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 and Amendments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks pages 7-12, filed 7 January 2026, with respect to the rejections of claims 1-16, 18-19 and 22-23 under 35 U.S.C. §103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejections have been withdrawn.
However, upon further consideration, new grounds of rejection are made in view of Tsai et al. (US 2021/0029724 A1) or Tsai in view of Venugopal et al. (US 20200136715 A1) or Venugopal in further view of Jia et al. (US 20230353224 A1) or Jia for claims 1-8, 16, 18, 22, and 24-26.
However, upon further consideration, new grounds of rejection are made in view Tsai et al. (US 2021/0029724 A1) or Tsai in view of Jia et al. (US 20230353224 A1) or Jia for claims 9, 10, and 12-14.
However, upon further consideration, a new ground of rejection is made in view of Tsai et al. (US 2021/0029724 A1) or Tsai in view of Jia et al. (US 20230353224 A1) or Jia in further view of Li et al. (US 20240073710 A1) or Li for claim 15.
Tsai teaches determining beam failure for multiple cells and reporting an indication to a network device to the existence of a beam failure event in one of the cells. Although Tsai discloses determining beam failure in a first cell, determining if the beam failure occurs in other cells, and reporting the beam failure event of the first cell to a network device, Tsai fails to explicitly teach the indication indicating a type of beam failure event in the first cell. The type of beam failure event consisting of cell-level beam failure and transmission and reception point or TRP-level.
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.
Claims 1-8, 16, 18, 22, and 24-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsai et al. (US 2021/0029724 A1) or Tsai in view of Venugopal et al. (US 20200136715 A1) or Venugopal in further view of Jia et al. (US 20230353224 A1) or Jia.
Claim 1 (Currently Amended)
Tsai teaches,
(Original) A method for information transmission, comprising:
determining whether a first cell in which a beam failure event occurs exists in one or more cells; and
(See Tsai paragraph 0185, Beam Failure Event on SpCell is Detected, and Beam Failure Event on SCell is Detected when RA Procedure for SpCell BFR for the Beam Failure Event on SpCell is Ongoing)
reporting first indication information to a network device in response to existence of the first cell in which the beam failure event occurs,…
(See Tsai paragraph 0194, ...in response to detecting the second beam failure event on the SCell 286 when the RA procedure for SpCell BFR is ongoing, the UE may initiate the SCell BFR procedure for the second beam failure event and transmit a BFR report via an UL grant provided by the msg4 (of a 4-step RA procedure) or the msgB (of a 2-step RA procedure).)
However, Tsai fails to teach,
…the first indication information indicating a type of a beam failure event that occurs in each cell in the first cell,
and types of beam failure event comprising a transmission and reception point (TRP)-level beam failure evens and a cell-level beam failure event.
Nevertheless, Venugopal, in the same field of endeavor, teaches,
…the first indication information indicating a type of a beam failure event that occurs in each cell in the first cell,…
(See Venugopal Claim 16, The method of claim 15, wherein the type of beam failure recovery is indicated by an identification of a different CORESET for each of a primary cell (PCell) recovery, a secondary cell (SCell) recovery, and a SUL beam.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling data of the claimed invention to combine the determining a beam failure in one or more cells and reporting the beam failure to a base station as disclosed by Tsai with an indication of a type of beam failure for multiple cells as disclosed by Venugopal to increase the efficiency of the system (i.e. to increase the accuracy of detecting TRP-level beam failure events).
Jia teaches,
…and types of beam failure event comprising a transmission and reception point (TRP)-level beam failure evens and a cell-level beam failure event.
(See Jia paragraph 00146, …the MAC CE may further include: a type in which beam failure is detected or a type in which beam failure recovery is triggered. For example, the MAC CE may be a TRP-specific MAC CE, or may multiplex cell-specific MAC CE, and a type of BFD or BFR may be indicated using 1 bit or more bits (such as 2 bits) in the MAC CE.)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling data of the claimed invention to combine the determining a beam failure in one or more cells and reporting the beam failure to a base station as disclosed by Tsai with the types of beam failures consisting of a cell-level beam failure and a TRP-level beam failure as disclosed by Jia to increase the efficiency of the system (i.e. to increase the accuracy of detecting a beam failure in a cell).
