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 § 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.
Claim 1-9, and 12-20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Earnshaw et. al. (U.S. Pat. Pub. 2011/0269490), in view of Mazzarese (U.S. Pat. Pub. 2014/0153526), The Earnshaw reference was provided in the information disclosure statement dated August 25, 2023.
Regarding Claim 1,
Earnshaw discloses: A user equipment (UE), comprising: at least one memory; and
at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the UE to: receive a first configuration from a network device to activate an update of a channel state information (CSI) report,
[0077] FIG. 7 is an illustration of a base station and UE implementing synchronized CSI reconfiguration after a predetermined period of time. In FIG. 7, the base station attempts to activate or deactivate a carrier by transmitting a DL-SCH transport block to a UE. The transport block contains the carrier activation or deactivation MAC control element and is transmitted at a first subframe 100.
[0096] Additional control signaling may also be established and included within the carrier activation/deactivation MAC control element, for example, to identify which preconfigured reporting resources (e.g. PUCCH or PUSCH, etc) the UE should use. Accordingly, in addition to simply including information about the carriers to be activated and/or deactivated, a MAC control element could also be configured to contain additional signaling describing which feedback reporting format and/or reporting resources a UE should use. The additional signaling could be either an index of the pre-defined configurations or the actual configurations, for example.
receive a second configuration from the network device to perform a resource utilization update on resources from the update of the CSI report
[0096] Additional control signaling may also be established and included within the carrier activation/deactivation MAC control element, for example, to identify which preconfigured reporting resources (e.g. PUCCH or PUSCH, etc) the UE should use. Accordingly, in addition to simply including information about the carriers to be activated and/or deactivated, a MAC control element could also be configured to contain additional signaling describing which feedback reporting format and/or reporting resources a UE should use. The additional signaling could be either an index of the pre-defined configurations or the actual configurations, for example.
perform the update of the CSI report
[0076] In this implementation, following the successful (from the viewpoint of the base station) reception of a downlink carrier activation or deactivation command at the UE, after a predetermined period of time both the base station and UE undertake a synchronized reconfiguration of the CSI information to be transmitted to the base station by the UE (e.g., after certain subframes). In some cases, the base station and UE also undertake a synchronized reconfiguration of the PUCCH resource/format for CSI transmissions.
Note: “[S]ynchronized reconfiguration of the CSI information” is the “update.”
perform an uplink (UL) transmission based on the resources updated from the resource utilization update
[0076] In this implementation, following the successful (from the viewpoint of the base station) reception of a downlink carrier activation or deactivation command at the UE, after a predetermined period of time both the base station and UE undertake a synchronized reconfiguration of the CSI information to be transmitted to the base station by the UE (e.g., after certain subframes). In some cases, the base station and UE also undertake a synchronized reconfiguration of the PUCCH resource/format for CSI transmissions.
and transmit an indication to the network device, wherein the indication indicates a type of CSI update and a type of resource utilization update
[0082] The UE may be configured to transmit an uplink MAC control element that acknowledges the carrier activation or deactivation command. The acknowledgement may include signaling bits that are inserted into the PUCCH information payload as described above. Alternatively, the acknowledgement may consist of echoing back the same MAC control element contents to the base station using the uplink as were provided on the downlink.
Note: Per the specification in paragraph [0049], a CSI update can occur over PUCCH.
Earnshaw does not disclose: wherein the first configuration comprises an activation flag that activates the update of the CSI report at the UE.
However, Mazzarese discloses: wherein the first configuration comprises an activation flag that activates the update of the CSI report at the UE.
[0048] Alternatively, the configuration of set of CSI-RS patterns with CSI measurements flag set to 1 may be signalled and updated independently of other parameters. This enables to update the CSI measurements flag without resending the entire configuration about the CSI-RS patterns. The same principle can be used for the RRM measurements flag. One way of achieving this is by sending toggling information relative to the CSI or RRM measurements flag for a CSI-RS pattern.
Earnshaw and Mazzarese are considered to be analogous because they pertain to communications over a wireless network. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Earnshaw to include the concept of having an activation flag that activates the update of the CSI report as taught by Mazzarese so as to aid in updating channel state information.
Regarding Claim 2,
Earnshaw discloses: The UE of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to receive, via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, a CSI report set configuration or a flag activating or deactivating of a resource element (RE) utilization procedure.
