CTNF 18/549,332 CTNF 74947 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. This office action is in response to the amendment filed 03/20/2026. Claims 43, 45, 47, 49, 51, 53, 55, 57, 59 are pending. Information Disclosure Statement 06-52 AIA The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 04/28/2026 was filed after the mailing date of the Final Rejection on 01/23/2026 . The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Response to Arguments Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 43, 45, 47, 49, 51, 53, 55, 57, 59 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. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA) 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. 07-20-aia AIA The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action: A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made. 07-21-aia AIA Claim (s) 43, 45, 47, 49, 51, 53, 55, 57, 59 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao et al. ( US 20240106614, Provisional Application No. 63118841 ) in view of Ali et al. ( US 20230319816, Provisional Application 63068900 ), and further in view of TSAI et al. ( US 20240015741, Provisional Application No. 63136846 ) Regarding to the claim 43, ( US 20240106614, Provisional Application No. 63118841 ) teaches memory to store an indication that the UE is to transmit a channel state information (SP-CSI) report [see Figure 11 ] to a first transmit/receive point (TRP) (TRP1) and a second TRP (TRP2) in an uplink transmission (PUSCH repetition) [see Figure 9 and Figure 11 and Paragraphs 0114-0131 ] that is transmitted with repetition ; and one or more processors configured to: based on the indication, the CSI report (SP-CSI ) [see Figure 11 ] to the first TRP (TRP1) in a repetition of the uplink transmission (PUSCH repetition ) that is associated with the first TRP; and , based on the indication, the CSI report to the second TRP (SP-CSI report to the TRP2 ) in a repetition of the uplink transmission (PUSCH repletion 0 that is associated with the second TRP [see Figure 9 and Figure 11 and Paragraphs 0114-0131 ] PNG media_image1.png 872 916 media_image1.png Greyscale However, ( US 20240106614, Provisional Application No. 63118841 ) does not explicitly teach the indicating including a beam switching time . ( US 20230319816, Provisional Application 63068900 ), from the same or similar fields of endeavor, teaches the indicating including a beam switching time (the indicating including a beam switching time )[see Paragraphs 0126 & 0137 & 0153] [see Paragraphs 0153 & 0126 & 0128 & 0137 & 0141 & 0142 & 0143 & 0144 ] one or more processors configured to: encode, based on the indication, the CSI report for a first transmission to the first TRP, the first transmission comprising in a repetition of the uplink transmission PUSCH that is associated with the first TRP (encode, based on the indication, the CSI report for a first transmission to the first TRP, the first transmission comprising in a repetition of the uplink transmission PUSCH that is associated with the first TRP) [see Paragraphs 0153 & 0126 & 0128 & 0137 & 0141 & 0142 & 0143 & 0144 ] ; encode, based on the indication, the CSI report for a second transmission to the second TRP, the second transmission comprising in a repetition of the uplink transmission PUSCH that is associated with the second TRP (encode, based on the indication, the CSI report for a second transmission to the second TRP, the second transmission comprising in a repetition of the uplink transmission PUSCH that is associated with the second TRP ) [see Paragraphs 0153 & 0126 & 0128 & 0137 & 0141 & 0142 & 0143 & 0144 ]. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to modify the system of US 20240106614 in view of US 20230319816 because US 20230319816 suggests that deploying multiple TRPs is one efficient way to combat channel blocking, particular in FR2. However, with current SP CSI or periodic CSI reporting in NR, CSI is only sent to one TRP by the UE. How to ensure reliability of SP CSI or periodic CSI in FR2 is an open problem that needs to be solved. However, US 20240106614 and US 20230319816 do not explicitly teach wherein the beam switching time is configured to the UE as a starting symbol offset that depends on a subcarrier spacing (SCS), the beam switching time providing a gap between transmissions of the CSI report to the first TRP and the second TRP. ( US 20240015741, Provisional Application No. 63136846 ), from the same or similar fields of endeavor, teaches wherein the beam switching time is configured to the UE as a starting symbol offset that depends on a subcarrier spacing (SCS), the beam switching time providing a gap between transmissions of the CSI report to the first TRP and the second TRP [see Paragraphs 0058 & 0099] [see the provisional application number 63136846, paragraphs 