Claim 2 (Original)
Tsai fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 2. However, Jia, in the same field of endeavor, teaches,
The method of claim 1, wherein the first indication information is reported through medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) signaling and contains at least one indication field, a first indication field in the at least one indication field corresponds to a second cell, and the second cell is any one cell in the first cell.
(See Jia paragraph 0078, In the beam failure recovery procedure, beam failure information of a secondary cell may be carried by a BFR MAC CE or a Truncated BFR MAC CE, and is transmitted by the terminal equipment to the network device.)
The motivation to combine Tsai, Venugopal, and Jia, in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 3 (Currently Amended)
Tsai fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 3. However, Venugopoal, in the same field of endeavor, teaches,
The method of claim 1, wherein the first indication information indicates the type of a beam failure event that occurs in each cell in the first cell.
(See Venugopal Claim 16, The method of claim 15, wherein the type of beam failure recovery is indicated by an identification of a different CORESET for each of a primary cell (PCell) recovery, a secondary cell (SCell) recovery, and a SUL beam.)
The motivation to combine Tsai, Venugopal, and Jia, in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 4 (Previously Presented)
Tsai fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 4. However, Jia, in the same field of endeavor, teaches,
The method of claim 1, wherein a first indication field in the first indication information contains a first indication, wherein the first indication explicitly indicates a type of a beam failure event that occurs…
(See Jia paragraph 0146, …the MAC CE may further include: a type in which beam failure is detected or a type in which beam failure recovery is triggered. For example, the MAC CE may be a TRP-specific MAC CE, or may multiplex cell-specific MAC CE, and a type of BFD or BFR may be indicated using 1 bit or more bits (such as 2 bits) in the MAC CE.)
The motivation to combine Tsai and Jia in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Venugopal teaches,
…in a second cell.
(See Venugopal paragraph 0103, …the techniques described herein are equally applicable to selecting a new uplink transmit beam in response to failure of the SCell.)
The motivation to combine Tsai and Venugopal in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 5 (Previously Presented)
Tsai fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 5. However, Jia, in the same field of endeavor, teaches,
The method of claim 1, wherein a first indication field in the first indication information indicates a type of a beam failure event that occurs,
and a TRP in which a beam failure event occurs in response to the type is a TRP-level beam failure event, wherein the TRP belongs to…
(See Jia paragraph 0146, …the MAC CE may further include: a type in which beam failure is detected or a type in which beam failure recovery is triggered. For example, the MAC CE may be a TRP-specific MAC CE, or may multiplex cell-specific MAC CE, and a type of BFD or BFR may be indicated using 1 bit or more bits (such as 2 bits) in the MAC CE.)
(See Jia paragraph 0184, an uplink grant of a TRP where a TRP-specific beam failure is not detected of a cell to which the TRP where a TRP-specific beam failure is detected belongs;)
The motivation to combine Tsai and Jia in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Venugopal teaches,
…a second cell.
(See Venugopal paragraph 0103, …the techniques described herein are equally applicable to selecting a new uplink transmit beam in response to failure of the SCell.)
The motivation to combine Tsai and Venugopal in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 6 (Original)
Tsai fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 6. However, Jia, in the same field of endeavor, teaches,
The method of claim 5, wherein the first indication field in the first indication information contains a first indication and a second indication; the first indication indicates a type of a beam failure event that occurs; and the second indication indicates a TRP in which a beam failure event occurs in response to the type is a TRP-level beam failure event.
(See Jia paragraph 0147, …a value of the 1 bit in the MAC CE indicates that cell-specific beam failures or beam failures of all beams are detected or cell-specific beam failure recovery or beam failure recovery of all beams is triggered, and another value of the 1 bit indicates that transmission reception point (TRP)-specific beam failures)
Shows the MAC CE or first indication information contains an indication of a type of beam failure for cell-specific or TRP-specific
(See Jia paragraph 0113, R bit(s) in the beam failure recovery (BFR) MAC CE or the truncated beam failure recovery (truncated BFR) MAC CE is(are) used to carry/indicate/represent an index of the transmission reception point in which beam failure is detected or for which beam failure recovery is triggered.)
