DETAILED ACTION
This is in response to the Applicant's arguments and amendments filed on 10 February 2025 in which claims 1-13, 17 are currently pending and claims 14-16 have been cancelled.
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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The references listed in the Information Disclosure Statement, filed on 19 October 2023, have been considered by the examiner (see attached PTO-1449 form or PTO/SB/08A and 08B forms).
Claim Objections
Claim 17 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claim 17, it is believed the claimed limitation “transmit, from a user equipment (UE), configuration information related to BFR” in line 6 is meant to say --transmit, to a user equipment (UE), configuration information related to BFR--.
Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Claims 1-13, 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over He et al. (PG Pub US 2021/0051651 A1) in view of Liu et al. (PG Pub US 2024/0007879 A1).
Regarding claims 1, 13, He discloses a method and a user equipment (UE) of performing uplink transmission for beam failure recovery (BFR) in a wireless communication system.
at least one transceiver for transmitting and receiving a wireless signal; and at least one processor for controlling the at least one transceiver (UE, transceiver 920, processor 940, fig. 9):
receive, from a base station, configuration information related to BFR (“base station 105-a (e.g., the network) may configure a dedicated PUCCH scheduling request configuration for beam failure recovery” [0090]); and
based on at least one of a first beam failure and a second beam failure being detected according to an assessment of radio link quality for a first beam failure detection (BFD) reference signal (RS) set and a second BFD RS set, perform, to the base station, uplink transmission for BFR (“In some cases, both the SpCell (e.g., PCell, PSCell, etc.) and an SCell may fail (e.g., experience beam failure), which may impact how UE 115-a performs a beam failure recovery procedure and transmit beam indication” [0095], “send the MAC CE carrying beam indication 215 for the SCell beam failure recovery in the uplink grant provided in the second message (e.g., msg2) of the RACH for the SpCell beam failure recovery” [0096], “base station 105-a may configure different sets of uplink channel resources for different data logical channels based on configured priorities of the data logical channels” [0088], “beam failure recovery procedure) based on the link quality measurements” [0085]),
the configuration information includes information on a first PUCCH (physical uplink control channel) resource for BFR corresponding to the first BFD RS set and a second PUCCH resource for BFR corresponding to the second BDR RS set for a cell group (“base station 105-a may configure different sets of uplink channel resources for different data logical channels based on configured priorities of the data logical channels” [0088], “the dedicated PUCCH scheduling request configuration may include an indication of which PUCCH resources (e.g., time and/or frequency resources in a PUCCH) to transmit the scheduling request” [0090]), and
based on a type of a cell in which one of the first beam failure and the second beam failure is detected in the cell group, a PUCCH resource for the uplink transmission is determined among the first PUCCH resource and the second PUCCH resource (“an uplink control resource in a first transmission occasion (e.g., a first slot, which may be slot 0) may be associated with a first serving cell (e.g., serving cell 0), an uplink control resource in a second slot (e.g., a slot 1) may be associated with a second serving cell (e.g., serving cell 1), etc” [0093], “both the SpCell (e.g., PCell, PSCell, etc.) and an SCell may fail (e.g., experience beam failure) .. UE 115-a may transmit the MAC CE carrying beam indication 215 based on an uplink grant provided in a second RACH message (e.g., msg2) of the RACH for the SpCell beam failure recovery” [0095]).
However, He does not explicitly disclose a first beam failure detection (BFD) reference signal (RS) set and a second BFD RS set.
Nevertheless, Liu discloses “the first BFD RS set (e.g. BFD RS set #1) and the second BFD RS set (e.g. BFD RS set #2)” [0046], “the two BFD RS sets are explicitly indicated by the gNB to the UE” [0044].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a first beam failure detection (BFD) reference signal (RS) set and a second BFD RS set because “the UE transmits a capability report for each of the serving cells supporting configuration of multiple BFD RS sets, and receives a configuration for each of the transmitted capability reports” [0045].
Regarding claim 2, He, Liu discloses everything claimed as applied above. In addition, He discloses based on one of the first beam failure and the second beam failure being detected in a special cell (SpCell) in the cell group, a PUCCH resource for the uplink transmission is determined to be a PUCCH resource corresponding to a BFD RS set in which a beam failure is detected among the first PUCCH resource and the second PUCCH resource (“Base station 105-a may then send the downlink message (e.g., DCI) to grant the requested uplink resource(s) for transmitting the MAC CE carrying beam indication 215 over a downlink channel (e.g., PDCCH) in a special cell (SpCell) configured for UE 115-a, where the requested uplink resource(s) are also located in the SpCell” [0091], [0112]).
