DETAILED ACTION
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
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.
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) 1,9-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang to (US20210153063A1) in view of Stirling-Gallacher to (WO 2020/057750 A1) from IDS
Regarding claims 1,15,27,29 Zhang teaches a method of wireless communication at a first user equipment (UE) (i.e. relay UE “1328”), comprising ([0169] FIG. 13 , multiple relay link scenario. .. each relay UE 1324, 1328 communicates with different network equipment 1302, 1304, which may be different TRPs for example, over Uu links 1310, 1312. There are two relay links in the example shown, and each relay link includes a Uu segment 1310, 1312 between network equipment 1302, 1304 and a relay UE 1324, 1328, and a sidelink segment 1332, 1334 between each relay UE and the remote UE 1326)
receiving, from a first transmission and reception point via a first communication link (i.e. Uu “1312”) , a request for channel information associated with a second communication link(i.e. SL “1332”) between a second UE and a second transmission and reception point; ( [0214] … receiving, by the UE, signaling to cause the UE to transmit, to a second UE involved in a candidate communication link that is a candidate for inclusion in the relay link, discovery signaling to enable the second UE to perform a measurement associated with the candidate communication link…) relaying, to the second UE via a third communication link(SL “1334”), the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link; ( [0214] …transmit, to a second UE involved in a candidate communication link that is a candidate for inclusion in the relay link, discovery signaling to enable the second UE to perform a measurement associated with the candidate communication link…[0344]…wherein the relay link comprises a secondary relay link in addition to at least a primary relay link between the UE and the wireless communication network, wherein the primary relay link comprises a link between the UE and first network equipment in the wireless communication network, and wherein the secondary relay link comprises a link between the UE and second network equipment in the wireless communication network)
Zhang does not explicitly teach receiving, from the second UE via the third communication link, a report comprising the channel information associated with the second communication link;
and relaying, to the first transmission and reception point via the first communication link, the report comprising the channel information associated with the second communication link
However, Stirling-Gallacher teaches receiving, from the second UE via the third communication link, a report comprising the channel information associated with the second communication link; (page 17, discloses Step 613: the first communication device 201c sends a beam failure recovery request (BFRQ) message to the third communication device 201b via a control channel (i.e. PUCCH) or a data (i.e. PUSCH) channel. Step 615: the third communication device 201b transmits a BFRQ acknowledgement message to the first communication device 201c. Step 617: the third communication device 201b forwards a BFRQ message to the second communication device 201a.Step 619: the second communication device 201a transmits a BFRQ response message to the first communication device 201c)
and relaying, to the first transmission and reception point via the first communication link, the report comprising the channel information associated with the second communication link
(page 17, discloses Step 613: the first communication device 201c sends a beam failure recovery request (BFRQ) message to the third communication device 201b via a control channel (i.e. PUCCH) or a data (i.e. PUSCH) channel. Step 615: the third communication device 201b transmits a BFRQ acknowledgement message to the first communication device 201c. Step 617: the third communication device 201b forwards a BFRQ message to the second communication device 201a.Step 619: the second communication device 201a transmits a BFRQ response message to the first communication device 201c)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to enable the system of Zhang to include receiving, from the second UE via the third communication link, a report comprising the channel information associated with the second communication link; and relaying, to the first transmission and reception point via the first communication link, the report comprising the channel information associated with the second communication link, as suggested by Stirling-Gallacher. This modification would benefit the system to convey control information effectively.
Regarding claims 9,20 Zhang teaches wherein at least one of the request for the channel information or the report comprising the channel information comprises a UE identity (ID), a panel ID, or a component carrier ID, or any combination thereof associated with the second UE([00134] Discloses UE may have knowledge of all UE IDs or UE address IDs associated with the path and a forwarding direction to any UE in the relaying path. As a result, for multi-hop relaying (e.g., more than one UE to relay traffic) scenarios, it may be sufficient for an AP to include only a source ID and/or a destination ID instead of all UE addresses or IDs for all UEs along a path. It may be feasible, as for SL transmissions, for each UE to be configured with a UE destination ID or a group destination ID in a relaying group).
