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
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.
Claims 12-13 and 16-20 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 12 recites “in response to transmit A-CSI/SP-CSI report without any transport block on two PUSCH repetitions and on PUSCH repetition type B, transmit the A-CSI/SP-CSI report on a first nominal repetition corresponding to a first beam and a first nominal repetition corresponding to a second beam.” The meaning of this limitation is not clear, because the phrase ““in response to transmit A-CSI/SP-CSI report” is not grammatically correct, and because Applicant’s Specification does not appear to disclose an embodiment where “transmit[ting] the A-CSI/SP-CSI report on a first nominal repetition corresponding to a first beam and a first nominal repetition corresponding to a second beam” is in response to “transmit[ting] A-CSI/SP-CSI report without any transport block on two PUSCH repetitions and on PUSCH repetition type B.”
For the purposes of Examination, the limitation is interpreted to mean “transmit[ting] the A-CSI/SP-CSI report on a first nominal repetition corresponding to a first beam and a first nominal repetition corresponding to a second beam” in response to a determination to “transmit A-CSI/SP-CSI report without any transport block on two PUSCH repetitions and on PUSCH repetition type B.”
Claims 13 and 16-20 are rejected because they depend from claim 12.
Claims 17-19 depend from claim 12 and additionally recite “in response to transmit A-CSI/SP-CSI report without any transport block on more than two PUSCH repetitions and on PUSCH repetition type B.” Accordingly, claim 17 is also rejected under similar rationale as claim 12.
Claims 17-19 depend from claim 12 and additionally recite “in response to transmit A-CSI/SP-CSI report without any transport block on more than two PUSCH repetitions and on PUSCH repetition type B.” The recitations of “more than two PUSCH repetitions” also appears to contradict the limitation in claim 12 that “the number of nominal repetitions is always assumed to be two, regardless of the value of higher layer parameter numberOfRepetitions-r16.”
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 12-13 and 16-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Jang et al. (US 2022/0255700).
Regarding claim 12, Jang discloses a transmitter, configured to communicate in a communication system (Jang, Fig. 25, transmitter 2510; paragraph [0700] , transmitter 2510), the transmitter comprising:
one or more interfaces configured to communicate with multiple transmission-reception points (multi-TRPs) within the communication system (Jang, paragraph [0479] , Single-DCI-Based Multi-TRP; paragraph [0484], when the aperiodic/semi-persistent CSI reporting is transmitted or multiplexed, a method for multiplexing or transmitting the CSI report for repeated PUSCH transmission in consideration of multiple TRPs); and a circuitry (Jang, paragraph [0055], circuits) configured to:
in response to transmit A-CSI/SP-CSI report without any transport block on two PUSCH repetitions and on PUSCH repetition type B, transmit the A-CSI/SP-CSI report on a first nominal repetition corresponding to a first beam and a first nominal repetition corresponding to a second beam (Jang, paragraph [0479] , Single-DCI-Based Multi-TRP; paragraph [0484], transmission type A or B, in a case where the aperiodic or semi-persistent CSI reporting is multiplexed when no transport block is transmitted in the repeated PUSCH transmission type B, at least one transmission is to be secured for each TRP even though the number of PUSCH repetitions is configured to be greater than 1. when the aperiodic/semi-persistent CSI reporting is transmitted or multiplexed, a method for multiplexing or transmitting the CSI report for repeated PUSCH transmission in consideration of multiple TRPs; paragraph [0690], the terminal may assume that the number of nominal repetitions corresponds to two, regardless of the configured number of repeated transmissions of PUSCH repetition type B. the terminal may map the first transmission beam to the first PUSCH repetition and map the second transmission beam to the second PUSCH repetition, regardless of the configuration in which the transmission beam mapping scheme during the multi-TRP-based PUSCH repetition; paragraph [0692], the terminal may only consider transmission for two nominal repetitions, regardless of the configured number of repeated PUSCH transmissions, the terminal may transmit one PUSCH transmission for each transmission beam, such as nominal repetition);
wherein the number of nominal repetitions is always assumed to be two, regardless of the value of higher layer parameter numberOfRepetitions-r16 (Jang, paragraph [0334], NR Release 16; paragraph [0479] , Single-DCI-Based Multi-TRP; paragraph [0484], in a case where the aperiodic or semi-persistent CSI reporting is multiplexed when no transport block is transmitted in the repeated PUSCH transmission type B, at least one transmission is to be secured for each TRP even though the number of PUSCH repetitions is configured to be greater than 1. when the aperiodic/semi-persistent CSI reporting is transmitted or multiplexed, a method for multiplexing or transmitting the CSI report for repeated PUSCH transmission in consideration of multiple TRPs; paragraph [0690], the terminal may assume that the number of nominal repetitions corresponds to two, regardless of the configured number of repeated transmissions of PUSCH repetition type B. the terminal may map the first transmission beam to the first PUSCH repetition and map the second transmission beam to the second PUSCH repetition, regardless of the configuration in which the transmission beam mapping scheme during the multi-TRP-based PUSCH repetition; paragraph [0692], the terminal may only consider transmission for two nominal repetitions, regardless of the configured number of repeated PUSCH transmissions, the terminal may transmit one PUSCH transmission for each transmission beam, such as nominal repetition).