[0098] In one example of this implementation, RRC signaling is first used to configure the UE with N possible PUCCH (or PUSCH) resource spaces. After the resources are configured, MAC signaling (e.g. a carrier activation/deactivation command) can then indicate which of the N resource spaces is to be used. This form of signaling may require Log.sub.2(N) bits to signal one of N resource spaces. The UE could then map the CSI for each carrier to the currently allocated resource space in sequential order of carrier index.
Regarding Claim 3,
Earnshaw discloses: The UE of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to perform the update of the CSI report, a resource element (RE) utilization procedure, or a combination thereof based on a table.
[0101] In another example, four carriers may be activated and the UE needs to use two of the available PUCCH resources for reporting purposes. In that case, the base station can preconfigure eight possible pairs among the PUCCH resources, and then use the MAC control element to signal which of those eight pairs the UE should use for reporting. For example, eight possible PUCCH pairs (using a base set of eight PUCCH resources could be identified within a lookup table as follows: {(1,2) (3,4) (5,6) (7,8) (1,5) (2,6) (3,7) (4,8)}. In that case, a single one of the 8 possible PUCCH pairs can be specifically identified using the three signaling bits (e.g., by referring to a position of the PUCCH pair within the lookup table). Accordingly, the PUCCH pair 1,2 can be referred by its position within the lookup table (e.g., 0). Similarly, the PUCCH pair 3,7 can be referred to by its position within the lookup table (e.g., 6).
Regarding Claim 4,
Earnshaw discloses: The UE of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to receive, via radio resource control (RRC) signaling from the network device, information indicating an updated mapping table, wherein the update of the CSI report, a resource element (RE) utilization procedure, or a combination thereof is performed based on the updated mapping table.
[0101] In another example, four carriers may be activated and the UE needs to use two of the available PUCCH resources for reporting purposes. In that case, the base station can preconfigure eight possible pairs among the PUCCH resources, and then use the MAC control element to signal which of those eight pairs the UE should use for reporting. For example, eight possible PUCCH pairs (using a base set of eight PUCCH resources could be identified within a lookup table as follows: {(1,2) (3,4) (5,6) (7,8) (1,5) (2,6) (3,7) (4,8)}. In that case, a single one of the 8 possible PUCCH pairs can be specifically identified using the three signaling bits (e.g., by referring to a position of the PUCCH pair within the lookup table). Accordingly, the PUCCH pair 1,2 can be referred by its position within the lookup table (e.g., 0). Similarly, the PUCCH pair 3,7 can be referred to by its position within the lookup table (e.g., 6).
Regarding Claim 5,
Earnshaw discloses: The UE of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to apply resource element (RE) repetition, modifying a repetition code for hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback, modifying a rank indication (RI), or a combination thereof.
[0057] In the present system, therefore, if multi-carrier CSI is jointly encoded together and the number of carriers associated with CSI reporting changes (causing a change in the amount of CSI fed back to the base station by the UE), a repetition coding can be used within the information bits to maintain the same overall payload length regardless of the number of activated carriers. Accordingly, in the present system, if two carriers are currently activated and then one of the carriers is deactivated, the UE switches from reporting a joint payload of CSI1+CSI2 (i.e., the CSI information for the first and second carrier) to a payload of CSI1+CSI1, duplicating the CSI for the first carrier (i.e., the CSI information for the first carrier is duplicated).
[0061] If, for example, carrier 2 is then deactivated by the base station, and both the base station and UE successfully deactivate this carrier, the CSI to PUCCH information bit space mapping for the same PUCCH resource could then be performed as shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is an illustration of a CSI to PUCCH information bit space mapping 52 when one of two activated carriers is deactivated. As shown in FIG. 3, as only carrier 1 is activated (carrier 2 having been successfully deactivated), a copy of CSI1 (the CSI for carrier 1) can be mapped to each of the two available information bit spaces, IBS.sub.A and IBS.sub.B. This is a simple form of repetition coding prior to forward error correction (FEC) coding that would allow the base station to use PUCCH power control signaling to reduce the UE's PUCCH transmission power while still maintaining the same level of reliability. It would also be possible for a UE to reduce the uplink transmit power autonomously if CSI1 is repeated in this manner.
Regarding Claim 6,
Earnshaw discloses: The UE of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to modify a coding type of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) transmission in response to a number of bits being reduced from greater than or equal to 11 bits to less than 11 bits or modifying a modulation type from quadrature phase shift keying to Pi/2 binary phase shift keying.