Regarding claim 3, He, Liu discloses everything claimed as applied above. In addition, He discloses based on one of the first beam failure and the second beam failure being detected in one or more secondary cells (SCells) in the cell group, a PUCCH resource for the uplink transmission is determined to be one of the first PUCCH resource and the second PUCCH resource depending on whether the first beam failure and/or the second beam failure is detected in an SpCell in the cell group (“both the SpCell (e.g., PCell, PSCell, etc.) and an SCell may fail (e.g., experience beam failure), which may impact how UE 115-a performs a beam failure recovery procedure and transmit beam indication 215 (e.g., for when the SCell fails as described above). For example, if the SpCell beam failure has already been triggered and a corresponding RACH based recovery (e.g., to reestablish communications with the SpCell) has been initiated when the beam failure recovery for the SCell is triggered, UE 115-a may wait for the SpCell beam failure recovery (e.g., via the RACH based recovery) to complete before sending the MAC CE carrying beam indication 215 for the SCell beam failure recovery. Accordingly, UE 115-a may transmit the MAC CE carrying beam indication 215 based on an uplink grant provided in a second RACH message (e.g., msg2) of the RACH for the SpCell beam failure recovery” [0095]).
Regarding claim 4, He, Liu discloses everything claimed as applied above. In addition, He discloses based on a beam failure different from the one or more SCells being detected in an SpCell in the cell group before the uplink transmission due to detection of one of the first beam failure and the second beam failure for the one or more SCells, a PUCCH resource for the uplink transmission is determined to be a PUCCH resource corresponding to a BFD RS set in which a beam failure is detected in the SpCell among the first PUCCH resource and the second PUCCH resource (“both the SpCell (e.g., PCell, PSCell, etc.) and an SCell may fail (e.g., experience beam failure), which may impact how UE 115-a performs a beam failure recovery procedure and transmit beam indication 215 (e.g., for when the SCell fails as described above). For example, if the SpCell beam failure has already been triggered and a corresponding RACH based recovery (e.g., to reestablish communications with the SpCell) has been initiated when the beam failure recovery for the SCell is triggered, UE 115-a may wait for the SpCell beam failure recovery (e.g., via the RACH based recovery) to complete before sending the MAC CE carrying beam indication 215 for the SCell beam failure recovery. Accordingly, UE 115-a may transmit the MAC CE carrying beam indication 215 based on an uplink grant provided in a second RACH message (e.g., msg2) of the RACH for the SpCell beam failure recovery” [0095], [0096]).
Regarding claim 5, He, Liu discloses everything claimed as applied above.
In addition, He discloses receiving, from the base station, downlink control information (DCI) for scheduling a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) (“Base station 105-a may then send the downlink message (e.g., DCI) to grant the requested uplink resource(s) for transmitting the MAC CE carrying beam indication” [0091]), transmitting, to the base station, a BFR medium access control (MAC)-control element (CE) through the PUSCH (“this MAC CE carrying beam indication 215 may be either included in a payload (e.g., physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) payload)” [0100]) and the BFR MAC-CE includes at least one of an index of a cell in which a beam failure is detected, information on whether a new beam is found, new beam information, and an index of a BFD RS set in which a beam failure is detected (“a MAC CE for a UE 115 to report a new preferred beam after beam failure is triggered on an SCell. For example, this new MAC CE may include an index of the SCell on which the beam failure was triggered and an index of the new preferred beam for the Scell” [0081]).
Regarding claim 6, He, Liu discloses everything claimed as applied above.
In addition, He discloses based on one of the first beam failure and the second beam failure being detected in one or more secondary cells (SCells) in the cell group and a beam failure different from the one or more SCells being detected in an SpCell in the cell group after the uplink transmission and before transmission of the BFR-MAC CE, the uplink transmission is additionally performed on a PUCCH resource corresponding to a BFD RS set in which a beam failure is detected in the SpCell (“both the SpCell (e.g., PCell, PSCell, etc.) and an SCell may fail (e.g., experience beam failure), which may impact how UE 115-a performs a beam failure recovery procedure and transmit beam indication 215 (e.g., for when the SCell fails as described above). For example, if the SpCell beam failure has already been triggered and a corresponding RACH based recovery (e.g., to reestablish communications with the SpCell) has been initiated when the beam failure recovery for the SCell is triggered, UE 115-a may wait for the SpCell beam failure recovery (e.g., via the RACH based recovery) to complete before sending the MAC CE carrying beam indication 215 for the SCell beam failure recovery. Accordingly, UE 115-a may transmit the MAC CE carrying beam indication 215 based on an uplink grant provided in a second RACH message (e.g., msg2) of the RACH for the SpCell beam failure recovery” [0095]).
