DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/09/2023 have been considered by the examiner and been placed of record in the file.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7, 8, 15, 23 and 28 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 3 recites the limitation including the term " the gap". The term “gap” was recited in the alternative in claim 2 on which claim 3 depends. This office action selects another limitation “a time associated with a starting symbol of the signal” for examination.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-2, 6, 9, 11-14, 17, 19-22, 26-27 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Baligh et al. (CN 116648864 A – English Translation) in view of Dai et al. (US 2023/0208486 A1).
Claim 1. Baligh et al. disclose A method (read as …a method involving: a reflective intelligent surface (RIS) reflecting a signal in the direction of a user equipment (UE) on at least one of a selected subset of beams of a plurality of beams known to the UE… [0023]) of wireless communication performed by a controller of a reconfigurable reflective surface (FIG. 3C item 285), comprising:
receiving (read as Message 850 is sent from BS 802 to RIS#l 804. This message includes configuration information about one or more RIS modes that will be used by RIS#l 804 to reflect the reference signal. In some embodiments, this information is specific to RIS#l 804 to set the mode without RIS#l 804 generating the RIS mode [0346]) or determining (read as In some embodiments, the information provided allows RIS#l 804 to generate RIS patterns [0346]) configuration information for a set of reflective elements of the reconfigurable reflective surface (read as reflective smart surface (RIS) [00017]), wherein the configuration information indicates a set of reflective matrices associated (read as …RIS patterns [0346]) with indicating reconfigurable reflective surface information to a user equipment (UE) (read as … include information that enables the UE to know what type of RS can be received and when to receive it, which RIS the RS is associated with (in this case, RS#l 804 [0346]), wherein the configuration information indicates the UE (read as … include information that enables the UE to know what type of RS can be received and when to receive it, which RIS the RS is associated with (in this case, RS#l 804 [0346]), and
wherein the configuration information is associated with reflecting a signal in a sub-band (read as information that enables the UE to know …the RS time/frequency mode, the RS timing and corresponding port [0346]), of multiple sub-bands, of a base station (read as BS 802 [0345]); and
configuring the set of reflective elements (read as to generate RIS patterns [0346]) to indicate the reconfigurable reflective surface information via the signal as reflected by the reconfigurable reflective surface (read as …Message 875 can be reflected by RIS#l 804 using a RIS mode based on the mode information
provided by the BS in message 850 [0349]).
Baligh et al. do not explicitly disclose the reconfigurable reflective surface communicating reconfigurable reflective surface information to a user equipment.
However, in the related field of endeavor Dai et al. disclose: … The signal vector received at the user terminal (UE) can be represented as: … where Θ = diag [β1ejθ1, β2ejθ2,. . . , βNejθN]) and is the phase shift matrix where each diagonal element represents the reflection coefficient of a particular RIS element [0046-0045].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was filed, to modify the teaching of Baligh et al. with the teaching of Dai et al. in order to develop a wireless communication system design that enhances the capacity of the communication system while remaining adaptable to various changes in the system (Dai et al. [0007]).
Claim 2. The method of claim 1, the combination of Baligh et al. and Dai et al. teaches,
wherein the configuration information indicates at least one of:
a time associated with a starting symbol of the signal (Baligh et al.: read as information that enables the UE to know …the RS time/frequency mode, the RS timing and corresponding port [0346]),
a number of reference signals conveyed by the signal, or
a gap between one or more reference signals of the number of reference signals.
.
Claim 6. The method of claim 1, the combination of Baligh et al. and Dai et al. teaches,
further comprising:
receiving, from the UE, feedback including an acknowledgment indicating that the reconfigurable reflective surface information was received by the UE and reported to the base station (Baligh et al.: read as Step 596 involves the UE providing feedback on the RIS detection performed by the UE based on UE sensing [0235]).
Claim 9. The method of claim 1, the combination of Baligh et al. and Dai et al. teaches,
wherein the reconfigurable reflective surface information includes an acknowledgment for a communication between the base station and the controller (Baligh et al.: read as Step 596 involves the UE providing feedback on the RIS detection performed by the UE based on UE sensing [0235]).