[0011] A PUCCH format 2/2a/2b (see, for example, TS 36.211, "3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Physical channels and modulation (Release 8)". http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/html-info/36211.htm) may be used for CSI transmission in Rel-8 if no PUSCH allocation is scheduled. This PUCCH format can carry 20 coded bits corresponding to a maximum information bit payload of about 11 CSI bits, and the CSI payload may be block-encoded as described in section 5.2.3 of TS 36.212, "3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Multiplexing and channel coding (Release 8)". http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/html-info/36212.htm.
[0065] This method may also be used when more than two downlink carriers have been activated for a UE by applying one or more of Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM), Time Division Multiplexing (TDM), or Code Division Multiplexing (CDM). For example, if two carriers are activated for the UE, then one Rel-8 PUCCH resource space can be used if it is possible to multiplex all of the control information from the two carriers into that single PUCCH (e.g. PUCCH format 2).
[0066] If, however, three or four carriers are activated for the UE, then two Rel-8 PUCCH resource spaces (e.g. two PUCCH format 2s) can be used where the CSI for each carrier is mapped to the resource space in sequential order of carrier index. For example, carriers 1 and 2 could be mapped into the first PUCCH resource, and carrier 3 and carrier 4 could be mapped into the second PUCCH resource. One or more of FDM, TDM, or CDM could then be used to coordinate the two PUCCH resources. The PUCCH resource space can be preconfigured via RRC signaling or can be dynamically signaled in the MAC CE used for activation/de-activation.
[0076] In this implementation, following the successful (from the viewpoint of the base station) reception of a downlink carrier activation or deactivation command at the UE, after a predetermined period of time both the base station and UE undertake a synchronized reconfiguration of the CSI information to be transmitted to the base station by the UE (e.g., after certain subframes). In some cases, the base station and UE also undertake a synchronized reconfiguration of the PUCCH resource/format for CSI transmissions.
Regarding Claim 7,
Earnshaw discloses: The UE of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to use a higher granularity of CSI quantities that have been changed from a last report based on a threshold value.
[0087] FIG. 8 is an illustration of a variable rate coding scheme for encoding different CSI payload lengths into the same number of uplink transmission resources. In FIG. 8, two example payloads (e.g., 110 and 112) of different lengths are encoded to fit within the same uplink transmission resources. In the example, payload 110 includes CSI for three carriers in addition to the corresponding CRC. Payload 112, however, only includes CSI for two carriers with corresponding CRC. Accordingly, payload 112 includes less data than payload 110, but can be encoded using a variable rate coding scheme, so that both payloads 110 and 112 consume the same number of uplink resource bits. Both payloads 110 and 112 each use a different coding rate and rate matching to yield the same number of encoded bits for over-the-air transmission. Accordingly, when transmitting CSI for three carriers, the UE may use the configuration illustrated by payload 110. If transmitting CSI for only two carriers, the UE can use the configuration illustrated by payload 112.
Regarding Claim 8,
Earnshaw discloses: The UE of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to indicate to the network device a procedure used for a CSI report reduction and a type of resource element (RE) utilization.
[0011] A PUCCH format 2/2a/2b (see, for example, TS 36.211, "3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Physical channels and modulation (Release 8)". http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/html-info/36211.htm) may be used for CSI transmission in Rel-8 if no PUSCH allocation is scheduled. This PUCCH format can carry 20 coded bits corresponding to a maximum information bit payload of about 11 CSI bits, and the CSI payload may be block-encoded as described in section 5.2.3 of TS 36.212, "3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Multiplexing and channel coding (Release 8)". http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/html-info/36212.htm.
[0065] This method may also be used when more than two downlink carriers have been activated for a UE by applying one or more of Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM), Time Division Multiplexing (TDM), or Code Division Multiplexing (CDM). For example, if two carriers are activated for the UE, then one Rel-8 PUCCH resource space can be used if it is possible to multiplex all of the control information from the two carriers into that single PUCCH (e.g. PUCCH format 2).
[0066] If, however, three or four carriers are activated for the UE, then two Rel-8 PUCCH resource spaces (e.g. two PUCCH format 2s) can be used where the CSI for each carrier is mapped to the resource space in sequential order of carrier index. For example, carriers 1 and 2 could be mapped into the first PUCCH resource, and carrier 3 and carrier 4 could be mapped into the second PUCCH resource. One or more of FDM, TDM, or CDM could then be used to coordinate the two PUCCH resources. The PUCCH resource space can be preconfigured via RRC signaling or can be dynamically signaled in the MAC CE used for activation/de-activation.