Regarding claim 13, Jang discloses the transmitter according to claim 12, wherein in the case that the A- CSI/SP-CSI report is transmitted on a first nominal repetition corresponding to a first beam and a first nominal repetition corresponding to a second beam, if any of both the first nominal repetitions corresponding to the first beam and the second beam is segmented into multiple actual repetitions, the A-CSI/SP-CSI report is transmitted on a first actual repetition of the first nominal repetition (Jang, paragraph [0484], in a case where the aperiodic or semi-persistent CSI reporting is multiplexed when no transport block is transmitted in the repeated PUSCH transmission type B, at least one transmission is to be secured for each TRP even though the number of PUSCH repetitions is configured to be greater than 1. when the aperiodic/semi-persistent CSI reporting is transmitted or multiplexed, a method for multiplexing or transmitting the CSI report for repeated PUSCH transmission in consideration of multiple TRPs; paragraph [0653], nominal repetition separated into two actual repetitions at the slot boundary; paragraph [0689], map the first transmission beam to the first actual repetition and map the second transmission beam to the second actual transmission; paragraph [0690], the terminal may assume that the number of nominal repetitions corresponds to two, regardless of the configured number of repeated transmissions of PUSCH repetition type B. the terminal may map the first transmission beam to the first PUSCH repetition and map the second transmission beam to the second PUSCH repetition, regardless of the configuration in which the transmission beam mapping scheme during the multi-TRP-based PUSCH repetition; paragraph [0692], the terminal may only consider transmission for two nominal repetitions, regardless of the configured number of repeated PUSCH transmissions, the terminal may transmit one PUSCH transmission for each transmission beam, such as nominal repetition and actual repetition).
Regarding claim 16, Jang discloses the transmitter according to claim 12, wherein the first nominal repetition corresponding to the first beam is expected to be the same as the corresponding first actual repetition, and the first nominal repetition corresponding to the second beam is expected to be the same as the corresponding first actual repetition (Jang, paragraph [0379], when the aperiodic or semi-persistent CSI reporting is scheduled or activated without scheduling for the transport block, based on repeated PUSCH transmission type B, the terminal may expect that the first nominal repetition is identical to the first actual repetition).
Regarding claim 17, Jang discloses the transmitter according to claim 12, wherein the circuitry is configured to: in response to transmit A-CSI/SP-CSI report without any transport block on more than two PUSCH repetitions and on PUSCH repetition type B, transmit the A-CSI/SP-CSI report on the nominal repetitions corresponding to the first beam and the nominal repetitions corresponding to the second beam until all the PUSCH repetitions are completed (Jang, Fig. 16B, 4 unsegmented transmissions;; paragraph [0325], two or more repeated PUSCH transmissions are scheduled, each repeated transmission occupies consecutive symbols; paragraph [0484], in a case where the aperiodic or semi-persistent CSI reporting is multiplexed when no transport block is transmitted in the repeated PUSCH transmission type B, at least one transmission is to be secured for each TRP even though the number of PUSCH repetitions is configured to be greater than 1. when the aperiodic/semi-persistent CSI reporting is transmitted or multiplexed, a method for multiplexing or transmitting the CSI report for repeated PUSCH transmission in consideration of multiple TRPs).