Shows the R bit(s) or second indication represent the TRP in the BFR MAC CE
The motivation to combine Tsai, Venugopal, and Jia, in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 18 (Currently Amended)
Tsai teaches,
An apparatus for information transmission, comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the memory is configured to store a computer program, the computer program comprises program instructions, and the processor is configured to invoke the program instructions to perform:
(See Tsai paragraph 0343, ...the memory 702 may store computer-readable and/or -executable instructions 714 (e.g., software codes) that are configured to, when executed, cause the processor 708 to perform various functions described herein, for example, with reference to FIGS. 1 through 6.)
determining whether a first cell in which a beam failure event occurs exists in one or more cells; and
(See Tsai paragraph 0185, Beam Failure Event on SpCell is Detected, and Beam Failure Event on SCell is Detected when RA Procedure for SpCell BFR for the Beam Failure Event on SpCell is Ongoing)
reporting first indication information to a network device in response to existence of the first cell in which the beam failure event occurs,
(See Tsai paragraph 0194, ...in response to detecting the second beam failure event on the SCell 286 when the RA procedure for SpCell BFR is ongoing, the UE may initiate the SCell BFR procedure for the second beam failure event and transmit a BFR report via an UL grant provided by the msg4 (of a 4-step RA procedure) or the msgB (of a 2-step RA procedure).)
However, Tsai fails to explicitly teach,
…the first indication information indicating a type of a beam failure event that occurs in each cell in the first cell,
and types of beam failure event comprising a transmission and reception point (TRP)-level beam failure evens and a cell-level beam failure event.
Nevertheless, Venugopal, in the same field of endeavor, teaches,
…the first indication information indicating a type of a beam failure event that occurs in each cell in the first cell,…
(See Venugopal Claim 16, The method of claim 15, wherein the type of beam failure recovery is indicated by an identification of a different CORESET for each of a primary cell (PCell) recovery, a secondary cell (SCell) recovery, and a SUL beam.)
The motivation to combine Tsai and Venugopal in the independent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Jia teaches,
…and types of beam failure event comprising a transmission and reception point (TRP)-level beam failure evens and a cell-level beam failure event.
(See Jia paragraph 00146, …the MAC CE may further include: a type in which beam failure is detected or a type in which beam failure recovery is triggered. For example, the MAC CE may be a TRP-specific MAC CE, or may multiplex cell-specific MAC CE, and a type of BFD or BFR may be indicated using 1 bit or more bits (such as 2 bits) in the MAC CE.)
The motivation to combine Tsai and Jia in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 22 (Previously Presented)
Tsai fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 22. However, Venugopal, in the same field of endeavor, teaches limitations of claim 22 as stated in claim 3. The motivation to combine Tsai, Venugopal, and Jia in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation stated in claim 1.
Claim 24 (New)
Tsai fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 24. However, Jia and Venugopal, in the same field of endeavor, teaches limitations of claim 25 as stated in claim 2. The motivation to combine Tsai, Venugopal, and Jia consist of the same motivation stated in claim 1.
Claim 25 (New)
Tsai fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 25. However, Venugopal, in the same field of endeavor, teaches limitations of claim 25 as stated in claim 3. The motivation to combine Tsai, Venugopal, and Jia consist of the same motivation stated in claim 1.
Claim 26 (New)
Tsai fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 26. However, Jia and Venugopal, in the same field of endeavor, teaches limitations of claim 25 as stated in claim 5. The motivation to combine Tsai, Venugopal, and Jia consist of the same motivation stated in claim 1.
Claim 7 (Original)
Tsai fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 7. However, Jia, in the same field of endeavor, teaches,
The method of claim 5, wherein the first indication field in the first indication information comprises a field occupying X bits,
(See Jia paragraph 0123, ...a value of 2 bits in the MAC CE indicates one or any combination of the following that:)
wherein each of the X bits corresponds to one TRP; and a value of each of the X bits indicates whether a beam failure event occurs in a corresponding TRP.
(See Jia paragraph 0124, …and 11 indicates that beam failure is detected both in the transmission reception point to which the control resource pool with an index of 0 corresponds and the transmission reception point to which the control resource pool with an index of 1 corresponds…)
The motivation to combine Tsai, Venugopal, and Jia, in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 8
Tsai fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 8. However, Jia, in the same field of endeavor, teaches,
(Original) The method of claim 7, wherein in response to the field occupying the X bits being a preset bit value, the first indication information indicates that a type of a beam failure event that occurs in the second cell is a cell-level beam failure event.
