DETAILED ACTION
Notice of 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 .
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.
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged. In particular, this Application is the national stage application of an international application that was filed on 10 May 2021.
Information Disclosure Statements
The information disclosure statements, submitted on 2 Nov 2023, 1 Aug 2024, 9 Jan 2025, 13 May 2025, and 27 Aug 2025, are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
The Reply alleges “Zhang does not disclose or suggest ‘the beam measurement result is reported by at least one group’ as recited in amend claim 1.” Reply, 12. In the described invention, a “group” may be a beam group ID, PCI, CORESETPoolIndex, TRP ID, reference signal resource set ID, antenna panel ID, etc. Pre-grant publication of Application, ¶¶122-126. In Zhang, the gNB provides the PCIs of candidate cells. Zhang, ¶98. As a result, the measurements executed for Zhang’s inter-cell, multi-TRP operation are “by at least one group.” Non-Final Act. at 6-7 (rejection of claim 11). The Examiner additionally notes CORESET pool index in Zhang. Zhang, ¶54.
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, 3, 6-9, 11, 14, 15, 19, and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 20220304036) in view of Matsumura (US 20240171243).
Regarding claims 1 and 22, Zhang teaches a coordination cell beam measurement method, performed by a user equipment (UE), and a communication device, comprising a transceiver, a memory, and a processor configured to perform the method comprising:
receiving indication information sent by a network device (Zhang, ¶88 – serving cell’s gNB sends indication of candidate cell pool to UE),
wherein the indication information comprises a first transmission power of a coordination cell (Zhang, ¶89 – the indication may include the transmission powers of candidate cells);
performing a beam measurement on the coordination cell (Zhang, ¶99 – gNB configures the neighboring cells’ reference signal in a channel measurement resource, CMR; Zhang, ¶92 – UE reports L1-RSRP and/or L1-SINR of neighboring cells when executing group-based beam reporting);
determining a beam measurement reference signal resource of the coordination cell (Zhang, ¶99 – gNB configures the neighboring cells’ reference signal in a channel measurement resource, CMR), and obtaining a second beam measurement result of the coordination cell according to the beam measurement reference signal resource of the coordination cell (Zhang, ¶92 - UE reports L1-RSRP and/or L1-SINR of neighboring cells when executing group-based beam reporting [which creates multiple measurement results]);
sending a beam measurement result to the network device, wherein the beam measurement result comprises at least one of: the first beam measurement result; or the second beam measurement result (Zhang, ¶92 and figure 7 – CSI report from UE includes the L1-RSRP values of serving cell and neighbor cells);
wherein the beam measurement result further comprises a beam measurement result of a serving cell (Zhang, ¶92 - UE reports L1-RSRP and/or L1-SINR of serving cell),
wherein the beam measurement result is reported by at least one group. Zhang, ¶¶97-98 (for measurement reporting, a group of N candidate cells are configured by the serving cell’s RRC signal).
While Zhang reports measurements of the neighboring cell (Zhang, ¶92), it does not explicitly teach “obtaining a first beam measurement result of the coordination cell according to the first transmission power.” However, Matsumura teaches a UE that reports the best beams of both the serving cell and non-serving cells. Matsumura, ¶142. These beam measurement factor in the different transmission powers used by each cell in transmitting the measured SSB. Id. at ¶143. Matsumura also teaches sending a beam measurement result to the network device, wherein the beam measurement result comprises at least one of: the first beam measurement result or the second beam measurement result. Matsumura, ¶144 (UE reports the L1-RSRP value that is offset by the difference in transmission powers between the serving cell and non-serving cell). At the time of the invention (pre-AIA ) or at the effective filing date of the invention (AIA ), it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to consider the transmission power, as taught by Matsumura, when reporting the L1-RSRP and L1-SINR measurements, taught by Zhang, in order to ensure an appropriate L1-RSRP value that compensates for the different transmission powers used by each cell. Id. at ¶146.