0042 & 0081 ] ( [0058] In one aspect, a method for enhancing idle/inactive mode UE coverage is to increase the maximum number of supported SSB in a synchronization burst from 64 defined in Rel-15/16 to a bigger number L.sub.max (e.g., L.sub.max=128) for larger SCS or numerologies (e.g., SCS≥960 KHz) in a half frame. However, this option may require changing the NR specification. For example, the SSB mapping in time domain for SCS=960 KHz is shown in Error! Reference source not found. In Error! Reference source not found. exemplary design, starting symbol of each SSB can be expressed as {m}+14n, where m is a constant (e.g., m=8) as the starting symbol offset and n=1, . . . ,128 or {m}+98n where m=8, 32, 48, 64 and n=1, . . . ,32. In this SSB exemplary design for higher SCS, there are L.sub.max=128 SSB in a synchronization burst and the duration of each synchronization burst is within 2 or 4 ms. Each SSB transmit on a slot and the slot duration is equal to 15.625 μs when SCS is 960 KHz. Therefore, the duration of the SSB burst is within 2 or 4 ms when L.sub.max=128. In addition, SSB index is indicated by 3 bits in DM-RS for PBCH and 4 bits are in MIB. The extra bit can use from the reserved bits in MIB to maintain the same bit payload e.g., 56 bits as other frequency range like FR1 and FR2. The synchronization burst set is always confined to a 5 ms window and is either located in first-half or in the second half of a 10 ms radio frame. The half-frame indicator (single bit) is indicated by the master system information (MIB). UE may assume the default periodicity of the synchronization burst is 20 ms. Each SSB in a synchronization burst is separated at least by more than the beam switching time (e.g., 70˜100 us). Besides, the value of the inOneGroup and groupPresence provided by higher layer parameters ssb-PositionsInBurst can be modified for this new introduced L.sub.max. The network can still set the SSB periodicity for new introduced SCS via RRC parameter ssb-PeriodicityServingCell (e.g., 480, 960 KHz) which can take values in the range {5 ms, 10 ms, 20 ms, 40 ms, 80 ms, 160 ms}. [0099] Rel-15/16 beam reporting framework has a limited capability to efficiently enable multi-beam high rank transmission in single/multi-TRP environment. NR reportQuantity support L1-RSRP related quantities (e.g., L1-SINR) in Rel-15/16. In L1-RSRP related quantities, UE reports the best M L1-RSRP. The number of reports is dependent on the configuration of groupBasedBeamReporting and nrofReportedRS parameter setup in Rel-15/16. However, the selected beam that maximizes link SNR or RSRP may not guarantee the optimal beam diversity because UE most likely select the best M reports from the neighbor beams or sub-beams. To ensure to achieve the better beam diversity from the CSI reports, aspects propose a new CSI report quantity that is based on L1-RSRP/L1-SINR with considering the spatial direction. More specific, UE can select the best M reports based on the L1-RSRP/L1-SINR quantity and angle of arrival (AOA) pattern or spatial information throughout the beam training procedure e.g., from the resource sets in AP-CSI-RS, P-CSI-RS and SP-CSI-RS. For example, four P-CSI-RS are configured for a UE and two CSI-RS with ID 1 and 2 are from TRP1 and the other two CSI-RS are from TRP2 with ID 11 and 12. If number of ‘csi-RSRP’ reports is configured to 2 for this example, then a UE most likely either selects the two beams from a TRP, e.g., either from TRP1 or TRP2. One of a solution is to increase the number of CSI reports from two to four for this example. However, this solution still cannot guarantee that UE report the best beam diversity when larger number of CSI-RS/SSB and narrower beam of CSI-RS/SSB are configured for NR from 52.6 GHz and above. A new CSI report quantity ‘csi-RSRP-diversity’ or ‘csi-SINR-diversity’ can be added into NR reportQuantity for distinguish with ‘csi-RSRP’ or ‘csi-SINR’. To ensure that UE reports the better beam diversity for multi-beam indications, the CSI report with ‘csi-RSRP-diversity’ or ‘csi-SINR-diversity’ can be based on the following procedures) Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to modify the combined system ( US 20240106614 and US 20230319816 ), and further in view of US 20240015741 because US 20240015741 suggests that Described herein are methods, apparatus, and systems for improved beam management and multi-beam operation for NR from 52.6 GHZ and above, which address the shortcomings discussed above. Regarding to the claim 45, ( US 20240106614, Provisional Application No. 63118841 ) further teaches wherein the CSI report is an aperiodic CSI report (aperiodic CSI) [see paragraph 0034 ]. Regarding to the claim 47, ( US 20240106614, Provisional Application No. 63118841 ) further teaches wherein the uplink transmission that is transmitted