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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 6, 14, 18, 19, 22, and 32 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Applicant’s submission of prior art, Zhang et al., CN 112367673 (hereinafter H. Zhang) in view of over Applicant’s submission of prior art, Zhang et al., CN 111246496 (hereinafter J. Zhang).
Regarding claims 1, 18, and 32, H. Zhang discloses a method for wireless communications, comprising:
determining, at least based on mobility information of user equipment (UE), a beam combination scanning indicator which is used to indicate multiple beam combinations arranged in sequence [reproduced from translation: “the macro gNB according to the position information of all TRP in the user and coverage area, determining the beam scanning path set; the beam scanning path set refers to the direct beam path and reflected beam path of all TRP to the user; the macro gNB notifies all beam labels and information in the beam scanning path set to the user side, and notifies the beam in the small station scanning set in the beam scanning path set; the user receives downlink reference signal of different beams of each small station” wherein the beam scanning path set reads on the beam combination scanning indicator], wherein each beam combination comprises a direct beam which is emitted from a base station to the UE and a reflected beam [“the beam scanning path set refers to the direct beam path and reflected beam path of all TRP to the user”]; and
providing the beam combination scanning indicator to the UE, so that the UE performs beam combination measurement based on the beam combination scanning indicator [“ the user receives downlink reference signal of different beams of each small station; measuring the reference signal SINR feedback to the base station side”].
What H. Zhang does not specifically disclose is wherein the reflected beam is reflected by a large intelligent surface (LIS) toward the UE.
However, J. Zhang teaches this limitation [reproduced from translation: “according to the link interruption history S1, gNB position and speed information of the previous user, determining the target coverage area; the IRS unit is divided into several sub-array according to the target coverage area and adjacent area shift by design IRS unit the sub-array to a target coverage area, S3, gNB under the condition of total power is limited, by allocating gNB transmitted to beam power IRS on different sub-array, realize the enhanced signal of the target coverage area. The embodiment of the invention claims a based on beam tracking coverage and enhancing method of intelligent reflecting surface so as to effectively reduce the millimeter wave signal affected by shield causes link interruption caused, so as to ensure the continuity of communication.”].
Before the effective filing of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify H. Zhang to include the teaching of J. Zhang. The motivation for this modification would have been to combine prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results.
Regarding claims 2 and 19, J. Zhang discloses wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to acquire the mobility information from the UE, wherein the mobility information at least comprises a movement direction of the and wherein the mobility information further comprises a movement speed of the UE [“The embodiment of the invention claims a beam tracking coverage-based smart reflecting surface and strengthening method, phase shift design and gNB power allocation algorithm, to alternately solve (P1) problem by the IRS, pattern as shown in FIG. 1-2, comprises the following steps: S1, gNB The link interruption history position and speed information of the previous user, determining the target coverage area, comprising: As shown in FIG. 3, the IRS panel from the ground height is HL, the left upper corner of IRS panel as the origin of coordinates, the vertical edge is the x axis horizontal edge is y-axis, z-axis perpendicular to the x-y plane -. there are Nt=M *N IRS panel unit, M and N respectively represent the IRS panel along x, the total unit of y-axis number. In order to obtain beams of different widths, the IRS unit divided into a plurality of sub-arrays each starting of appropriate IRS unit on demand. gNB: calculating the user IRS panel relative to the position coordinate (x, y) according to the historical position information of the user according to the position information of the user can be obtained in the IRS coordinate system orientation coordinates and according to the speed information of the user obtained by the user position as the centre, a signal processing delay in user displacement (speed * processing delay) is radius of the target coverage area D = [xmin, xmm] * (ymin, ymax).”].
Regarding claim 4, J. Zhang discloses wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to determine, based on the mobility information, whether the UE is to deviate from a current beam serving range, and determine to update a beam in a case of determining that the UE is to deviate from the current beam serving range, wherein updating the beam comprises updating the direct beam and/or the reflected beam and/or wherein the processing circuitry is configured to acquire the mobility information periodically from the UE [“The embodiment of the invention claims a beam tracking coverage-based smart reflecting surface and strengthening method, phase shift design and gNB power allocation algorithm, to alternately solve (P1) problem by the IRS, pattern as shown in FIG. 1-2, comprises the following steps: S1, gNB The link interruption history position and speed information of the previous user, determining the target coverage area, comprising: As shown in FIG. 3, the IRS panel from the ground height is HL, the left upper corner of IRS panel as the origin of coordinates, the vertical edge is the x axis horizontal edge is y-axis, z-axis perpendicular to the x-y plane -. there are Nt=M *N IRS panel unit, M and N respectively represent the IRS panel along x, the total unit of y-axis number. In order to obtain beams of different widths, the IRS unit divided into a plurality of sub-arrays each starting of appropriate IRS unit on demand. gNB: calculating the user IRS panel relative to the position coordinate (x, y) according to the historical position information of the user according to the position information of the user can be obtained in the IRS coordinate system orientation coordinates and according to the speed information of the user obtained by the user position as the centre, a signal processing delay in user displacement (speed * processing delay) is radius of the target coverage area D = [xmin, xmm] * (ymin, ymax).”].