Regarding claims 10,21 Zhang teaches wherein the request for the channel information comprises a channel state information request identity (ID), a channel state information measurement ID, a channel state information reference signal resource set ID, or a channel state information report setting ID([0199] the set of attributes includes any one or more of: bearer identity such as a UC bearer identity, such as a number or other identifier; one or more destination identifiers; one or more source identifiers; total number of bearer segmentations allocated to or otherwise associated with a UE).
Regarding claims 11,22 Zhang and Stirling-Gallacher teaches wherein at least one of the request for the channel information or the report comprising the channel information comprises an indication of one or more time resources associated with a reference signal for the second communication link or one or more time resources associated with the report(Stirling-Gallacher , page 15, Step 501: if the second communication device 201a is a serving gNB, the second
communication device 201a sends a beam recovery configuration message to the first
communication device 201c. This message may contain the candidate beam-RS-List).
Regarding claims 12,23 Zhang and Stirling-Gallacher teaches monitoring for a second request for the channel information associated with the second communication link after relaying the report comprising the channel information associated with the second communication link(Stirling-Gallacher, page 11, Then, the first communication device 201c is configured to receive from the third communication device 201b using a third beam a BFRQ acknowledgement message that the BFRQ message is or has been forwarded by the third communication device 201b to the second communication device 201a. In an embodiment, there is a fixed or configurable time offset between the reception of the BFRQ acknowledgment message and the reception of the BFRQ response message)
Regarding claims 13,24 Zhang teaches wherein the report comprising the channel information comprises a periodic channel state information report or an aperiodic channel state information report( [0214] …discovery signaling to enable the second UE to perform a measurement associated with the candidate communication link…).
Regarding claim 14, Zhang teaches wherein the first communication link is associated with a first communication protocol (i.e. Uu links 1310, 1312) and the third communication link is associated with a second communication protocol (i.e. sidelink segment 1332, 1334 ) ([0169] FIG. 13 , multiple relay link scenario. .. each relay UE 1324, 1328 communicates with different network equipment 1302, 1304, which may be different TRPs).
Regarding claim 25, Zhang and Stirling-Gallacher teaches further comprising: detecting a radio link failure associated with the second communication link, wherein receiving the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link is based at least in part on detecting the radio link failure associated with the second communication link (Stirling-Gallacher ,page 17, discloses Step 613: the first communication device 201c sends a beam failure recovery request (BFRQ) message to the third communication device 201b via a control channel (i.e. PUCCH) or a data (i.e. PUSCH) channel. Step 615: the third communication device 201b transmits a BFRQ acknowledgement message to the first communication device 201c. Step 617: the third communication device 201b forwards a BFRQ message to the second communication device 201a.Step 619: the second communication device 201a transmits a BFRQ response message to the first communication device 201c)
Regarding claim 26, Zhang and Stirling-Gallacher teaches further comprising: transmitting, to the first UE, signaling indicating the radio link failure associated with the second communication link, wherein receiving the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link is based at least in part on transmitting the signaling (Stirling-Gallacher page 17, discloses Step 613: the first communication device 201c sends a beam failure recovery request (BFRQ) message to the third communication device 201b via a control channel (i.e. PUCCH) or a data (i.e. PUSCH) channel. Step 615: the third communication device 201b transmits a BFRQ acknowledgement message to the first communication device 201c. Step 617: the third communication device 201b forwards a BFRQ message to the second communication device 201a.Step 619: the second communication device 201a transmits a BFRQ response message to the first communication device 201c)
.