Regarding claim 7, He, Liu discloses everything claimed as applied above. In addition, He discloses based on one of the first beam failure and the second beam failure being detected in one or more SCells in the cell group within a predetermined monitoring period and a beam failure instance (BFI) counter value associated with one of the first BFD RS set and the second BFD RS set in an SpCell in the cell group being greater than or equal to a threshold, the uplink transmission is suspended until whether or not a beam failure associated with one of the first BFD RS set and the second BFD RS set is detected in the SpCell (“if a beam failure on the SCell occurs before a beam failure on the SpCell, UE 115-a may take different actions. For example, if UE 115-a has already triggered the scheduling request for the SCell beam failure recovery (e.g., to request uplink resources to transmit the MAC CE carrying beam indication 215) when the SpCell beam failure recovery is triggered, UE 115-a may perform the RACH based beam failure recovery for the SpCell first and then may send the MAC CE carrying beam indication 215 for the SCell beam failure recovery in the uplink grant provided in the second message (e.g., msg2) of the RACH for the SpCell beam failure recovery. Additionally or alternatively, if the MAC CE carrying beam indication 215 for the SCell beam failure recovery has already been sent when the SpCell beam failure recovery is triggered but base station 105-a has not reconfigured the downlink beam for the SCell, UE 115-a may perform the SpCell beam failure recovery (e.g., RACH based recovery) first before completing the beam failure recovery for the Scell” [0096], “When the physical layer receives the scheduling request, the physical layer may send the scheduling request over any valid uplink control resources except the uplink control resources associated with the SCell(s) to be avoided (e.g., as indicated by the mapping schemes described above)” [0094], “UE 115-a and/or base station 105-a may configure a timer and a counter for the SCell beam failure recovery with transmitting the MAC CE carrying beam indication .. UE 115-a may increase the counter by one (1) and may keep trying to send the MAC CE until a limit of the counter (e.g., counter threshold) is reached. If the limit of the counter is reached, UE 115-a may trigger a radio link failure. In some cases, the radio link failure may result in UE 115-a performing a RACH to identify a new SCell for establish a secondary communication link” [0097]).
Regarding claim 8, He, Liu discloses everything claimed as applied above. In addition, He discloses based on a beam failure associated with one of the first BFD RS set or the second BFD RS set being detected in the SpCell, a PUCCH resource for the uplink transmission is determined to be a PUCCH resource corresponding to a BFD RS set in which a beam failure is detected in the SpCell among the first PUCCH resource and the second PUCCH resource (“a special cell (SpCell) configured for UE 115-a, where the requested uplink resource(s) are also located in the SpCell” [0091]).
Regarding claim 9, He, Liu discloses everything claimed as applied above. In addition, He discloses based on a beam failure associated with one of the first BFD RS set or the second BFD RS set being not detected in the SpCell, a PUCCH resource for the uplink transmission is determined to be a PUCCH resource corresponding to a BFD RS set in which a beam failure is detected in the one or more SCells among the first PUCCH resource and the second PUCCH resource (“UE 115-a may identify a beam failure that is triggered on a cell of base station 105-a (e.g., SCell). Subsequently, UE 115-a may measure a link quality of one or more candidate beams configured for that cell where the beam failure was detected” [0084]).
Regarding claim 10, He, Liu discloses everything claimed as applied above. In addition, He discloses based on one of the first beam failure and the second beam failure being detected in one or more SCells in the cell group in a predetermined monitoring period and a BFI counter value associated with one of the first BFD RS set and the second BFD RS set in the SpCell within the cell group being less than a threshold, a PUCCH resource for the uplink transmission is determined to be a PUCCH resource corresponding to a BFD RS set in which a beam failure is detected in the one or more SCells among the first PUCCH resource and the second PUCCH resource (“UE 115-a and/or base station 105-a may configure a timer and a counter for the SCell beam failure recovery with transmitting the MAC CE carrying beam indication 215 to reestablish the connection with the SCell via the indicated beam (e.g., selected first beam) .. UE 115-a may increase the counter by one (1) and may keep trying to send the MAC CE until a limit of the counter (e.g., counter threshold) is reached. If the limit of the counter is reached, UE 115-a may trigger a radio link failure. In some cases, the radio link failure may result in UE 115-a performing a RACH to identify a new SCell for establish a secondary communication link” [0097]).
