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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 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.
The amended limitations in amended claim 1 are optional since multi-TTI PDSCH scheduled by DCI comprise at least one of: a first category of PDSCH or a second category of PDSCH. Therefore, if the DCI comprises only first category of PDSCH, “configuring, in response to the DCI configured with no TCI, a TCI of a QCL for at least one PDSCH in the second category of PDSCH to be the same as a TCI of the PDCCH of the DCI; and configuring, in response to the DCI configured with one TCI, the TCI of the QCL for the at least one PDSCH in the second category of PDSCH to be the same as the one TCI.” is not required for the claim to be performed. If the DCI comprises only second category of PDSCH, “configuring a transmission configuration indication (TCI) of a quasi-co-location (QCL) for each PDSCH in the first category of PDSCH to be the same as a TCI of a control resource set (CORESET) with a smallest index in CORESETs in a search space of a nearest slot, from the PDSCH, to which a user equipment is monitoring;” is not required for the claim to be performed.
In case that the DCI comprises only the first category of PDSCH, the applicant argues that Matsumura fails to teach each PDSCH in the first category of PDSCH has the same QCL information as a CORESET with the lowest CORESET-ID in the latest slot. However, amended claim 1 does not define that there is a plurality of PDSCH of a first category. The rejection is maintained. In addition to ¶[0064] – [0065] in Non-final Office Action Page 4, Matsumura also teaches “The UE receives DCI 1 and PDSCH 1 transmitted from panel 1 (or TRP 1 or DMRS port group 1). The UE receives PDSCH 2 transmitted from panel 2 (or TRP 2 or DMRS port group 2), DCI 1 schedules reception of PDSCH 1 and PDSCH 2. Scheduling offset 1 from reception of DCI 1 to PDSCH 1 is less than the scheduling offset threshold value. Scheduling offset 2 from reception of DCI 1 to PDSCH 2 is less than the scheduling offset threshold value” (Fig. 3 & ¶[0085] – [0086]). Accordingly, each PDSCH satisfies the condition disclosed in ¶[0064] – [0065].
In case that the DCI comprises only the second category of PDSCH and DCI configured with no TCI, the applicant argues that Matsumura fails to mention whether the single DCI itself is configured with a TCI field, further fails to teach in response to the single DCI configured with no TCI field, a TCI of a QCL for at least one PDSCH in the second category of PDSCH is configured to be the same as that of the PDSCH of the single DCI. However, Matsumura discloses “When DCI to schedule PDSCHs is single DCI for multiple TRPs, the UE may assume that the PDSCHs are multiple PDSCHs.” (¶[0149]). In addition to Matsumura, Lee discloses “When the higher layer parameter tci-PresentInDCI is not configured for the CORESET scheduling the PDSCH or the PDSCH is scheduled by DCI format 1_0, if a time offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the reception of the corresponding PDSCH is greater than or equal to a threshold Threshold-Sched-Offset (where the threshold is based on UE capability), the UE assumes that the TCI state or QCL assumption for the PDSCH is the same as the TCI state or QCL assumption applied to the CORESET used for the PDCCH transmission in order to determine PDSCH antenna port QCL.” (¶ [0327])
In case that the DCI comprises only the second category of PDSCH and DCI configured with one TCI, the applicant argues that Matsumura fails to teach configuring, in response to the DCI configured with one TCI, the TCI of the QCL for the at least one PDSCH in the second category of PDSCH to be the same as the one TCI. However, Matsumura discloses when TCI presence information is enabled, the TCI field in the DCI indicates an activated TCI state that the UE uses to determine the QCL of the scheduled PDSCH. For a PDSCH having a scheduling offset at or above the threshold, the PDSCH uses the QCL parameters of the TCI state indicated by the scheduling DCI (¶ [0058]-0063]).
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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1, 3-4, 7-9, 11, 13, 17-19, 23-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumura et al. (US 20220322410; hereinafter “Matsumura”) in view of Lee et al. (US 20210258200; hereinafter “Lee”).