Note: The CSI report reduction occurs when the bits are reduced due to multiplexing into one PUCCH.
Regarding Claim 9,
Earnshaw discloses: The UE of claim 8, wherein a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) is used for carrying signaling to the network device.
[0113] For example, FIGS. 9a and 9b are illustrations showing a first and second subframe, with the subframe in FIG. 9a including CSI for 4 carriers, and the subframe in FIG. 9b including a puncturing HARQ ACK/NACK transmission. FIG. 9a shows subframe 200 including two slots (slot 0 and slot 1). Within subframe 200, CSI information is encoded for a first carrier 202, second carrier 206, third carrier 208 and fourth carrier 212. Each slot of subframe 200 includes a PUSCH DM-RS 204 and 210. FIG. 9b shows subframe 214 including two slots (slot 0 and slot 1). Within subframe 214, CSI information is encoded for a first carrier 216, third carrier 224 and fourth carrier 228. Subframe 214 includes HARQ ACK/NACK data 220 that punctures regions of the subframe that may ordinarily be used to convey CSI information for the second carrier and part of fourth carrier. Each slot of subframe 214 includes a PUSCH DM-RS 218 and 226.
Regarding Claim 12,
Claim 12 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 1.
Earnshaw discloses: A method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving a first configuration from a network device to activate an update of a channel state information (CSI) report,
[0077] FIG. 7 is an illustration of a base station and UE implementing synchronized CSI reconfiguration after a predetermined period of time. In FIG. 7, the base station attempts to activate or deactivate a carrier by transmitting a DL-SCH transport block to a UE. The transport block contains the carrier activation or deactivation MAC control element and is transmitted at a first subframe 100.
[0096] Additional control signaling may also be established and included within the carrier activation/deactivation MAC control element, for example, to identify which preconfigured reporting resources (e.g. PUCCH or PUSCH, etc) the UE should use. Accordingly, in addition to simply including information about the carriers to be activated and/or deactivated, a MAC control element could also be configured to contain additional signaling describing which feedback reporting format and/or reporting resources a UE should use. The additional signaling could be either an index of the pre-defined configurations or the actual configurations, for example.
receiving a second configuration from the network device to perform a resource utilization update on resources from the update of the CSI report;
[0096] Additional control signaling may also be established and included within the carrier activation/deactivation MAC control element, for example, to identify which preconfigured reporting resources (e.g. PUCCH or PUSCH, etc) the UE should use. Accordingly, in addition to simply including information about the carriers to be activated and/or deactivated, a MAC control element could also be configured to contain additional signaling describing which feedback reporting format and/or reporting resources a UE should use. The additional signaling could be either an index of the pre-defined configurations or the actual configurations, for example.
performing the update of the CSI report
[0076] In this implementation, following the successful (from the viewpoint of the base station) reception of a downlink carrier activation or deactivation command at the UE, after a predetermined period of time both the base station and UE undertake a synchronized reconfiguration of the CSI information to be transmitted to the base station by the UE (e.g., after certain subframes). In some cases, the base station and UE also undertake a synchronized reconfiguration of the PUCCH resource/format for CSI transmissions.
Note: “[S]ynchronized reconfiguration of the CSI information” is the “update.”
performing an uplink (UL) transmission based on the resources updated from the resource utilization update
[0076] In this implementation, following the successful (from the viewpoint of the base station) reception of a downlink carrier activation or deactivation command at the UE, after a predetermined period of time both the base station and UE undertake a synchronized reconfiguration of the CSI information to be transmitted to the base station by the UE (e.g., after certain subframes). In some cases, the base station and UE also undertake a synchronized reconfiguration of the PUCCH resource/format for CSI transmissions.
and transmitting an indication to the network device, wherein the indication indicates a type of CSI update and a type of resource utilization update
[0082] The UE may be configured to transmit an uplink MAC control element that acknowledges the carrier activation or deactivation command. The acknowledgement may include signaling bits that are inserted into the PUCCH information payload as described above. Alternatively, the acknowledgement may consist of echoing back the same MAC control element contents to the base station using the uplink as were provided on the downlink.
Note: Per the specification in paragraph [0049], a CSI update can occur over PUCCH.