with repetition is a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) with repetition Type B (PUSCH with repetition Type B) [see Paragraph 0125 ] (when PUSCH repetition Type B and two or more SRIs (or UL TCI states) are indicated in a DCI activating a SP-CSI on PUSCH, the SP-CSI is repeated in two or more mini-slots within a SP-CSI reporting period, where a mini-slot contains a number of OFDM symbols and is the same as a nominal repetition with a starting symbol and length. Each repetition is toward a different TRP. An example is shown in FIG. 11 , where a SP-CSI report is repeated twice in two mini-slots towards two TRPs in each reporting period). Regarding to the claim 49, ( US 20240106614, Provisional Application No. 63118841 ) teaches the UE to: identify that the UE is to transmit a channel state information (SP-CSI) report [see Figure 11 ] to a first transmit/receive point (TRP) (TRP1) and a second TRP (TRP2) in an uplink transmission (PUSCH repetition) [see Figure 9 and Figure 11 and Paragraphs 0114-0131 ] that is transmitted with repetition ; Transmit the CSI report (SP-CSI ) [see Figure 11 ] to the first TRP (TRP1) in a repetition of the PUSCH (PUSCH repetition ) that is associated with the first TRP; and transmit the CSI report to the second TRP (SP-CSI report to the TRP2 ) in a repetition of the PUSCH (PUSCH repletion 0 that is associated with the second TRP [see Figure 9 and Figure 11 and Paragraphs 0114-0131 ] However, ( US 20240106614, Provisional Application No. 63118841 ) does not explicitly teach wherein a beam switching time is indicated to the UE. ( US 20230319816, Provisional Application 63068900 ), from the same or similar fields of endeavor, teaches wherein a beam switching time is indicated to the UE (wherein a beam switching time is indicated to the UE ) [see Paragraphs 0153 & 0126 & 0128 & 0137 & 0141 & 0142 & 0143 & 0144 ]. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to modify the system of US 20240106614 in view of US 20230319816 because US 20230319816 suggests that deploying multiple TRPs is one efficient way to combat channel blocking, particular in FR2. However, with current SP CSI or periodic CSI reporting in NR, CSI is only sent to one TRP by the UE. How to ensure reliability of SP CSI or periodic CSI in FR2 is an open problem that needs to be solved. However, US 20240106614 and US 20230319816 do not explicitly teach wherein the beam switching time is configured to the UE as a starting symbol offset that depends on a subcarrier spacing (SCS), the beam switching time providing a gap between transmissions of the CSI report to the first TRP and the second TRP. ( US 20240015741, Provisional Application No. 63136846 ), from the same or similar fields of endeavor, teaches wherein the beam switching time is configured to the UE as a starting symbol offset that depends on a subcarrier spacing (SCS), the beam switching time providing a gap between transmissions of the CSI report to the first TRP and the second TRP [see Paragraphs 0058 & 0099] [see the provisional application number 63136846, paragraphs 0042 & 0081 ] Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to modify the combined system ( US 20240106614 and US 20230319816 ), and further in view of US 20240015741 because US 20240015741 suggests that Described herein are methods, apparatus, and systems for improved beam management and multi-beam operation for NR from 52.6 GHZ and above, which address the shortcomings discussed above. Regarding to the claim 51, ( US 20240106614, Provisional Application No. 63118841 ) further teaches wherein the CSI report is an aperiodic CSI report (wherein the CSI report is an aperiodic CSI report) [see paragraph 0034 ]. Regarding to the claim 53, ( US 20240106614, Provisional Application No. 63118841 ) further teaches wherein the PUSCH that is transmitted repetition Type B (further teaches wherein the PUSCH that is transmitted repetition Type B ) [see Paragraph 0125 ] (when PUSCH repetition Type B and two or more SRIs (or UL TCI states) are indicated in a DCI activating a SP-CSI on PUSCH, the SP-CSI is repeated in two or more mini-slots within a SP-CSI reporting period, where a mini-slot contains a number of OFDM symbols and is the same as a nominal repetition with a starting symbol and length. Each repetition is toward a different TRP. An example is shown in FIG. 11 where a SP-CSI report is repeated twice in two mini-slots towards two TRPs in each reporting period). Regarding to the claim 55, ( US 20240106614, Provisional Application No. 63118841 ) teaches one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions that, upon execution of the instructions by one or more processors of an electronic device, are to cause a user equipment (UE) to: identify that the UE is to transmit a channel state information (SP-CSI) report [see Figure 11 ] to