Regarding claims 1,11, Matsumura discloses:
A method for configuring a downlink control channel, performed by a network device, comprising:
configuring a multiple-transmission-time-interval (multi-TTI) physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), scheduled by downlink control information (DCI) ([0077] When a plurality of PDSCHs (which may be referred to as multiple PDSCHs) from the multiple TRPs as shown in FIG. 2B are scheduled with use of one piece of DCI (e.g., multi-TTI), the DCI may be referred to as single DCI (single PDCCH).), to comprise at least one of:
a first category of PDSCH or a second category of PDSCH; ([0059] In a case where time offset between reception of DL DCI and reception of a PDSCH corresponding to the DCI is equal to or greater than a certain threshold value…; [0092] a TCI state or QCL (QCL assumption) applied to the PDSCH (or DMRS for the PDSCH) in a case where time offset (scheduling offset) between reception of DL DCI and reception of the PDSCH corresponding to the DCI is less than the scheduling offset threshold value.)
wherein a scheduling offset between each of the first category of PDSCH and a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) of the DCI is less than a preset threshold ([0064] When the scheduling offset is less than the scheduling offset threshold value, the UE may assume that DM-RS ports for the PDSCH in the serving cell are QCL with RS(s) in the TCI state with respect to QCL parameter(s) used for PDCCH QCL indication corresponding to the lowest CORESET-ID in the latest (most recent) slot in which one or more control resource sets (CORESETs) are configured for the UE within an active BWP (bandwidth part) of the serving cell (the DM-RS ports of PDSCH of a serving cell are quasi co-located with the RS(s) in the TCI state with respect to the QCL parameter(s) used for PDCCH quasi co-location indication of the lowest CORESET-ID in the latest slot in which one or more CORESETs within the active BWP of the serving cell are configured for the UE)) and a scheduling offset between each of the second category of PDSCH and the PDCCH of the DCI is greater than or equal to the preset threshold. ([0059] In a case where time offset between reception of DL DCI and reception of a PDSCH corresponding to the DCI is equal to or greater than a certain threshold value, the UE may assume that DMRS ports for the PDSCH in a serving cell are QCL with RS(s) in the TCI state with respect to QCL type parameter(s) given by the TCI state indicated by the DCI (“the DM-RS ports of PDSCH of a serving cell are quasi co-located with the RS(s) in the TCI state with respect to the QCL type parameter(s) given by the indicated TCI state”).
configuring a transmission configuration indication (TCI) of a quasi-co-location (QCL) for each PDSCH in the first category of PDSCH to be the same as a TCI of a control resource set (CORESET) with a smallest index in CORESETs in a search space of a nearest slot, from the PDSCH, to which a user equipment is monitoring; ([0064] When the scheduling offset is less than the scheduling offset threshold value, the UE may assume that DM-RS ports for the PDSCH in the serving cell are QCL with RS(s) in the TCI state with respect to QCL parameter(s) used for PDCCH QCL indication corresponding to the lowest CORESET-ID in the latest (most recent) slot; [0065] For example, the UE may assume that the DMRS ports for the PDSCH are QCL with a DL-RS based on the TCI state activated with respect to a CORESET corresponding to the above-described lowest CORESET-ID. The latest slot may be, for example, a slot for receiving DCI to schedule the above-described PDSCH; Fig. 3 & [0085] The UE receives DCI 1 … [0086] DCI 1 schedules reception of PDSCH 1 and PDSCH 2. Scheduling offset 1 from reception of DCI 1 to PDSCH 1 is less than the scheduling offset threshold value. Scheduling offset 2 from reception of DCI 1 to PDSCH 2 is less than the scheduling offset threshold value. [0184] For detection of the PDCCH, a control resource set (CORESET) and a search space may be used. The CORESET corresponds to a resource to search DCI. The search space corresponds to a search area and a search method of PDCCH candidates. One CORESET may be associated with one or more search spaces. The UE may monitor a CORESET associated with a certain search space, based on search space configuration)