Earnshaw does not disclose: wherein the first configuration comprises an activation flag that activates the update of the CSI report at the UE.
However, Mazzarese discloses: wherein the first configuration comprises an activation flag that activates the update of the CSI report at the UE.
[0048] Alternatively, the configuration of set of CSI-RS patterns with CSI measurements flag set to 1 may be signalled and updated independently of other parameters. This enables to update the CSI measurements flag without resending the entire configuration about the CSI-RS patterns. The same principle can be used for the RRM measurements flag. One way of achieving this is by sending toggling information relative to the CSI or RRM measurements flag for a CSI-RS pattern.
Earnshaw and Mazzarese are considered to be analogous because they pertain to communications over a wireless network. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Earnshaw to include the concept of having an activation flag that activates the update of the CSI report as taught by Mazzarese so as to aid in updating channel state information.
Regarding Claim 13,
Claim 13 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 1, but from the perspective of the base station.
Earnshaw discloses: An apparatus for performing a network function, the apparatus comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the apparatus to: transmit a first configuration to a user equipment (UE) to activate an update of a channel state information (CSI) report,
[0077] FIG. 7 is an illustration of a base station and UE implementing synchronized CSI reconfiguration after a predetermined period of time. In FIG. 7, the base station attempts to activate or deactivate a carrier by transmitting a DL-SCH transport block to a UE. The transport block contains the carrier activation or deactivation MAC control element and is transmitted at a first subframe 100.
[0096] Additional control signaling may also be established and included within the carrier activation/deactivation MAC control element, for example, to identify which preconfigured reporting resources (e.g. PUCCH or PUSCH, etc) the UE should use. Accordingly, in addition to simply including information about the carriers to be activated and/or deactivated, a MAC control element could also be configured to contain additional signaling describing which feedback reporting format and/or reporting resources a UE should use. The additional signaling could be either an index of the pre-defined configurations or the actual configurations, for example.
and transmit a second configuration from a network device to perform a resource utilization update on resources from the update of the CSI report
[0096] Additional control signaling may also be established and included within the carrier activation/deactivation MAC control element, for example, to identify which preconfigured reporting resources (e.g. PUCCH or PUSCH, etc) the UE should use. Accordingly, in addition to simply including information about the carriers to be activated and/or deactivated, a MAC control element could also be configured to contain additional signaling describing which feedback reporting format and/or reporting resources a UE should use. The additional signaling could be either an index of the pre-defined configurations or the actual configurations, for example.
and receive an indication from the UE, wherein the indication indicates a type of CSI update and a type of resource utilization update.
[0082] The UE may be configured to transmit an uplink MAC control element that acknowledges the carrier activation or deactivation command. The acknowledgement may include signaling bits that are inserted into the PUCCH information payload as described above. Alternatively, the acknowledgement may consist of echoing back the same MAC control element contents to the base station using the uplink as were provided on the downlink.
Note: Per the specification in paragraph [0049], a CSI update can occur over PUCCH.
Earnshaw does not disclose: wherein the first configuration comprises an activation flag that activates the update of the CSI report at the UE.
However, Mazzarese discloses: wherein the first configuration comprises an activation flag that activates the update of the CSI report at the UE.
[0048] Alternatively, the configuration of set of CSI-RS patterns with CSI measurements flag set to 1 may be signalled and updated independently of other parameters. This enables to update the CSI measurements flag without resending the entire configuration about the CSI-RS patterns. The same principle can be used for the RRM measurements flag. One way of achieving this is by sending toggling information relative to the CSI or RRM measurements flag for a CSI-RS pattern.
Earnshaw and Mazzarese are considered to be analogous because they pertain to communications over a wireless network. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Earnshaw to include the concept of having an activation flag that activates the update of the CSI report as taught by Mazzarese so as to aid in updating channel state information.
Regarding Claim 14,
Claim 14 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 2.
Regarding Claim 15,
Claim 15 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 5.
Regarding Claim 16,
Claim 16 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 1.
Earnshaw discloses: A processor for wireless communication, comprising:
at least one controller coupled with at least one memory and configured to cause the processor to: receive a first configuration from a network device to activate an update of a channel state information (CSI) report,
[0077] FIG. 7 is an illustration of a base station and UE implementing synchronized CSI reconfiguration after a predetermined period of time. In FIG. 7, the base station attempts to activate or deactivate a carrier by transmitting a DL-SCH transport block to a UE. The transport block contains the carrier activation or deactivation MAC control element and is transmitted at a first subframe 100.