Regarding claims 6 and 22, it is inherent in the art to acquire a beam updating request from the UE as the UE travels, and determine to update a beam in response to the beam updating request, wherein updating the beam comprises updating the direct beam and/or the reflected beam.
Regarding claim 14, H. Zhang discloses a memory, configured to store a correspondence among a movement direction of the UE, a to-be-scanned beam and a current beam, and wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine the beam combination scanning indicator based on the mobility information and the correspondence [“FIG. 4 is a user beam tracking process. the user periodically detects the service beam to SINR quality, given two SINR limit η 1 and η 2 (η 2 < η 1), when the service beam pair SINR is greater than the first threshold value η 1 (i.e., SINR > η 1), no need to report the location information to the macro station, continuously periodically detecting. when the service beam pair SINR is greater than the second threshold value η 2 and less than the first threshold value η 1 (i.e., η 2 <SINR < η 1), the user reports the position of the own to the macro station, the macro station according to the current position of the user by searching the position-beam forming path recording table, if the table memory related information of the current position; the macro station checking the current service TRP is not the optimal service TRP, if so, sending the optimal beam configuration information to the service station according to the information in the table, notifying the small station to perform beam adjustment, if not, the macro gNB further checks whether the current service beam is a direct beam, if it is, it is considered that the beam performance reduction may be caused by barrier of barrier, notifying the small station to activate the reflected beam, measuring reflected beam quality, if the reflected beam SINR is greater than the first threshold value η 1, then using the reflected beam as the service beam, if the reflected beam SINR is less than the first threshold value η 1; considering that the user has far away from the TRP providing beam pair connection, gNB sends the optimal service TRP and optimal beam configuration information to the current service TRP, if the current service beam has been the reflected beam, it also considers that the user is far away from the TRP providing beam pair connection; the gNB sends the optimal service TRP and optimal beam configuration information to the current service TRP, if there is no related information of the current position in the table, gNB sends initial access indication information to the current service TRP, performing initial beam access process. when the service beam pair SINR is less than the second threshold value η 2 (i.e., SINR < η 2), namely the current service beam cannot meet the link performance requirement, the user sends the link performance low signal to the service small station, service TRP according to the information sent by the macro station makes the following operations: if the service small station receives the initial access indication information of the macro station, notifying the user to perform initial beam access; if the current service TRP receives the new optimal service TRP and the beam pair configuration information, notifying the new optimal service TRP and the user to switch the TRP at the same time.”].
Regarding claim 29, H. Zhang discloses wherein in a case that the UE is served by multiple cells, the processing circuitry is configured to perform beam combination measurement for each of the cells, based on the beam combination scanning indicator from the cell, respectively [“The invention improves the defect of the beam access method for assisting the current user position information. when the user initial beam access or tracking process service beam quality is lower than the second threshold value, gNB can according to the user position information checking position-beam forming path recording table, selecting the optimal beam forming path for initial beam access, avoiding complex detailed beam scanning. when the direct beam quality of the service small station does not satisfy the service requirement and the reflected beam quality meets the service requirement, the reflected beam can be used for service, so as to avoid the frequent switching of the user. controlling a plurality of TRP in the coverage range by the macro station gNB, responsible for scheduling of the user service site, selection of the direct beam and the reflected beam.”].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-9, 11-12, 15-17, 23, and 30 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Shi et al., US Patent Application Publication Number 2020/0275402, disclose methods and apparatuses using sensing system in cooperation with wireless communications system.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIKA WASHINGTON whose telephone number is (571)272-7841. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kathy Wang-Hurst can be reached at 571-270-5371. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/EAW/
January 27, 2026
/ERIKA A WASHINGTON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2644