and configuring, in response to the DCI configured with one TCI, the TCI of the QCL for the at least one PDSCH in the second category of PDSCH to be the same as the one TCI. ([0058] In a case where the TCI presence information is set to “enabled,” when a TCI field in DCI in a component carrier (CC) to schedule (a PDSCH) indicates an activated TCI state in a CC or DL BWP to be scheduled and the PDSCH is scheduled by DCI format 1_1, the UE may use, for determination of QCL of the PDSCH antenna port, a TCI following a TCI field value in a detected PDCCH including the DCI. [0059] In a case where time offset between reception of DL DCI and reception of a PDSCH corresponding to the DCI is equal to or greater than a certain threshold value, the UE may assume that DMRS ports for the PDSCH in a serving cell are QCL with RS(s) in the TCI state with respect to QCL type parameter(s) given by the TCI state indicated by the DCI (“the DM-RS ports of PDSCH of a serving cell are quasi co-located with the RS(s) in the TCI state with respect to the QCL type parameter(s) given by the indicated TCI state”))
Matsumura does not disclose:
configuring, in response to the DCI configured with no TCI, a TCI of a QCL for at least one PDSCH in the second category of PDSCH to be the same as a TCI of the PDCCH of the DCI;
However, Lee discloses:
configuring, in response to the DCI configured with no TCI, a TCI of a QCL for at least one PDSCH in the second category of PDSCH to be the same as a TCI of the PDCCH of the DCI; ([0327] When the higher layer parameter tci-PresentInDCI is not configured for the CORESET scheduling the PDSCH or the PDSCH is scheduled by DCI format 1_0, if a time offset between the reception of the DL DCI and the reception of the corresponding PDSCH is greater than or equal to a threshold Threshold-Sched-Offset (where the threshold is based on UE capability), the UE assumes that the TCI state or QCL assumption for the PDSCH is the same as the TCI state or QCL assumption applied to the CORESET used for the PDCCH transmission in order to determine PDSCH antenna port QCL.)
It would be obvious to the person of ordinary skilled in the art to modify the teachings
of Matsumura with the teachings of Lee to include configuring, in response to the DCI configured with no TCI, a TCI of a QCL for at least one PDSCH in the second category of PDSCH to be the same as a TCI of the PDCCH of the DCI. The motivation would have been to estimate phase noise between a UE and base station (BS) in various frequency bands (Lee ¶ [0004]).
Regarding claims 3,13, Matsumura discloses:
further comprising: configuring a transmission configuration indication (TCI) of a quasi-co-location (QCL) for a first PDSCH in the first category of PDSCH to be the same as a TCI of a control resource set (CORESET) with a smallest index in CORESETs in a search space of a nearest slot, from the PDSCH, to which a user equipment is monitoring. ([0067] FIG. 1 is a diagram to show an example of the QCL assumption for the DMRS ports for the PDSCH. In the present example, the scheduling offset is less than the scheduling offset threshold value. Accordingly, the UE may assume that the DMRS ports for the PDSCH are QCL with an RS (e.g., a DMRS for a PDCCH) in a TCI state for a PDCCH corresponding to the lowest CORESET-ID in the latest slot. [0068] When a multi-slot PDSCH is configured for the UE, the indicated TCI state may be based on an activated TCI state in the first slot with the scheduled PDSCH, and the UE may expect that the indicated TCI state is identical through slots with the scheduled PDSCH.)
Regarding claim 4, Matsumura discloses:
further comprising: configuring a TCl of a QCL for each PDSCH in the first category of PDSCH except for the first PDSCH, to be the same as a TCl of the first PDSCH. ([0068] When a multi-slot PDSCH is configured for the UE, the indicated TCI state may be based on an activated TCI state in the first slot with the scheduled PDSCH, and the UE may expect that the indicated TCI state is identical through slots with the scheduled PDSCH.)