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Zhang and Matsumura also teaches wherein the first beam measurement result is obtained according to the second beam measurement result and the first transmission power. Matsumura, ¶143 (the reported L1-RSRP value of the non-serving cell is obtained by adding the difference in transmission power between the serving cell and non-serving cell and the measured L1-RSRP value); see also id. at ¶144 (“RSRP offset to a measured L1-RSRP value”).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Zhang and Matsumura also teaches wherein the beam measurement result of the serving cell comprises at least one of a third beam measurement result of the serving cell or a fourth beam measurement result of the serving cell. Matsumura, ¶124 (UE reports the L1-RSRP for N beams of the serving cell [i.e. N may equal 4]).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Zhang and Matsumura also teaches determining a beam measurement reference signal resource of the serving cell; and performing a beam measurement on the beam measurement reference signal resource of the serving cell to obtain the third beam measurement result of the serving cell. Zhang, ¶64 and Matsumura, ¶30 (L1-RSRP is a measurement of the received power of a reference signal); Zhang, ¶92 and Matsumura, ¶124 (UE reports at least L1-RSRP of serving cell).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Zhang and Matsumura also teaches receiving transmission power information of the serving cell (Matsumura, ¶143 – in order for the UE to calculate the difference in SSB transmission power between the serving cell and each non-serving cell, the UE must receive the transmission power of the serving cell); and obtaining the fourth beam measurement result of the serving cell according to the third beam measurement result of the serving cell and the transmission power information of the serving cell. Matsumura, ¶139 and figure 9 (the UE reports the N best beams of the serving cell and all non-serving cells, which may include multiple beams of serving cell, based on the L1-RSRP values of each beam); Matsumura, ¶¶159-160 (the ranking of beams with highest L1-RSRP values may include a recalculation of the RSRP value using the difference in transmission power between the serving cell and non-serving cell).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Zhang and Matsumura also teaches wherein a manner for reporting the beam measurement result comprises at least one of: periodic reporting; non-periodic reporting; or semi-persistent reporting. Matsumura, ¶¶32, 110.
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Zhang and Matsumura also teaches wherein each group in the at least one group corresponds to at least one of: a beam group identifier (ID); a physical cell identifier (PCI); a control resource set pool index (CORESETPoolIndex); a reference signal resource set ID; a reference signal resource ID; a transmission reception point (TRP) ID; or an antenna panel ID. Zhang, ¶98 (physical cell ID).
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Zhang and Matsumura also teaches wherein the beam measurement result comprises at least one of: a layer 1-reference signal receiving power (L1-RSRP); a layer 1-signal to interference plus noise ratio (L1-SINR); a correction value of a L1-RSRP based on the first transmission power of the coordination cell; a correction value of a L1-SINR based on the first transmission power of the coordination cell; a correction value of a L1-RSRP based on an uplink transmission power of the UE; or a correction value of a L1-SINR based on an uplink transmission power of the UE. Zhang, ¶¶92, 97 (LI-RSRP and/or L1-SINR).
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Zhang and Matsumura also teaches wherein the first transmission power of the coordination cell comprises at least one of: a transmission power value of the coordination cell; or a difference between the transmission power of the coordination cell and a transmission power of a serving cell. Matsumura, ¶¶143-144 (the reported L1-RSRP value is based on the RSRP offset, which is the difference between serving cell’s transmission power and a non-serving cell’s transmission power).
Regarding claim 19, Zhang teaches a coordination cell beam measurement method, performed by a network device, comprising:
sending indication information to a user equipment (UE) (Zhang, ¶88 – serving cell’s gNB sends indication of candidate cell pool to UE),
wherein the indication information comprises a first transmission power of a coordination cell (Zhang, ¶89 – the indication may include the transmission powers of candidate cells) to enable the UE to:
obtain first beam measurement result of the coordination cell. . . Zhang, ¶99 (gNB configures the neighboring cells’ reference signal in a channel measurement resource, CMR); Zhang, ¶92 (UE reports L1-RSRP and/or L1-SINR of neighboring cells when executing group-based beam reporting);
determine a beam measurement reference signal resource of the coordination cell (Zhang, ¶99 – gNB configures the neighboring cells’ reference signal in a channel measurement resource, CMR), and
obtain a second beam measurement result of the coordination cell according to the beam measurement reference signal resource of the coordination cell (Zhang, ¶92 - UE reports L1-RSRP and/or L1-SINR of neighboring cells when executing group-based beam reporting [which creates multiple measurement results]);
receiving a beam measurement result to the network device, wherein the beam measurement result comprises at least one of: the first beam measurement result; or the second beam measurement result (Zhang, ¶92 and figure 7 – CSI report from UE includes the L1-RSRP values of serving cell and neighbor cells);
wherein the beam measurement result further comprises a beam measurement result of a serving cell (Zhang, ¶92 - UE reports L1-RSRP and/or L1-SINR of serving cell),
wherein the beam measurement result is reported by at least one group. Zhang, ¶¶97-98 (for measurement reporting, a group of N candidate cells are configured by the serving cell’s RRC signal).