Claim 11. The method of claim 1, the combination of Baligh et al. and Dai et al. teaches,
wherein the reconfigurable reflective surface information includes information indicating that the reconfigurable reflective surface is present in a network (Baligh et al.: read as Message 850 is sent from BS 802 to RIS#l 804. This message includes configuration information about one or more RIS modes that will be used by RIS#l 804 to reflect the reference signal. In some embodiments, this information is specific to RIS#l 804 to set the mode without RIS#l 804 generating the RIS mode [0346]. Information is included in a network if it is being received from a base station).
Claim 12. The method of claim 1, the combination of Baligh et al. and Dai et al. teaches,
wherein the reconfigurable reflective surface is a first reconfigurable reflective surface (Baligh et al.: read as RIS#1 904 [0383]. FIG. 9A item 904), the sub-band is a first sub-band, and the reconfigurable reflective surface information is first reconfigurable reflective surface information, and wherein a second reconfigurable reflective surface (Baligh et al.: read as RIS#2 906 [0383]. FIG. 9A item 906) is configured to provide second reconfigurable reflective surface information to the UE via a signal in a second sub-band (Baligh et al.: read as The BS and the RIS can communicate in band, out of band [0383]).
Claim 13. Baligh et al. disclose A method of wireless communication performed by a base station (FIG. 1-18), comprising:
transmitting first configuration information to a first reconfigurable reflective surface (read as BS 912 sends message 960 to RIS#l 914, which includes configuration information about one or more RIS modes that will be used by RIS#l 914 to reflect the reference signal [0397] . FIG. 9A-B), wherein the first configuration information is associated with indicating first reconfigurable reflective surface information to a user equipment (UE) by reflecting a signal in a first sub-band of multiple sub-bands of the base station;
transmitting second configuration information to a second reconfigurable reflective surface (read as BS 912 also sends message 965 to RIS#2 916, which includes configuration information about one or more RIS modes that will be used by RIS#2 916 to reflect the reference signal [0397]. FIG. 9A-B), wherein the second configuration information is associated with indicating second reconfigurable reflective surface information to the UE by reflecting the signal in a second sub- band of the multiple sub-bands (read as … RRC messaging uses separate links in different frequency bands [0390]);
transmitting the signal to the first reconfigurable reflective surface in the first sub-band (read as A third RF link 907 is shown between RIS#1 904 and UE 909 [0384]) and the second reconfigurable reflective surface in the second sub-band (read as A fourth RF link 908 is shown between RIS#2 906 and the UE 909. [0384]); and
receiving, from the UE, information regarding the first reconfigurable reflective surface information and the second reconfigurable reflective surface information (read as BS 912 receives the feedback information in message 955 [0398]).
Baligh et al. do not explicitly disclose the reconfigurable reflective surface communicating reconfigurable reflective surface information to a user equipment.
However, in the related field of endeavor Dai et al. disclose: … The signal vector received at the user terminal (UE) can be represented as: … where Θ = diag [β1ejθ1, β2ejθ2,. . . , βNejθN]) and is the phase shift matrix where each diagonal element represents the reflection coefficient of a particular RIS element [0046-0045].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was filed, to modify the teaching of Baligh et al. with the teaching of Dai et al. in order to develop a wireless communication system design that enhances the capacity of the communication system while remaining adaptable to various changes in the system (Dai et al. [0007]).
Claim 14. The method of claim 13, the combination of Baligh et al. and Dai et al. teaches,
wherein the first configuration information and the second configuration information indicate at least one of:
a time associated with a starting symbol of the signal (Baligh et al.: read as information that enables the UE to know …the RS time/frequency mode, the RS timing and corresponding port [0346]),
a number of reference signals conveyed by the signal, or
a gap between one or more reference signals of the number of reference signals.
Claim 17. The method of claim 13, the combination of Baligh et al. and Dai et al. teaches,
wherein the first reconfigurable reflective surface information includes an acknowledgment for a communication between the base station and the first controller (FIG. 4A, Signals 440a and 440b create two way communication between the base station 410 and either of the two reconfigurable reflective surfaces. The two-way link could include ACK/NACK signal.).
Claim 19. The method of claim 13, the combination of Baligh et al. and Dai et al. teaches,
wherein the first reconfigurable reflective surface information includes information indicating that the first reconfigurable reflective surface is present in a network (Baligh et al.: read as Message 850 is sent from BS 802 to RIS#l 804. This message includes configuration information about one or more RIS modes that will be used by RIS#l 804 to reflect the reference signal. In some embodiments, this information is specific to RIS#l 804 to set the mode without RIS#l 804 generating the RIS mode [0346]. Information is included in a network if it is being received from a base station.).