[0096] Additional control signaling may also be established and included within the carrier activation/deactivation MAC control element, for example, to identify which preconfigured reporting resources (e.g. PUCCH or PUSCH, etc) the UE should use. Accordingly, in addition to simply including information about the carriers to be activated and/or deactivated, a MAC control element could also be configured to contain additional signaling describing which feedback reporting format and/or reporting resources a UE should use. The additional signaling could be either an index of the pre-defined configurations or the actual configurations, for example.
receive a second configuration from the network device to perform a resource utilization update on resources from the update of the CSI report
[0096] Additional control signaling may also be established and included within the carrier activation/deactivation MAC control element, for example, to identify which preconfigured reporting resources (e.g. PUCCH or PUSCH, etc) the UE should use. Accordingly, in addition to simply including information about the carriers to be activated and/or deactivated, a MAC control element could also be configured to contain additional signaling describing which feedback reporting format and/or reporting resources a UE should use. The additional signaling could be either an index of the pre-defined configurations or the actual configurations, for example.
perform the update of the CSI report
[0076] In this implementation, following the successful (from the viewpoint of the base station) reception of a downlink carrier activation or deactivation command at the UE, after a predetermined period of time both the base station and UE undertake a synchronized reconfiguration of the CSI information to be transmitted to the base station by the UE (e.g., after certain subframes). In some cases, the base station and UE also undertake a synchronized reconfiguration of the PUCCH resource/format for CSI transmissions.
Note: “[S]ynchronized reconfiguration of the CSI information” is the “update.”
perform an uplink (UL) transmission based on the resources updated from the resource utilization update
[0076] In this implementation, following the successful (from the viewpoint of the base station) reception of a downlink carrier activation or deactivation command at the UE, after a predetermined period of time both the base station and UE undertake a synchronized reconfiguration of the CSI information to be transmitted to the base station by the UE (e.g., after certain subframes). In some cases, the base station and UE also undertake a synchronized reconfiguration of the PUCCH resource/format for CSI transmissions.
and transmit an indication to the network device, wherein the indication indicates a type of CSI update and a type of resource utilization update
[0082] The UE may be configured to transmit an uplink MAC control element that acknowledges the carrier activation or deactivation command. The acknowledgement may include signaling bits that are inserted into the PUCCH information payload as described above. Alternatively, the acknowledgement may consist of echoing back the same MAC control element contents to the base station using the uplink as were provided on the downlink.
Note: Per the specification in paragraph [0049], a CSI update can occur over PUCCH.
Earnshaw does not disclose: wherein the first configuration comprises an activation flag that activates the update of the CSI report.
However, Mazzarese discloses: wherein the first configuration comprises an activation flag that activates the update of the CSI report.
[0048] Alternatively, the configuration of set of CSI-RS patterns with CSI measurements flag set to 1 may be signalled and updated independently of other parameters. This enables to update the CSI measurements flag without resending the entire configuration about the CSI-RS patterns. The same principle can be used for the RRM measurements flag. One way of achieving this is by sending toggling information relative to the CSI or RRM measurements flag for a CSI-RS pattern.
Earnshaw and Mazzarese are considered to be analogous because they pertain to communications over a wireless network. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Earnshaw to include the concept of having an activation flag that activates the update of the CSI report as taught by Mazzarese so as to aid in updating channel state information.
Regarding Claim 17,
Claim 17 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 2.
Regarding Claim 18,
Claim 18 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 3.
Regarding Claim 19,
Claim 19 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 4.
Regarding Claim 20,
Claim 20 is rejected on the same grounds of rejection set forth in claim 5.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Earnshaw in view of Mazzarese, held further in view of Han et. al. (U.S. Pat. Pub. 2016/0227521), herein referred to as “Han”.
Regarding Claim 10,
Earnshaw in view of Mazzarese does not fully disclose the limitations of Claim 10.
However, Han discloses: The UE of claim 8, wherein indication information is mapped to dedicated REs with a pre-defined modulation and coding scheme on locations in a resource block (RB) based on a remote unit configuration or with an arbitrary location decided by the UE.