Regarding claims 7,17, Matsumura discloses:
further comprising: configuring, in response to the DCI being configured with more than one transmission configuration indication (TCI), a TCI of a quasi-co-location (QCL) for at least one PDSCH in the second category of PDSCH to be determined based on at least one of the more than one TCI. ([0103] In a case of the above-described (3), a TCI state applied to either or both of the multiple PDSCHs in a case where the scheduling offset is equal to or greater than the scheduling offset threshold value can be the same as that in a case where the scheduling offset is less than the scheduling offset threshold value; [0112] Note that when TCI states corresponding to a certain TCI code point are two TCI states (for two panels), the UE may assume that one of the two TCI states (e.g., the first TCI state) is applied to the first TRP (one of the multiple PDSCHs) and the other (e.g., the second TCI state) is applied to the second TRP (the other of the multiple PDSCHs))
Regarding claims 8,18, Matsumura discloses:
wherein configuring the TCl of the QCL for the at least one PDSCH in the second category of PDSCH to be determined based on the at least one of the more than one TCl comprises: configuring the TCl of the QCL for the at least one PDSCH in the second category of PDSCH to correspond to N of the more than one TCl one to one, in response to a number of the at least one PDSCH in the second category of PDSCH being less than or equal to a number of the more than one TCI, wherein N is equal to or greater than one, and is a number of PDSCHs in the second category of PDSCH. ([0103] In a case of the above-described (3), a TCI state applied to either or both of the multiple PDSCHs in a case where the scheduling offset is equal to or greater than the scheduling offset threshold value can be the same as that in a case where the scheduling offset is less than the scheduling offset threshold value; [0112] Note that when TCI states corresponding to a certain TCI code point are two TCI states (for two panels), the UE may assume that one of the two TCI states (e.g., the first TCI state) is applied to the first TRP (one of the multiple PDSCHs) and the other (e.g., the second TCI state) is applied to the second TRP (the other of the multiple PDSCHs))
Regarding claims 9,19, Matsumura discloses:
further comprising: configuring, in response to two of the more than one TCI configured in the DCI being corresponding to different QCL type D, a time domain interval between two PDSCH slots corresponding to the two of the more than one TCI to be greater than or equal to a set interval. ([0069] In a case where a CORESET associated with a search space set for cross-carrier scheduling is configured for the UE, TCI presence information is set to “enabled” for the CORESET for the UE, when at least one of TCI states configured relative to a serving cell scheduled by the search space set includes QCL type D, the UE may assume that time offset between a detected PDCCH and a PDSCH corresponding to the PDCCH is equal to or greater than a threshold value)
Regarding claim 23, Matsumura discloses:
A network side device, comprising: ([0286] it is clear that various operations that are performed to communicate with terminals can be performed by base stations, one or more network nodes (for example, Mobility Management Entities (MMEs), Serving-Gateways (S-GWs), and so on may be possible, but these are not limiting) other than base stations, or combinations of these.) a processor (a processor 1001); and a memory (a memory 1002) for storing instructions executable by the processor; wherein the processor is configured to execute the executable instructions in the memory to implement steps of the method of any one of claims 1 to 0. ([0237] Each function of the base station 10 and the user terminals 20 is implemented, for example, by allowing certain software (programs) to be read on hardware such as the processor 1001 and the memory 1002, and by allowing the processor 1001 to perform calculations to control communication via the communication apparatus 1004 and control at least one of reading and writing of data in the memory 1002 and the storage 1003.)
Regarding claim 24, Matsumura discloses:
A user equipment, comprising: ([0234] user terminal 20 may each be formed as a computer apparatus that includes) a processor (a processor 1001); and a memory (a memory 1002) for storing instructions executable by the processor; wherein the processor is configured to execute the executable instructions in the memory to implement steps of the method of any one of claims 11 to 20. ([0237] Each function of the base station 10 and the user terminals 20 is implemented, for example, by allowing certain software (programs) to be read on hardware such as the processor 1001 and the memory 1002, and by allowing the processor 1001 to perform calculations to control communication via the communication apparatus 1004 and control at least one of reading and writing of data in the memory 1002 and the storage 1003.)
Claim 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumura et al. (US 20220322410; hereinafter “Matsumura”) in view of Raghavan et al. (US 20200229161; hereinafter “Raghavan”).
Regarding claim 10, Matsumura does not disclose:
further comprising: configuring the time domain interval between the two PDSCH slots corresponding to the two of the more than one TCI to be related to a subcarrier spacing.
Raghavan discloses:
further comprising: configuring the time domain interval between the two PDSCH slots corresponding to the two of the more than one TCI to be related to a subcarrier spacing. ([0027] If the PDCCH carrying the scheduling DCI is received on one component carrier, and the PDSCH scheduled by that DCI is on another component carrier: The timeDurationForQCL is determined based on the subcarrier spacing of the scheduled PDSCH.)
It would be obvious to the person of ordinary skilled in the art to modify the teachings
of Matsumura with the teachings of Raghavan to include configuring the time domain interval between the two PDSCH slots corresponding to the two of the more than one TCI to be related to a subcarrier spacing. The motivation would have been to help ensure successful reception of a PDCCH or a PDSCH with a new TCI state using a TCI state switch (Raghavan ¶ [0003]).
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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jae Y. Lee can be reached at (571) 270-3936. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NHU PHAM/Examiner, Art Unit 2479 /JAE Y LEE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2479
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