(See Jia paragraph 0149, …a value of the 1 bit in the MAC CE indicates that cell-specific beam failures or beam failures of all beams are detected or cell-specific beam failure recovery or beam failure recovery of all beams is triggered,…)
The motivation to combine Tsai, Venugopal, and Jia, in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 16 (Previously Presented)
Tsai fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 16. However, Jia, in the same field of endeavor, teaches,
The method of claim 9, wherein the terminal device reports the second information,
in response to the type of each of the beam failure events that occur comprising not only a TRP-level beam failure event but also a cell-level beam failure event,…
(See Jia paragraph 0477, …the terminal equipment may also report the MAC CE to the network device;…)
Shows the terminal device reporting the MAC CE to a base station
(See Jia paragraph 0155, …a value of 2 bits in the MAC CE indicates one or any combination of the following that:)
(See Jia paragraph 0159, …cell-specific beam failures or beam failures of all beams are detected or cell-specific beam failure recovery or beam failure recovery of all beams is triggered, and TRP-specific beam failures or beam failures of a part of beams are detected or TRP-specific beam failure recovery or beam failure recovery of a part of beams is triggered.)
Shows the MAC CE may indicate both a cell-specific beam failure and a TRP-specific beam failure
The motivation to combine Tsai and Jia in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Venugopal teaches,
…and a beam failure event also occurring in a primary cell.
(See Venugopal paragraph 0094, At 705, the UE 704 detects a PCell downlink beam failure (BF), as described above with reference to, for example, 610 and 615 of FIG.6.)
The motivation to combine Tsai and Venugopal in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claims 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsai et al. (US 2021/0029724 A1) or Tsai in view of Jia et al. (US 20230353224 A1) or Jia in further view of Li et al. (US 20240073710 A1) or Li.
Claim 15 (Original)
Tsai fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 15. However, Jia, in the same field of endeavor, teaches,
The method of claim 9, wherein, the terminal device reports the first information, in response to the type of each of the beam failure events that occur comprising not only a TRP-level beam failure event but also a cell-level beam failure event, and
(See Jia paragraph 0477, …the terminal equipment may also report the MAC CE to the network device;…)
Shows the terminal device reporting the MAC CE to a base station
(See Jia paragraph 0155, …a value of 2 bits in the MAC CE indicates one or any combination of the following that:)
(See Jia paragraph 0159, …cell-specific beam failures or beam failures of all beams are detected or cell-specific beam failure recovery or beam failure recovery of all beams is triggered, and TRP-specific beam failures or beam failures of a part of beams are detected or TRP-specific beam failure recovery or beam failure recovery of a part of beams is triggered.)
Shows the MAC CE may indicate both a cell-specific beam failure and a TRP-specific beam failure
…the smallest index of the cell in the cells in which the TRP- level beam failure events occur being… …index of the cell in the cells in which the cell-level beam failure events occur.
(See Jia paragraph 0083, For the BFR MAC CE, a Ci field indicates beam failure detection of a secondary cell with ServCellIndex i,…)
Shows the BFR MAC CE contains a ServCellIndex i field for one secondary cell
(See Jia paragraph 0104, …the MAC CE may be a TRP-specific MAC CE, for example may be different from a Rel-16 BFR MAC CE or a Rel-16 Truncated BFR MAC CE; may also be a cell-specific MAC CE,… )
Shows the MAC CE may be for both TRP-specific and cell-specific
The motivation to combine Tsai and Jia in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Li teaches,
…greater than or equal to the smallest…
(See Li paragraph 0179, If a beam failure event occurs in both TRPs in the SCell and the Cell-level beam recovery mechanism is used, all TRPs in the cell use the same new beam, and the spatial characteristics cannot be fully utilized to configure different beams for the downlink control channels of different TRPs. If it is detected that both TRPs in the SCell have beam failures and the corresponding new candidate beams are found, a MAC CE can be designed to report the BFRQ information of the two TRPs to the base station at one time on the PUSCH.)