Claim 20. The method of claim 13, the combination of Baligh et al. and Dai et al. teaches,
further comprising:
configuring the UE to receive the first reconfigurable reflective surface information (Baligh et al.: read as BS 912 sends message 960 to RIS#l 914, which includes configuration information about one or more RIS modes that will be used by RIS#l 914 to reflect the reference signal [0397] . FIG. 9A-B) and the second reconfigurable reflective surface information via the signal as reflected by the first reconfigurable reflective surface and the second reconfigurable reflective surface (Baligh et al.: read as BS 912 also sends message 965 to RIS#2 916, which includes configuration information about one or more RIS modes that will be used by RIS#2 916 to reflect the reference signal [0397]. FIG. 9A-B); and
configuring the UE to transmit, to the base station, the information regarding the first reconfigurable reflective surface information and the second reconfigurable reflective surface information (Baligh et al.: read as BS 912 receives the feedback information in message 955 [0398]).
Claim 21. Baligh et al. disclose An apparatus for wireless communication at a controller of a reconfigurable reflective surface (FIG. 3C), comprising:
one or more memories (FIG. 3C, item 280. Processing units usually include some type of memory.); and
one or more processors, coupled to the one or more memories (FIG. 3C), individually or collectively configured to cause the apparatus to:
receive (read as Message 850 is sent from BS 802 to RIS#l 804. This message includes configuration information about one or more RIS modes that will be used by RIS#l 804 to reflect the reference signal. In some embodiments, this information is specific to RIS#l 804 to set the mode without RIS#l 804 generating the RIS mode [0346]) or determine (read as In some embodiments, the information provided allows RIS#l 804 to generate RIS patterns [0346]) configuration information for a set of reflective elements of the reconfigurable reflective surface, wherein the configuration information indicates a set of reflective matrices associated (read as …RIS patterns [0346]) with indicating reconfigurable reflective surface information to a user equipment (UE), wherein the configuration information indicates the UE (read as … include information that enables the UE to know what type of RS can be received and when to receive it, which RIS the RS is associated with (in this case, RS#l 804 [0346]), wherein the configuration information indicates the UE (read as … include information that enables the UE to know what type of RS can be received and when to receive it, which RIS the RS is associated with (in this case, RS#l 804 [0346]), and
wherein the configuration information is associated with reflecting a signal in a sub-band, of multiple sub-bands (read as information that enables the UE to know …the RS time/frequency mode, the RS timing and corresponding port [0346]), of a base station (read as BS 802 [0345]); and
configure the set of reflective elements to indicate (read as to generate RIS patterns [0346]) the reconfigurable reflective surface information via the signal as reflected by the reconfigurable reflective surface (read as …Message 875 can be reflected by RIS#l 804 using a RIS mode based on the mode information provided by the BS in message 850 [0349]).
Baligh et al. do not explicitly disclose the reconfigurable reflective surface communicating reconfigurable reflective surface information to a user equipment.
However, in the related field of endeavor Dai et al. disclose: … The signal vector received at the user terminal (UE) can be represented as: … where Θ = diag [β1ejθ1, β2ejθ2,. . . , βNejθN]) and is the phase shift matrix where each diagonal element represents the reflection coefficient of a particular RIS element [0046-0045].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was filed, to modify the teaching of Baligh et al. with the teaching of Dai et al. in order to develop a wireless communication system design that enhances the capacity of the communication system while remaining adaptable to various changes in the system (Dai et al. [0007]).
Claim 22. The apparatus of claim 21, the combination of Baligh et al. and Dai et al. teaches,
wherein the configuration information indicates at least one of:
a time associated with a starting symbol of the signal (Baligh et al.: read as information that enables the UE to know …the RS time/frequency mode, the RS timing and corresponding port [0346]),
a number of reference signals conveyed by the signal, or
a gap between one or more reference signals of the number of reference signals.