[0244] A network side device transmits data by an NCT, the transmitted data corresponds to a single TB, and the network side device determines a transmission parameter of a PDSCH according to channel state indication information reported by UE in combination with a TM of the UE, version and support capability information of the UE, type information of a serving cell where the PDSCH is located and type information of a subframe where the PDSCH is located; if the version of the UE is UE supporting the NCT, the type of the serving cell where the UE is located is the NCT, the TM configured for the UE is TM10 or TM9 and no CRS or only an RCRS is transmitted in the subframe where the PDSCH is located, then a single-DMRS antenna port-based transmission manner is adopted, mapping is performed according to resources corresponding to multiple DMRS ports, for example, if DMRS ports are (7, 8, 9, 10), only one DMRS port location therein is adopted for DMRS sequence mapping, REs of the other DMRS port locations are adopted to transmit the data and PDSCH REs except the REs of the DMRS port locations are adopted for mapping, a power ratio of a reference signal corresponding to the PDSCH to data corresponding to the reference signal is indicated through a localized/distributed VRB indication bit in physical-layer control signalling DCI Format 1A, and/or through an available MCS indication bit and/or through a high-layer signalling information bit, the power ratio of the reference signal corresponding to the PDSCH to the data corresponding to the reference signal is one of 1, 2 and ½, the PDSCH is mapped to multiple discontinuous PRBs of the same subframe, and the PRBs correspond to the same frequency-domain location within two timeslots of the same subframe; the discontinuous PRB resources are distributed and limited into n clusters, and n is an integer larger than or equal to 1; and the RBs included in each cluster are continuous, each cluster includes one or multiple RBs, or, each cluster includes one or multiple continuous RBGs, as shown in FIG. 2, wherein each cluster preferably includes one or multiple continuous RBGs.
Earnshaw in view of Mazzarese and Han are considered to be analogous because they pertain to communications over a wireless network. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Earnshaw in view of Mazzarese to include the concept of having REs with MCS based on locations in a resources block back on a remote unit configuration as taught by Han so as to aid in updating channel state information.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Earnshaw in view of Mazzarese, held further in view of Wang et. al. (U.S. Pat. Pub. 2019/0230655), herein referred to as “Wang”.
Regarding Claim 11,
Earnshaw in view of Mazzarese does not fully disclose the limitations of Claim 11.
However, Wang discloses: The UE of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to use DMRS and an explicit indication corresponding to REs to indicate a selected CSI reduction procedure, a RE utilization procedure, or a combination thereof.
[0118] As discussed above, reserved REs 315 (e.g., HARQ-ACK/NACK REs, REs reserved for puncturing, etc.) may be included in the transmission 300 (e.g., in a PUSCH). In some case, reserved REs 315 may be included if PUSCH may be punctured by ACK bits. In some cases, a number of reserved REs 315 included in transmission 300 may assume two ACK bits (e.g., regardless of the actual ACK payload sizes). Reserved REs 315 may be mapped following mapping of PUSCH DMRS REs 320. That is, reserved REs 315-a through 315-g may be mapped after PUSCH DMRS is mapped to PUSCH DMRS REs 320. CSI part 1 may then be mapped to CSI part 1 REs 325 following mapping of reserved REs 315-a through 315-g. CSI part 2 may be mapped to CSI part 2 REs and PUSCH data may be mapped to PUSCH data REs 335. Accordingly, CSI part 1 may be prioritized over CSI part 2. That is, mapping CSI part 1 to CSI part 1 REs 320 after mapping reserved REs 315 may reduce the likelihood of CSI part 1 puncturing by HARQ-ACK/NACK, as CSI part 1 may not be mapped to reserved REs 315 (e.g., as they are mapped immediately after reserved RE mapping, whereas CSI part 2 may, in some cases, be mapped to reserved REs, which may be punctured by ACK bits). This may prioritize CSI part 1 by avoiding puncturing of CSI part 1.
Note: Reducing the puncturing is being interpreted as a CSI reduction procedure.
Earnshaw in view of Mazzarese and Wang are considered to be analogous because they pertain to communications over a wireless network. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Earnshaw in view of Mazzarese to include the concept of using DMRS and an explicit indication corresponding to REs to indicate a selected CSI reduction procedure as taught by Wang so as to aid in updating channel state information.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s response filed on December 5, 2025 is acknowledged.
The following claims were amended as part of applicant’s response: 1, 12, 13, and 16.
The are no new claims and no canceled claims.
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to independent claims 1, 12, 13, and 16 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
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
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/JESSE P. SAMLUK/Examiner, Art Unit 2411
/DERRICK W FERRIS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2411