receive, from the base station, a beam measurement configuration including a periodicity; and check whether to trigger beam measurements to determine whether the current serving beam has changed at the periodicity indicated in the beam measurement configuration),
the resource for the PUSCH is a Type 1 configured grant PUSCH resource (Para. [0051]-Lohr discloses transmission of UL data on pre-configured physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) resources (e.g., reusing the configured grant type 1)); and
a processor operably coupled to the transceiver, the processor configured to: determine whether the beam report has been received (Para. [0113]-Lohr discloses the MAC CE is to inform base station 102 explicitly of the reason why the UE 104 triggered a RACH procedure during the SDT session … The new beam candidate information reporting is considered as successfully completed when contention resolution is successfully completed and RACH procedure is completed), and
when the beam report is determined to be received, configure the UE based on the beam report (Para. [0103]-Lohr discloses the network (NW), such as the base station 102 or the core network 106, configures beam (group) reporting for the UE 104, i.e. CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI)).
Regarding claims 2, 9 and 16, Lohr teaches the UE of claim 1, the BS of claim 8 and the method of claim 15 respectively,
Lohr further teaches the resource is based on (i) amount of information in the beam report (Para. [0103]-Lohr discloses the payload sizes of the beam report can vary according to the number of reported and measured CSI resources as well as whether differential or non-differential coding is used) or (ii)
contents of the beam report (Para. [0103]-Lohr discloses the network (NW), such as the base station 102 or the core network 106, configures beam (group) reporting for the UE 104, i.e. CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI). The NW configures for which CRIs the UE 104 shall report, e.g. L1-RSRP. In Rel-15 the NW can configure CSI reporting for beam reporting with different types of time periodicities, including periodic, semi-persistent, and aperiodic).
Regarding claims 3, 10 and 17 Lohr teaches the UE of claim 1, the BS of claim 8 and the method of claim 15 respectively,
Lohr further teaches the transceiver is further configured to transmit a channel, before transmission of the PUSCH, indicating transmission of the beam report (Para. [0008]-Lohr discloses triggering the UE to trigger a random access procedure or a scheduling request (SR) to request uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) resources if there is currently no UL-SCH resource available for transmission. Para. [0123]-Lohr discloses the UE 104 triggers a random access procedure or an SR for beam candidate indication in order to request UL-SCH resources for the transmission of the beam candidate MAC CE),
the channel is transmitted based on a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state (Para. [0115]-Lohr discloses the UE 104 monitors PDCCH and physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) using the quasi-colocation (QCL) assumption of indicated candidate beam, until a new transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for PDCCH is indicated. For UL transmissions the same spatial filter as was used for indicating the new candidate beam is used by the UE 104 until a new reconfiguration is received from the NW), and
the beam report is transmitted based on the TCI state (Para. [0101]-Lohr discloses the transmission of a beam measurement report to the transmitter. Para. [0115]-Lohr discloses the UE 104 monitors PDCCH and physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) using the quasi-colocation (QCL) assumption of indicated candidate beam, until a new transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for PDCCH is indicated. For UL transmissions the same spatial filter as was used for indicating the new candidate beam is used by the UE 104 until a new reconfiguration is received from the NW).
Regarding claims 4, 11 and 18 Lohr teaches the UE of claim 1, the BS of claim 8 and the method of claim 15 respectively,
Lohr further teaches the transceiver is further configured to transmit a channel, before transmission of the PUSCH, indicating transmission of the beam report (Para. [0008]-Lohr discloses triggering the UE to trigger a random access procedure or a scheduling request (SR) to request uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) resources if there is currently no UL-SCH resource available for transmission. Para. [0123]-Lohr discloses the UE 104 triggers a random access procedure or an SR for beam candidate indication in order to request UL-SCH resources for the transmission of the beam candidate MAC CE), and
the channel indicates a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for the beam report (Para. [0115]-Lohr discloses the UE 104 monitors PDCCH and physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) using the quasi-colocation (QCL) assumption of indicated candidate beam, until a new transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for PDCCH is indicated. For UL transmissions the same spatial filter as was used for indicating the new candidate beam is used by the UE 104 until a new reconfiguration is received from the NW).
Regarding claims 5, 12 and 19 Lohr teaches the UE of claim 1, the BS of claim 8 and the method of claim 15 respectively,
Lohr further teaches the beam report includes N pairs of a L1 metric and an indication of an associated reference signal, where: N >= 1 (Para. [0102-0103]-Lohr discloses the UE is providing beam measurements for the purpose of DL/UL beam selection. L1-RSRP measurements are used for that purpose: for DL beam selection; for UL beam and panel selection where the UE would determine reported DL RS indices (together with measurement result and panel identifier) ... The network (NW), such as the base station 102 or the core network 106, configures beam (group) reporting for the UE 104, i.e. CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI). The NW configures for which CRIs the UE 104 shall report, e.g. L1-RSRP), and
the L1 metric is a reference signal received power (RSRP) or a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) of the associated reference signal (Para. [0103]-Lohr discloses the NW configures for which CRIs the UE 104 shall report, e.g. L1-RSRP).
Regarding claims 7 and 14, Lohr teaches the UE of claim 1 and the BS of claim 8 respectively,
Lohr further teaches the beam report is included in a medium access control channel element (MAC CE) (Para. [0008]-Lohr discloses the beam information is transmitted within a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) indicating one or more candidate beam information).
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 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 of this title, 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 6, 13 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Löhr et al. (US 20250150918 A1), hereinafter referenced as Lohr, in view of Zhu et al. (US 20220216904 A1), hereinafter referenced as Zhu.