Shows a transmission of a MAC CE for beam failure recovery for TRPs on the same SCell
Shows a terminal may report the TRP-level and cell-level beam failure on the same cell or smallest index of a cell for the TRP-level equals the smallest index of a cell for cell-level using the same MAC CE
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling data of the claimed invention to combine the determining a beam failure in one or more cells and reporting the beam failure to a base station as disclosed by Tsai with the smallest index of the cell in the cells with TRP-level beam failure being equal to the smallest index of the cell for the cell-level beam failure as disclosed by Li to increase the efficiency of the system (i.e. to reduce the amount of energy required to detect TRP-level beam failures).
Claims 9, 10, and 12-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tsai et al. (US 2021/0029724 A1) or Tsai in view of Jia et al. (US 20230353224 A1) or Jia.
Claim 9 (Currently Amended)
Tsai fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 9. However, Yi, in the same field of endeavor, teaches,
A method for information transmission, comprising:
determining, by a terminal device, a type of each of beam failure events that occur in one or more cells,
(See Tsai paragraph 0187, …the UE 282 may detect a first beam failure event on the SpCell 284 based on the BFD RS(s) for the SpCell 284.)
Shows the UE detecting beam failure on a SpCell
(See Tsai paragraph 0190, In action 206, the UE 282 may detect a second beam failure event on the SCell 286 based on the BFD RS(s) for the SCell 286 when the RA procedure for SpCell BFR is ongoing.)
Shows the UE detecting a second beam failure on a SCell
However, Tsai fails to explicitly teach,
wherein types of beam failure events comprising a transmission and reception point (TRP)-level beam failure event and a cell-level beam failure event; and
reporting, by the terminal device, first information or second information to a network device according to the type of each of the beam failure events that occur;
wherein the first information corresponds to the TRP-level beam failure event, and the second information corresponds to the cell-level beam failure event.
Nevertheless, Jia, in the same field of endeavor, teaches,
…wherein types of beam failure events comprising a transmission and reception point (TRP)-level beam failure event and a cell-level beam failure event; and
(See Jia paragraph 0146, …the MAC CE may further include: a type in which beam failure is detected or a type in which beam failure recovery is triggered. For example, the MAC CE may be a TRP-specific MAC CE, or may multiplex cell-specific MAC CE, and a type of BFD or BFR may be indicated using 1 bit or more bits (such as 2 bits) in the MAC CE.)
reporting, by the terminal device, first information or second information to a network device according to the type of each of the beam failure events that occur;
(See Jia paragraph 0477, …the terminal equipment may also report the MAC CE to the network device;…)
Shows the terminal device reporting the MAC CE to a base station
wherein the first information corresponds to the TRP-level beam failure event, and the second information corresponds to the cell-level beam failure event.
(See Jia paragraph 0147, …a value of the 1 bit in the MAC CE indicates that cell-specific beam failures or beam failures of all beams are detected or cell-specific beam failure recovery or beam failure recovery of all beams is triggered, and another value of the 1 bit indicates that transmission reception point (TRP)-specific beam failures)
Shows the MAC CE contains first information of an indication for cell-specific beam failures and second information of TRP-specific beam failures
The motivation to combine Tsai and Jia in the independent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 10 (Original)
Tsai fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 10. However, Jia, in the same field of endeavor, teaches,
The method of claim 9, wherein the first information is first medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) signaling or a first scheduling request (SR), and
the second information is second MAC CE signaling, a second SR, or a preamble sequence that is carried in a random access channel (RACH) resource.
(See Jia paragraph 0147, …a value of the 1 bit in the MAC CE indicates that cell-specific beam failures or beam failures of all beams are detected or cell-specific beam failure recovery or beam failure recovery of all beams is triggered, and another value of the 1 bit indicates that transmission reception point (TRP)-specific beam failures)
Shows the MAC CE contains first information of an indication for cell-specific beam failures and second information of TRP-specific beam failures
The motivation to combine Tsai and Jia in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 12 (Original)
Tsai fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 12. However, Jia, in the same field of endeavor, teaches,
The method of claim 9, wherein the terminal device reports the first information in response to the type of each of the beam failure events that occur being a TRP-level beam failure event;
(See Jia paragraph 0029, …reporting a MAC CE, by the terminal equipment, to a network device according to configuration of carrier aggregation (CA) and/or uplink resources, wherein the MAC CE indicates information of the transmission reception point where beam failure is detected or for which beam failure recovery is triggered, or indicates to a network device…)
or the terminal device reports the second information in response to the type of each of the beam failure events that occur being a cell-level beam failure event.