Claim(s) 2-8,16-19,28,30 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang to (US20210153063A1) in view of Stirling-Gallacher to (WO 2020/057750 A1) from IDS further in view of Sarkis to (US20190349051)
Regarding claims 2,16 Zhang does not explicitly teach wherein receiving the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link comprises: receiving a medium access control control element, the medium access control control element comprising the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link
However, Sarkis teaches wherein receiving the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link comprises: receiving a medium access control control element, the medium access control control element comprising the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link ([0094] Discloses , a base station 105 may use a MAC-CE, DCI message, or RRC message to provide various configurations for CSI reporting, SRS transmissions, and PDCCH transmissions. In some cases, instead of these configurations being signaled using the MAC-CE, DCI message, or RRC message, these configurations may be stored at a UE 115 and may be activated or deactivated using the MAC-CE, DCI message, or RRC message)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to enable the system of Zhang to include wherein receiving the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link comprises: receiving a medium access control control element, the medium access control control element comprising the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link, as suggested by Sarkis. This modification would benefit the system to convey control information effectively.
Regarding claims 3,17 Zhang does not explicitly teach wherein relaying the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link comprises: transmitting a medium access control control element via the third communication link, the medium access control control element comprising information based at least in part on the request received via the first communication link
However, Sarkis teaches wherein relaying the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link comprises: transmitting a medium access control control element via the third communication link, the medium access control control element comprising information based at least in part on the request received via the first communication link ([0094] Discloses , a base station 105 may use a MAC-CE, DCI message, or RRC message to provide various configurations for CSI reporting, SRS transmissions, and PDCCH transmissions. In some cases, instead of these configurations being signaled using the MAC-CE, DCI message, or RRC message, these configurations may be stored at a UE 115 and may be activated or deactivated using the MAC-CE, DCI message, or RRC message)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to enable the system of Zhang to include wherein relaying the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link comprises: transmitting a medium access control control element via the third communication link, the medium access control control element comprising information based at least in part on the request received via the first communication link, as suggested by Sarkis. This modification would benefit the system to convey control information effectively.
Regarding claims 4, 18 Zhang does not explicitly teach wherein receiving the report comprising the channel information associated with the second communication link comprises: receiving a medium access control control element, the medium access control control element comprising the report comprising the channel information associated with the second communication link
However, Sarkis teaches wherein receiving the report comprising the channel information associated with the second communication link comprises: receiving a medium access control control element, the medium access control control element comprising the report comprising the channel information associated with the second communication link ([0094] Discloses , a base station 105 may use a MAC-CE, DCI message, or RRC message to provide various configurations for CSI reporting, SRS transmissions, and PDCCH transmissions. In some cases, instead of these configurations being signaled using the MAC-CE, DCI message, or RRC message, these configurations may be stored at a UE 115 and may be activated or deactivated using the MAC-CE, DCI message, or RRC message)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to enable the system of Zhang to include wherein receiving the report comprising the channel information associated with the second communication link comprises: receiving a medium access control control element, the medium access control control element comprising the report comprising the channel information associated with the second communication link, as suggested by Sarkis. This modification would benefit the system to convey control information effectively.
Regarding claims 5,19 Zhang does not explicitly teach wherein relaying the report comprising the channel information associated with the second communication link comprises: transmitting a medium access control control element via the first communication link, the medium access control control element comprising information based at least in part on the report received via the third communication link
However, Sarkis teaches wherein relaying the report comprising the channel information associated with the second communication link comprises: transmitting a medium access control control element via the first communication link, the medium access control control element comprising information based at least in part on the report received via the third communication link ([0094] Discloses , a base station 105 may use a MAC-CE, DCI message, or RRC message to provide various configurations for CSI reporting, SRS transmissions, and PDCCH transmissions. In some cases, instead of these configurations being signaled using the MAC-CE, DCI message, or RRC message, these configurations may be stored at a UE 115 and may be activated or deactivated using the MAC-CE, DCI message, or RRC message)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to enable the system of Zhang to include wherein relaying the report comprising the channel information associated with the second communication link comprises: transmitting a medium access control control element via the first communication link, the medium access control control element comprising information based at least in part on the report received via the third communication link, as suggested by Sarkis. This modification would benefit the system to convey control information effectively.