Claim 26. An apparatus for wireless communication at a base station (read as FIG. 3B illustrates an example base station 170 [0136]), comprising:
one or more memories (FIG. 3B, item 258); and
one or more processors, coupled to the one or more memories, individually or collectively configured to cause the apparatus to (read as the memory 258 could store software instructions or modules configured to implement some or all of the operations and/or embodiments described above and that are executed by the processing unit(s) 250 [0142]):
transmit first configuration information to a first reconfigurable reflective surface (read as BS 912 sends message 960 to RIS#l 914, which includes configuration information about one or more RIS modes that will be used by RIS#l 914 to reflect the reference signal [0397] . FIG. 9A-B),
wherein the first configuration information is associated with indicating first reconfigurable reflective surface information (read as BS 912 sends message 960 to RIS#l 914, which includes configuration information about one or more RIS modes that will be used by RIS#l 914 to reflect the reference signal [0397] . FIG. 9A-B) to a user equipment (UE) by reflecting a signal in a first sub-band of multiple sub-bands of the base station (read as information that enables the UE to know …the RS time/frequency mode, the RS timing and corresponding port [0346]);
transmit second configuration information to a second reconfigurable reflective surface (read as BS 912 also sends message 965 to RIS#2 916, which includes configuration information about one or more RIS modes that will be used by RIS#2 916 to reflect the reference signal [0397]. FIG. 9A-B), wherein the second configuration information is associated with indicating second reconfigurable reflective surface information to the UE by reflecting the signal in a second sub-band of the multiple sub-bands (read as information that enables the UE to know …the RS time/frequency mode, the RS timing and corresponding port [0346]);
transmit the signal to the first reconfigurable reflective surface in the first sub- band and the second reconfigurable reflective surface in the second sub-band (read as information that enables the UE to know …the RS time/frequency mode, the RS timing and corresponding port [0346]); and
receive, from the UE, information regarding the first reconfigurable reflective surface information and the second reconfigurable reflective surface information (read as BS 912 receives the feedback information in message 955 [0398]).
Baligh et al. do not explicitly disclose the reconfigurable reflective surface communicating reconfigurable reflective surface information to a user equipment.
However, in the related field of endeavor Dai et al. disclose: … The signal vector received at the user terminal (UE) can be represented as: … where Θ = diag [β1ejθ1, β2ejθ2,. . . , βNejθN]) and is the phase shift matrix where each diagonal element represents the reflection coefficient of a particular RIS element [0046-0045].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was filed, to modify the teaching of Baligh et al. with the teaching of Dai et al. in order to develop a wireless communication system design that enhances the capacity of the communication system while remaining adaptable to various changes in the system (Dai et al. [0007]).
Claim 27. The apparatus of claim 26, the combination of Baligh et al. and Dai et al. teaches,
wherein the first configuration information and the second configuration information indicate at least one of:
a time associated with a starting symbol of the signal (Baligh et al.: read as information that enables the UE to know …the RS time/frequency mode, the RS timing and corresponding port [0346]),
a number of reference signals conveyed by the signal, or
a gap between one or more reference signals of the number of reference signals.
Claim 30. The apparatus of claim 26, the combination of Baligh et al. and Dai et al. teaches,
wherein the first reconfigurable reflective surface information includes an acknowledgment for a communication between the base station and the first controller (Baligh et al.: read as BS 912 receives the feedback information in message 955 [0398]).
Claims: 4-5,10,16,18,24-25 and 29 are withdrawn from consideration based on selection by the applicant responding to a restriction requirements.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Refer to PTO-892.
Additional prior art is included in PTO-892 discloses ideas related to the claimed invention. In this regard, Astrom et al. (US 20230246674 A1) disclose the idea of how a network node should control the reflection angle in the reconfigurable reflective surface for multiple wireless devices (FIG. 3). Also, Dang et al. (CN 115119239 A English Translation) disclose the idea of a user equipment receiving information rom a base station as which intelligent reflecting surface should used for communication between the two devices. Further, Oh et al. (WO 2022260189 A1 English Translation) disclose the idea of transmitting a first reference signal to an intelligent reflecting surface; receiving, from the IRS, channel information between a base station and the IRS and channel information between the IRS and a terminal, the channel information being measured on the basis of the first reference signal; determining beamforming on the basis of the channel information between the base station and the IRS… (Abstract.).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMMED RACHEDINE whose telephone number is (571)272-9249. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jeanette J. Parker can be reached at (571)270-3647. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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MOHAMMED . RACHEDINE
Examiner
Art Unit 2649
/MOHAMMED RACHEDINE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2646
Prosecution Insights