(See Jia paragraph 0477, …the terminal equipment may also report the MAC CE to the network device;…)
Shows the terminal device reporting the MAC CE to a base station
(See Jia paragraphs 0161 and 0163, a value of 2 bits in the MAC CE indicates one or any combination of the following that: … [0163] cell-specific beam failures or beam failures of all beams are detected or cell-specific beam failure recovery or beam failure recovery of all beams is triggered;)
Shows the MAC CE may indicate cell-specific beam failure
The motivation to combine Tsai and Jia in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 13 (Original)
Tsai fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 13. However, Jia, in the same field of endeavor, teaches,
The method of claim 9, wherein, the terminal device reports the first information in response to the type of each of the beam failure events that occur comprising not only a TRP-level beam failure event but also a cell-level beam failure event; or,
the terminal device reports the second information in response to the type of each of the beam failure events that occur comprising not only a TRP-level beam failure event but also a cell-level beam failure event.
(See Jia paragraph 0477, …the terminal equipment may also report the MAC CE to the network device;…)
Shows the terminal device reporting the MAC CE to a base station
(See Jia paragraph 0155, …a value of 2 bits in the MAC CE indicates one or any combination of the following that:)
(See Jia paragraph 0159, …cell-specific beam failures or beam failures of all beams are detected or cell-specific beam failure recovery or beam failure recovery of all beams is triggered, and TRP-specific beam failures or beam failures of a part of beams are detected or TRP-specific beam failure recovery or beam failure recovery of a part of beams is triggered.)
Shows the MAC CE may indicate both a cell-specific beam failure and a TRP-specific beam failure
The motivation to combine Tsai and Jia in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Claim 14 (Original)
Tsai fails to explicitly teach limitations of claim 14. However, Jia, in the same field of endeavor, teaches,
The method of claim 9, wherein, the terminal device reports the first information, in response to the type of each of the beam failure events that occur comprising not only a TRP-level beam failure event but also a cell-level beam failure event, and
(See Jia paragraph 0477, …the terminal equipment may also report the MAC CE to the network device;…)
Shows the terminal device reporting the MAC CE to a base station
(See Jia paragraph 0155, …a value of 2 bits in the MAC CE indicates one or any combination of the following that:)
(See Jia paragraph 0159, …cell-specific beam failures or beam failures of all beams are detected or cell-specific beam failure recovery or beam failure recovery of all beams is triggered, and TRP-specific beam failures or beam failures of a part of beams are detected or TRP-specific beam failure recovery or beam failure recovery of a part of beams is triggered.)
Shows the MAC CE may indicate both a cell-specific beam failure and a TRP-specific beam failure
a number of cells in which TRP-level beam failure events occur being greater than or equal to a number of cells in which cell-level beam failure events occur; or
(See Jia paragraph 0083, For the BFR MAC CE, a Ci field indicates beam failure detection of a secondary cell with ServCellIndex i,…)
Shows the BFR MAC CE contains a ServCellIndex i field for one secondary cell
(See Jia paragraph 0104, In some embodiments, the MAC CE may be a TRP-specific MAC CE, for example may be different from a Rel-16 BFR MAC CE or a Rel-16 Truncated BFR MAC CE; may also be a cell-specific MAC CE, for example reuse a Rel-16 BFR MAC CE or a Rel-16 Truncated BFR MAC CE.)
Shows the BFR MAC CE may be for a cell-specific BFR or TRP-specific BFR
Shows if each of the BFR MAC CE for the cell-specific BFR and TRP-specific BFR contain a field for one secondary cell, then the number of cells for a TRP-specific BFR equals the number of cells for a cell-specific BFR
The motivation to combine Tsai and Jia in the dependent claim consists of the same motivation as stated in claim 1.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Fan et al. (US 20230345570 A1) or Fan teaches cell-level beam failure recovery and TRP-level beam failure recovery based on a configuration received from a base station.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMUEL ROBERGE BETTENDORF whose telephone number is (571)272-4352. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri, 8:30a.m.-5:00p.m..
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/SAMUEL ROBERGE BETTENDORF/Examiner, Art Unit 2414
/EDAN ORGAD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2414