While Zhang reports measurements of the neighboring cell (Zhang, ¶92), it does not explicitly teach “obtaining a first beam measurement result of the coordination cell according to the first transmission power.” However, Matsumura teaches a UE that reports the best beams of both the serving cell and non-serving cells. Matsumura, ¶142. These beam measurement factor in the different transmission powers used by each cell in transmitting the measured SSB. Id. at ¶143. Matsumura also teaches sending a beam measurement result to the network device, wherein the beam measurement result comprises at least one of: the first beam measurement result or the second beam measurement result. Matsumura, ¶144 (UE reports the L1-RSRP value that is offset by the difference in transmission powers between the serving cell and non-serving cell). At the time of the invention (pre-AIA ) or at the effective filing date of the invention (AIA ), it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to consider the transmission power, as taught by Matsumura, when reporting the L1-RSRP and L1-SINR measurements, taught by Zhang, in order to ensure an appropriate L1-RSRP value that compensates for the different transmission powers used by each cell. Id. at ¶146.
Claims 12, 13, and 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhang (US 20220304036) in view of Matsumura (US 20240171243) and further in view of Chen (US 20210306895).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Zhang and Matsumura teaches the method of claim 1, but does not explicitly teach either of “wherein beams in the group are beams which can be received by the UE simultaneously, or beams between different groups are beams which can be received by the UE simultaneously.” However, Chen teaches a UE simultaneously receiving reference signals using a group of beams. Chen, ¶106. At the time of the invention (pre-AIA ) or at the effective filing date of the invention (AIA ), it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to enable the UE, taught by the combination of Zhang and Matsumura, to possess the grouping capability, taught by Chen, in order to help the network node processes measurement results through the UE’s measurement result grouping. Chen, ¶99; see also id. at ¶112 for optimal measurement value for a group of beams.
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Zhang and Matsumura teaches the method of claim 1, but does not explicitly teach “sending the beam measurement result to the network device, in response to a reporting condition being satisfied.” However, Chen teaches a UE performing layer 1 filtering when deciding whether to report its measurement result. Chen, ¶95. The UE only reports measurement results that satisfy a specific condition, such as being greater than a preset threshold. Ibid. At the time of the invention (pre-AIA ) or at the effective filing date of the invention (AIA ), it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to implement the layer 1 filtering, taught by Chen, when reporting the L1-RSRP and/or L1-SINR, taught by the combination of Zhang and Matsumura, in order to reduce the amount of uplink resources that will be needed for measurement reporting.
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Zhang, Matsumura, and Chen also teaches wherein the reporting condition is: a beam measurement result of the coordination cell being greater than a first threshold. Chen, ¶95 (threshold); Zhang, ¶92 (measurement reporting of neighboring cell).
Regarding claim 17, the combination of Zhang, Matsumura, and Chen also teaches wherein the reporting condition is: sorting beam measurement results of the coordination cell and beam measurement results of a serving cell from strong to weak, wherein the beam measurement results of the coordination cell are top N beam measurement results, where N is a positive integer. Matsumura, ¶¶138, 142, 159 and figure 9 (N best beams of the serving cell and non-serving cell are reported).
Regarding claim 18, the combination of Zhang, Matsumura, and Chen also teaches wherein the reporting condition is: sorting beam measurement results of the coordination cell from strong to weak, and reporting top M beam measurement results of the coordination cell, where M is a positive integer. Matsumura, ¶¶138, 142, 159 and figure 9 (a subset of the N best beams of the serving cell and non-serving cell include M beams of the non-serving cell [e.g. 1 beam for non-serving cell #2 and 2 beams for non-serving cell #1 in figure 9]).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 BENJAMIN S LAMONT whose telephone number is (571)270-7514 and email address is benjamin.lamont@uspto.gov (see MPEP 502.03, which allows for written authorization via the USPTO electronic filing system or mail, but not via email). The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7am to 3pm EST.
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/Benjamin Lamont/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461