a first transmit/receive point (TRP) (TRP1) and a second TRP (TRP2) in an uplink transmission (PUSCH repetition) [see Figure 9 and Figure 11 and Paragraphs 0114-0131 ] that is transmitted with repetition ; Transmit the CSI report (SP-CSI ) [see Figure 11 ] to the first TRP (TRP1) in a repetition of the PUSCH (PUSCH repetition ) that is associated with the first TRP; and transmit the CSI report to the second TRP (SP-CSI report to the TRP2 ) in a repetition of the PUSCH (PUSCH repletion 0 that is associated with the second TRP [see Figure 9 and Figure 11 and Paragraphs 0114-0131 ] However, ( US 20240106614, Provisional Application No. 63118841 ) does not explicitly teach wherein a beam switching time is indicated to the UE. ( US 20230319816, Provisional Application 63068900 ), from the same or similar fields of endeavor, teaches wherein a beam switching time is indicated to the UE (wherein a beam switching time is indicated to the UE ) [see Paragraphs 0153 & 0126 & 0128 & 0137 & 0141 & 0142 & 0143 & 0144 ]. Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to modify the system of US 20240106614 in view of US 20230319816 because US 20230319816 suggests that deploying multiple TRPs is one efficient way to combat channel blocking, particular in FR2. However, with current SP CSI or periodic CSI reporting in NR, CSI is only sent to one TRP by the UE. How to ensure reliability of SP CSI or periodic CSI in FR2 is an open problem that needs to be solved. However, US 20240106614 and US 20230319816 do not explicitly teach wherein the beam switching time is configured to the UE as a starting symbol offset that depends on a subcarrier spacing (SCS), the beam switching time providing a gap between transmissions of the CSI report to the first TRP and the second TRP. ( US 20240015741, Provisional Application No. 63136846 ), from the same or similar fields of endeavor, teaches wherein the beam switching time is configured to the UE as a starting symbol offset that depends on a subcarrier spacing (SCS), the beam switching time providing a gap between transmissions of the CSI report to the first TRP and the second TRP [see Paragraphs 0058 & 0099] [see the provisional application number 63136846, paragraphs 0042 & 0081 ] Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing data of the claimed invention to modify the combined system ( US 20240106614 and US 20230319816 ), and further in view of US 20240015741 because US 20240015741 suggests that Described herein are methods, apparatus, and systems for improved beam management and multi-beam operation for NR from 52.6 GHZ and above, which address the shortcomings discussed above. Regarding to the claim 57, ( US 20240106614, Provisional Application No. 63118841 ) further teaches wherein the CSI report is an aperiodic CSI report (wherein the CSI report is an aperiodic CSI report) [see paragraph 0034 ]. Regarding to the claim 59, ( US 20240106614, Provisional Application No. 63118841 ) further teaches wherein the PUSCH that is transmitted repetition Type B (further teaches wherein the PUSCH that is transmitted repetition Type B ) [see Paragraph 0125 ] (when PUSCH repetition Type B and two or more SRIs (or UL TCI states) are indicated in a DCI activating a SP-CSI on PUSCH, the SP-CSI is repeated in two or more mini-slots within a SP-CSI reporting period, where a mini-slot contains a number of OFDM symbols and is the same as a nominal repetition with a starting symbol and length. Each repetition is toward a different TRP. An example is shown in FIG. 11 , where a SP-CSI report is repeated twice in two mini-slots towards two TRPs in each reporting period). Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHUONG T HO whose telephone number is (571)272-3133. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30-4:00. 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, Charles C Jiang can be reached at 571-270-7191. 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. /CHUONG T HO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2412 Application/Control Number: 18/549,332 Page 2 Art Unit: 2412 Application/Control Number: 18/549,332 Page 3 Art Unit: 2412 Application/Control Number: 18/549,332 Page 4 Art Unit: 2412 Application/Control Number: 18/549,332 Page 5 Art Unit: 2412 Application/Control Number: 18/549,332 Page 6 Art Unit: 2412 Application/Control Number: 18/549,332 Page 7 Art Unit: 2412 Application/Control Number: 18/549,332 Page 8 Art Unit: 2412 Application/Control Number: 18/549,332 Page 9 Art Unit: 2412 Application/Control Number: 18/549,332 Page 10 Art Unit: 2412 Application/Control Number: 18/549,332 Page 11 Art Unit: 2412 Application/Control Number: 18/549,332 Page 12 Art Unit: 2412 Application/Control Number: 18/549,332 Page 13 Art Unit: 2412 Application/Control Number: 18/549,332 Page 14 Art Unit: 2412
Prosecution Insights