Regarding claim 18, Jang discloses the transmitter according to claim 12, wherein the circuitry is configured to: in response to transmit A-CSI/SP-CSI report without any transport block on more than two PUSCH repetitions and on PUSCH repetition type B, transmit the A-CSI/SP-CSI report on the actual repetitions corresponding to the first beam and the actual repetitions corresponding to the second beam, wherein every actual repetition has at least two symbols in time domain and these actual repetitions corresponding to the two beams have the same number of symbols as the first actual repetition of the first nominal repetition with the first beam (Jang, Fig. 16B, 4 unsegmented transmissions; paragraph [0325], two or more repeated PUSCH transmissions are scheduled, each repeated transmission occupies consecutive symbols; paragraph [0484], in a case where the aperiodic or semi-persistent CSI reporting is multiplexed when no transport block is transmitted in the repeated PUSCH transmission type B, at least one transmission is to be secured for each TRP even though the number of PUSCH repetitions is configured to be greater than 1. when the aperiodic/semi-persistent CSI reporting is transmitted or multiplexed, a method for multiplexing or transmitting the CSI report for repeated PUSCH transmission in consideration of multiple TRPs).
Regarding claim 19, Jang discloses the transmitter according to claim 12, wherein the circuitry is configured to:
in response to transmit A-CSI/SP-CSI report without any transport block on more than two PUSCH repetitions and on PUSCH repetition type B, transmit the A-CSI/SP-CSI report on the nominal repetitions corresponding to the first beam and the nominal repetitions corresponding to the second beam, wherein every nominal repetition is the same as the first actual repetition of this nominal repetition, and the nominal repetition is not divided into multiple actual repetitions (Jang, Fig. 16B, 4 unsegmented transmissions; paragraph [0325], two or more repeated PUSCH transmissions are scheduled, each repeated transmission occupies consecutive symbols; paragraph [0484], in a case where the aperiodic or semi-persistent CSI reporting is multiplexed when no transport block is transmitted in the repeated PUSCH transmission type B, at least one transmission is to be secured for each TRP even though the number of PUSCH repetitions is configured to be greater than 1. when the aperiodic/semi-persistent CSI reporting is transmitted or multiplexed, a method for multiplexing or transmitting the CSI report for repeated PUSCH transmission in consideration of multiple TRPs).
Regarding claim 20, Jang discloses the transmitter according to claim 12, wherein the circuitry is configured to: in response to transmit A-CSI/SP-CSI report without any transport block on PUSCH repetition type A, transmit the A-CSI/SP-CSI report on a first PUSCH repetition corresponding to the first beam and a first PUSCH repetition corresponding to the second beam (Jang, paragraph [0479] , Single-DCI-Based Multi-TRP; paragraph [0484], transmission type A or B, in a case where the aperiodic or semi-persistent CSI reporting is multiplexed when no transport block is transmitted in the repeated PUSCH transmission type B, at least one transmission is to be secured for each TRP even though the number of PUSCH repetitions is configured to be greater than 1. when the aperiodic/semi-persistent CSI reporting is transmitted or multiplexed, a method for multiplexing or transmitting the CSI report for repeated PUSCH transmission in consideration of multiple TRPs).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Sun et al. (US 2022/0360382) discloses in response to transmit A-CSI/SP-CSI report on two PUSCH repetitions and on PUSCH repetition type B, transmit the A-CSI/SP-CSI report on a first nominal repetition corresponding to a first beam and a first nominal repetition corresponding to a second beam.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALAN LOUIS LINDENBAUM whose telephone number is (571)270-3858. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST.
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, Faruk Hamza can be reached at (571) 272-7969. 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.
/ALAN L LINDENBAUM/Examiner, Art Unit 2466
/FARUK HAMZA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2466