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 Amendment
This Action is in response to applicant’s amendment submitted on April 29, 2026. Claims 1-3 are now currently pending in the present application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-3 have been considered but are moot because of the new ground of rejection.
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Futurewei (“Enhancement on multi-beam operation”, 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 Meeting #105-e, e-Meeting, May 19th – May 27th, 2021) in view of Matsumura et al. (US PGPUB 2024/0334528 A1, hereinafter Matsumura).
Consider claim 1. Futurewei discloses a method of wireless communication of a user equipment (UE), comprising:
receiving a configuration for activating a first number of sets of transmission configuration indication (TCI) states, each set of the first number of sets including at least a TCI state configured for communicating with a first TRP (Section 2.3, “..Support of two active TCI states for mTRP has been defined in Rel. 16; including both single DCI and multi-DCI cases. In single DCI case, MAC CE [3] was enhanced to enable the mapping of two TCI states to one TCI codepoint such that one TCI codepoint in DCI TCI field can indicate two different TCI states, one for each TRP.."; Section 2.3, With multiple simultaneous active TCI states, we are referring to the cases where multiple DL, UL, or joint DL/UL TCI states are indicated in one instance of beam indication DCI..");
determining, based on the configuration, to communicate with the first TRP or the second TRP in the uplink direction or a downlink direction (Section 3, figs. 3, 4, the enhanced UE-specific MAC CE for TCI states activation/deactivation, where the function of the original bits "Ci" and "R" are modified to indicate whether the corresponding TCI state indicated in the same octet is from the DL/joint TCI state pool or the UL TCI state pool. For example, a bit value of "1" indicates the TCI state is from DL/joint TCI state pool, while a bit value of "0" indicates the TCI state is from UL TCI state pool. This way, one MAC CE can activate multiple (e.g., up to 8) TCI states, each of which is mapped to one of the 8 TCI codepoints); and
activating a first set of TCI states from the first number of sets of TCI states according to the determination (Section 3, for support of M-TRP with single DCI, each of the multiple (e.g., 2) TCI states mapped to one TCI codepoint is corresponding to each of the two TRPs, respectively..", where enhanced UE-specific MAC CE for TCI states activation for cases of M/N > 1).
Futurewei discloses the claimed invention but fails to teach wherein the configuration comprises, for a set of the first number of sets of TCI states, a first indicator for indicating whether the set includes a TCI state for communicating with a first or a second transmission reception point (TRP), in a downlink direction, and second indicator for indicating whether the set includes a TCI state for communicating with the first TRP or the second TRP in an uplink direction.
However, Matsumura teaches wherein the configuration comprises, for a set of the first number of sets of TCI states, a first indicator for indicating whether the set includes a TCI state for communicating with a first or a second transmission reception point (TRP), in a downlink direction, and second indicator for indicating whether the set includes a TCI state for communicating with the first TRP or the second TRP in an uplink direction (paragraphs 86, 86, read as the number of TCI states corresponding to each of one or more TRPs may be defined. For example, the number N (≥1) of TCI states (UL TCI states) applied to a UL channel/RS and the number M (≥1) of TCI states (DL TCI states) applied to a DL channel/RS may be defined. Matsumura further teaches description “N=X (X is an arbitrary integer), M=Y (Y is an arbitrary integer, Y may be equal to X)” may mean that X UL TCI states (corresponding to X TRPs) and Y DL TCI states (corresponding to Y TRPs) (in other words, separate TCI states) are each notified/configured/indicated for the UE).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of applicant’s claimed invention to have incorporated the teachings of Matsumura into the invention of Futurewei in order to provide definite TCI state indications to improve communication quality and increase throughput.
Consider claim 2 and as applied to claim 1. The combination of Futurewei and Matsumura discloses receiving, from the first TRP, first downlink control information (DCI) including an indication indicating (a) a first set of TC states of the first number of sets and (b) the first direction; selecting, from the first set, a first TCI state configured for communicating with the first TRP in the first direction; and communicating with the first TRP in the first direction in the first TCI state (Futurewei; Figs. 3, 4, Sections 2.3, 3).
Consider claim 3 and as applied to claim 2. The combination of Futurewei and Matsumura discloses receiving, from a second TRP, second DCI including an indication indicating (a) the first set and (b) the first direction; selecting, from the first set, a second TCI state configured for communicating with the second TRP in the first direction; and communicating with the second TRP in the first direction in the second TCI state (Futurewei; Figs. 3, 4, Sections 2.3, 3).
References Cited But Not Relied Upon
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Tidestav et al. (US PGPUB 2023/0421340 A1) – Is directed to enhanced TCI States Activation/Deactivation PDSCH MAC CE for Single Downlink Control Information (DCI) based PDSCH Multi-TRP transmission.
Conclusion
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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
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/CHRISTOPHER M BRANDT/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645
July 8, 2026
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