Regarding claim 11, He, Liu discloses everything claimed as applied above.
Further, Liu discloses the first BFD RS set and the second BFD RS set include QCL (quasi co-location) RSs for spatial reception parameters configured in CORESETs having different control resource set (CORESET) pool indexes (“the UE determines the BFD RS sets to include periodic CSI-RS resource configuration indices with the same values as the RS indices in the RS sets indicated by the TCI state, which contains one or two RSs with different QCL types, configured for respective CORESET that the UE uses for monitoring PDCCH and, if there are two RS indices in a TCI state, the BFD RS set includes RS indices with QCL-TypeD configuration for the corresponding TCI state” [0044]).
Regarding claim 12, He, Liu discloses everything claimed as applied above. In addition, He discloses the first BFD RS set and the second BFD RS set are respectively configured by higher layer signaling by the base station (“a UE 115 may be provided, for a base station 105 (e.g., serving cell), with a first set of periodic channel state information (CSI) reference signal (CSI-RS) resource configuration indexes (q0) by a first higher layer parameter (e.g., failureDetectionResources) and with a second set of periodic CSI-RS resource configuration indexes and/or SS/PBCH block indexes (q1) by a second higher layer parameter (e.g., candidateBeamRSList) for radio link quality measurements on the base station 105” [0079]).
Regarding claim 17, He discloses a base station of receiving uplink transmission for beam failure recovery (BFR) in a wireless communication system.
at least one transceiver for transmitting and receiving a wireless signal; and at least one processor for controlling the at least one transceiver (base station, fig. 9);
transmit, from a user equipment (UE), configuration information related to BFR (“base station 105-a (e.g., the network) may configure a dedicated PUCCH scheduling request configuration for beam failure recovery” [0090]); and
based on at least one of a first beam failure and a second beam failure being detected according to an assessment of radio link quality for a first beam failure detection (BFD) reference signal (RS) set and a second BFD RS set, receive, from the UE, uplink transmission for BFR (“In some cases, both the SpCell (e.g., PCell, PSCell, etc.) and an SCell may fail (e.g., experience beam failure), which may impact how UE 115-a performs a beam failure recovery procedure and transmit beam indication” [0095], “send the MAC CE carrying beam indication 215 for the SCell beam failure recovery in the uplink grant provided in the second message (e.g., msg2) of the RACH for the SpCell beam failure recovery” [0096], “base station 105-a may configure different sets of uplink channel resources for different data logical channels based on configured priorities of the data logical channels” [0088], “beam failure recovery procedure) based on the link quality measurements” [0085]),
the configuration information includes information on a first PUCCH (physical uplink control channel) resource for BFR corresponding to the first BFD RS set, a second PUCCH resource for BFR corresponding to the second BDR RS set for a cell group (“base station 105-a may configure different sets of uplink channel resources for different data logical channels based on configured priorities of the data logical channels” [0088], “the dedicated PUCCH scheduling request configuration may include an indication of which PUCCH resources (e.g., time and/or frequency resources in a PUCCH) to transmit the scheduling request” [0090]), and
based on a type of a cell in which one of the first beam failure and the second beam failure is detected in the cell group, a PUCCH resource for the uplink transmission is determined among the first PUCCH resource and the second PUCCH resource (“an uplink control resource in a first transmission occasion (e.g., a first slot, which may be slot 0) may be associated with a first serving cell (e.g., serving cell 0), an uplink control resource in a second slot (e.g., a slot 1) may be associated with a second serving cell (e.g., serving cell 1), etc” [0093], “both the SpCell (e.g., PCell, PSCell, etc.) and an SCell may fail (e.g., experience beam failure) .. UE 115-a may transmit the MAC CE carrying beam indication 215 based on an uplink grant provided in a second RACH message (e.g., msg2) of the RACH for the SpCell beam failure recovery” [0095]).
However, He does not explicitly disclose a first beam failure detection (BFD) reference signal (RS) set and a second BFD RS set.
Nevertheless, Liu discloses “the first BFD RS set (e.g. BFD RS set #1) and the second BFD RS set (e.g. BFD RS set #2)” [0046], “the two BFD RS sets are explicitly indicated by the gNB to the UE” [0044].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have a first beam failure detection (BFD) reference signal (RS) set and a second BFD RS set because “the UE transmits a capability report for each of the serving cells supporting configuration of multiple BFD RS sets, and receives a configuration for each of the transmitted capability reports” [0045].
Conclusion
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CHRISTINE DUONG FUQUA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2462
/CHRISTINE T DUONG/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462 07/08/2026
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