Regarding claim 6, Zhang does not explicitly teach wherein receiving the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link comprises: receiving downlink control information, the downlink control information comprising the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link
However, Sarkis teaches wherein receiving the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link comprises: receiving downlink control information, the downlink control information comprising the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link ([0094] Discloses , a base station 105 may use a MAC-CE, DCI message, or RRC message to provide various configurations for CSI reporting, SRS transmissions, and PDCCH transmissions. In some cases, instead of these configurations being signaled using the MAC-CE, DCI message, or RRC message, these configurations may be stored at a UE 115 and may be activated or deactivated using the MAC-CE, DCI message, or RRC message)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to enable the system of Zhang to include wherein receiving the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link comprises: receiving downlink control information, the downlink control information comprising the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link, as suggested by Sarkis. This modification would benefit the system to convey control information effectively.
Regarding claim 7, Zhang does not explicitly teach wherein relaying the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link comprises: transmitting, via the third communication link, information based at least in part on the downlink control information received via the first communication link
However, Sarkis teaches wherein relaying the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link comprises: transmitting, via the third communication link, information based at least in part on the downlink control information received via the first communication link ([0094] Discloses , a base station 105 may use a MAC-CE, DCI message, or RRC message to provide various configurations for CSI reporting, SRS transmissions, and PDCCH transmissions. In some cases, instead of these configurations being signaled using the MAC-CE, DCI message, or RRC message, these configurations may be stored at a UE 115 and may be activated or deactivated using the MAC-CE, DCI message, or RRC message)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to enable the system of Zhang to include wherein relaying the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link comprises: transmitting, via the third communication link, information based at least in part on the downlink control information received via the first communication link, as suggested by Sarkis. This modification would benefit the system to convey control information effectively.
Regarding claim 8, Zhang and Stirling-Gallacher and Sarkis teaches wherein relaying, to the second UE via the third communication link, the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link occurs a first duration after the first UE receives the request from the first transmission and reception point(Stirling-Gallacher ,page 10, The second communication device 201a is configured to receive a beam failure recovery request, BFRQ, message from the third communication device 201b and transmit to the first communication device 201c a BFRQ response message using the new beam, wherein theBFRQ response message contains a confirmation of the new beam. There can be a fixed, configurable and/or preconfigured time offset between the reception of the BRFQ message and the transmission of the BFRQ response. Later, the first communication device 201c then receives a BFRQ response message from the second communication device 201a using a second beam).
Regarding claims 28,30 Zhang does not explicitly teach transmitting the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link comprises transmitting a first medium access control control element, the first medium access control control element comprising the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link; and receiving the report comprising the channel information associated with the second communication link comprises receiving a second medium access control control element, the second medium access control control element comprising the report comprising the channel information associated with the second communication link
However, Sarkis teaches wherein: transmitting the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link comprises transmitting a first medium access control control element, the first medium access control control element comprising the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link; ([0094] Discloses , a base station 105 may use a MAC-CE, DCI message, or RRC message to provide various configurations for CSI reporting, SRS transmissions, and PDCCH transmissions. In some cases, instead of these configurations being signaled using the MAC-CE, DCI message, or RRC message, these configurations may be stored at a UE 115 and may be activated or deactivated using the MAC-CE, DCI message, or RRC message) and receiving the report comprising the channel information associated with the second communication link comprises receiving a second medium access control control element, the second medium access control control element comprising the report comprising the channel information associated with the second communication link ([0094] Discloses , a base station 105 may use a MAC-CE, DCI message, or RRC message to provide various configurations for CSI reporting, SRS transmissions, and PDCCH transmissions. In some cases, instead of these configurations being signaled using the MAC-CE, DCI message, or RRC message, these configurations may be stored at a UE 115 and may be activated or deactivated using the MAC-CE, DCI message, or RRC message)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to enable the system of Zhang to include wherein: transmitting the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link comprises transmitting a first medium access control control element, the first medium access control control element comprising the request for the channel information associated with the second communication link; and receiving the report comprising the channel information associated with the second communication link comprises receiving a second medium access control control element, the second medium access control control element comprising the report comprising the channel information associated with the second communication link, as suggested by Sarkis. This modification would benefit the system to convey control information effectively.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ZEWDU A BEYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7157. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-6:00.
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/ZEWDU A BEYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461
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