Regarding claims 6, 13 and 20, Lohr teaches the UE of claim 1, the BS of claim 8 and the method of claim 15 respectively,
Lohr further teaches an indication of an associated reference signal (Para. [0102-0103]-Lohr discloses the UE is providing beam measurements for the purpose of DL/UL beam selection. L1-RSRP measurements are used for that purpose: for DL beam selection; for UL beam and panel selection where the UE would determine reported DL RS indices (together with measurement result and panel identifier) ... The network (NW), such as the base station 102 or the core network 106, configures beam (group) reporting for the UE 104, i.e. CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI). The NW configures for which CRIs the UE 104 shall report, e.g. L1-RSRP), where:
N >= 1 is a number of pairs reported per cell (Para. [0102-0103]-Lohr discloses the UE is providing beam measurements for the purpose of DL/UL beam selection. L1-RSRP measurements are used for that purpose: for DL beam selection; for UL beam and panel selection where the UE would determine reported DL RS indices (together with measurement result and panel identifier) ... The network (NW), such as the base station 102 or the core network 106, configures beam (group) reporting for the UE 104, i.e. CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI). The NW configures for which CRIs the UE 104 shall report, e.g. L1-RSRP), and
the L1 metric is a reference signal received power (RSRP) or a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) of the associated reference signal (Para. [0103]-Lohr discloses the NW configures for which CRIs the UE 104 shall report, e.g. L1-RSRP).
Lohr fails to teach the beam report includes N x L pairs of a L1 metric and.
However, Zhu teaches the beam report includes N x L pairs of a L1 metric (Para. [0137]-Zhu discloses in the group based beam reporting, the UE could report in a single reporting instance a group/pair of more than one resource indicators such as SSB resource indicators (SSBRIs) or CSI-RS resource indicators (CRIs) along with their corresponding/associated beam metrics such as L1-RSRPs/L1-SINRs, to their serving cell/gNB) and
L >= 1 is a number of cells in the beam report (Para. [0232]-Zhu discloses enote the number of non-serving cells configured/selected for beam measurement and reporting by M_nsc. Para. [0168]-Zhu discloses the UE could be configured/indicated by the network a set of size M_nsc with each entry in the set corresponding to the number of BM-RI pairs/beam qualities (including the resource indicators and their corresponding/associated beam metrics) for a different non-serving cell from the M_nsc non-serving cells).
Lohr and Zhu are both considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field of wireless communication systems, dealing with beam measurement and reporting in a wireless communication system.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the Lohr to incorporate the teachings of Zhu on beam reporting, with a motivation to report pairs of L1 metric and reference signal indication for multiple cells, and guarantee beamforming gain and support increased capacity, new waveform (e.g., a new radio access technology (RAT)) to flexibly accommodate various services/applications with different requirements, new multiple access schemes to support massive connections, (Zhu, Para. [0013]).
Conclusion
Listed below are the prior arts made of record and not relied upon but are considered pertinent to applicant`s disclosure.
Tsai et al. (US 20220210798 A1)-discloses (in Para. [0386-0389]) the UE may trigger a specific report and/or indicate a specific indication to NW ..., the specific report and/or the specific indication may include an information of SSB (e.g., SSB index) and/or CG (e.g., CG index) ... UE may be configured with multiple beams (e.g., SSB/TRS/CSI-RS/assistance RS/TCI-state), e.g., via a set or a list, for the UE to determine/select the beam for SDT (e.g., during the SDT procedure). The UE may select the beam based on beam measurement (e.g., L1-RSRP measurements). Para. [0047]-Tsai discloses the beam may be referred to reference signal (e.g., SSB/TRS/CSI-RS/assistance RS/TCI state), and/or TCI state. The beam may be indicated via a reference signal (e.g., SSB/TRS/CSI-RS/assistance RS/TCI state), and/or TCI state…. …Fig. 1-5
Onggosanusi et al. (US 20190296815 A1)-discloses Methods and apparatuses for high capacity access. A method by a user equipment (UE) includes receiving, from a base station (BS), beam monitoring information, a downlink (DL) transmission assignment, and an associated DL transmission. The beam monitoring information includes a request for the UE to monitor and measure a quality of K beams. The method further includes decoding the beam monitoring information, the DL transmission assignment, and the associated DL transmission; and transmitting, to the BS, a beam metric report and a channel state information (CSI) report…. …Fig. 1-5
CHATTERJEE et al. (US 20210203449 A1)-discloses mechanisms on response of pre-allocated resource based PUSCH transmission. The disclosure provides an apparatus including processor circuitry. The processor circuitry is to: encode data, for transmission to an access node (AN) over a pre-allocated uplink (UL) resource (PUR) based physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH); start a timer once the data is transmitted; and monitor, based on the timer, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) to obtain a response of the AN to the transmission of the data… …Fig. 1-5
Farag et al. (US 20210314931 A1)-discloses Methods and apparatuses for UL reference signal-based beam management. A method of operating a UE includes receiving configuration information for UL reference signals for beam management, source reference signals for spatial relation, and a beam report; receiving the source reference signals; and measuring a signal quality metric for the source reference signals for spatial relation. The method further includes transmitting a beam report based on measured signal quality metric and receiving, in response to the beam report, updated configuration information for the UL reference signals for beam management. The method further includes determining a time for update of the UL reference signals for beam management and transmitting the UL reference signals for beam management based on the updated configuration information at the determined time… …Fig. 1-5
Cirik et al. (US 20220353707 A1)-discloses in wireless communications, antenna panels may be associated with a different quantity of sounding reference signal (SRS) antenna port numbers. When transmitting transport blocks for a configured uplink grant, a transmission precoder may be determined based on a configured transmit precoding field and SRS antenna port number. Multiple values may be configured for the transmit precoding field. At least some values may be associated with a quantity of SRS antenna port numbers…. …Fig. 1-5
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/OO/
Examiner, Art Unit 2472
/NICHOLAS A JENSEN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2472