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 .
Claims 1-4, 9-12, and 17-28 are pending.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 5-8, 13-16 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 4/17/26.
Applicant’s election without traverse of invention I, claims 1-4, 9-12, 17-20, in the reply filed on 4/17/26 is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The IDS statements filed to date have been considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-4, 9-12, 17-20, 21-24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Shin et al., US 2022/0232636, (“Shin”).
Independent Claims
Regarding claim 1, Shin teaches “An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) (Fig. 16, UE; Fig. 19, UE 100), comprising:
a memory (Fig. 19); and
at least one processor (Fig. 19) coupled to the memory and configured to:
transmit, to a base station, a channel state information (CSI) report associated with a beam switch (paragraph no. 0352, “In this case, the UE may generate a beam/CSI report based on SSB/CSI-RS and transmit the generated beam/CSI report to the base station through PUSCH/PUCCH (S718). The beam/CSI report may include a beam measurement result, information about a preferred beam, and the like”); and
perform the beam switch based on the CSI report and an absence, for a period of time after transmission of the CSI report, of a downlink control information (DCI) including a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) indication” (paragraph no. 0352, “The base station and the UE may switch beams based on the beam/CSI report (S720 a, S720 b)”; see Fig. 16, step S720b which shows that a DCI including a TCI indication is not received by the UE during the time interval between transmitting the CSI report and beam switching in step S720b; since Shin does not disclose receiving the DCI, Shin meets/teaches the negative limitation “an absence, for a period of time after transmission of the CSI report, of a downlink control information (DCI) including a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) indication”).
Regarding independent claim 17, this independent claim is a corresponding method claim of the apparatus claim 1 and recites similar subject matter. As such, the rationale behind the above rejection of claim 1 applies with equal force to this independent claim.
Regarding independent claim 9, Shin teaches “An apparatus for wireless communication at a base station (Fig. 16, BS; Fig. 19, BS 200), comprising:
a memory (Fig. 19); and
at least one processor (Fig. 19) coupled to the memory and configured to:
receive, from a UE, a channel state information (CSI) report associated with a beam switch (paragraph no. 0352, “In this case, the UE may generate a beam/CSI report based on SSB/CSI-RS and transmit the generated beam/CSI report to the base station through PUSCH/PUCCH (S718). The beam/CSI report may include a beam measurement result, information about a preferred beam, and the like”); and
perform the beam switch based on the CSI report without transmitting, for a period of time after transmission of the CSI report, a downlink control information (DCI) including a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) indication” (paragraph no. 0352, “The base station and the UE may switch beams based on the beam/CSI report (S720 a, S720 b)”; see Fig. 16, step S720b which shows that a DCI including a TCI indication is not received by the UE during the time interval between transmitting the CSI report and beam switching in step S720b; since Shin does not disclose receiving the DCI, Shin meets/teaches the negative limitation “an absence, for a period of time after transmission of the CSI report, of a downlink control information (DCI) including a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) indication”).
Regarding independent claim 21, this independent claim is a corresponding method claim of the apparatus claim 9 and recites similar subject matter. As such, the rationale behind the above rejection of claim 9 applies with equal force to this independent claim.
Dependent Claims
Regarding claims 2, 10, 18, and 22, Shin teaches “wherein the CSI report indicates a reference signal (RS) associated with the beam switch, and wherein the UE performs the beam switch based on the absence of the DCI including the TCI indication for a set of channels or a set of reference signals (RSs) comprising the RS” (paragraph no. 0352; see Fig. 16, step S720b which shows the “the absence of the DCI including the TCI indication for a set of channels or a set of reference signals (RSs) comprising the RS” since Shin is silent regarding the reception by the UE of such a DCI).
Regarding claims 3, 11, 19, and 23, Shin teaches “wherein the CSI report indicates a reference signal (RS) associated with the beam switch, and wherein the UE performs the beam switch based on the absence of the DCI including the TCI indication for a set of channels or a set of reference signals (RSs) applicable to a TCI state associated with the RS associated with the CSI report” (paragraph no. 0352; see Fig. 16, step S720b which shows the “the absence of the DCI including the TCI indication for a set of channels or a set of reference signals (RSs) applicable to a TCI state associated with the RS associated with the CSI report” since Shin is silent regarding the reception by the UE of such a DCI).
Regarding claims 4, 12, 20, and 24, Shin teaches “wherein the UE performs the beam switch based on the absence of the DCI that indicates a rejection of the beam switch” (paragraph no. 0352; see Fig. 16, step S720b which shows the “the absence of the DCI that indicates a rejection of the beam switch” since Shin is silent regarding the reception by the UE of such a DCI).
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.
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.
Claim(s) 25, 26, 27, and 28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shin in view of Nilsson et al., US 2019/0014568, (“Nilsson”).
Regarding claims 25-28, Shin does not teach but Nilsson teaches “wherein the period of time comprises a threshold number of slots or milliseconds starting from an end of the CSI report” (Nilsson: see paragraph nos. 0030, 0032).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of this claimed invention to modify Shin by incorporating the teachings of Nilsson to also account for potential processing time of the CSI report at the base station, as suggested by Nilsson in paragraph no. 0030.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See paragraph no. 0098 of Yuan et al., US 2024/0243798, (“Yuan”), which is relevant to the dependent claims 25-28. In addition, it appears that Yuan also anticipates at least each of the independent claims in view of Fig. 5.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WON TAE C. KIM whose telephone number is (571)270-1812. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 am - 5:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Edan Orgad can be reached at (571)272-7884. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WON TAE C KIM/Primary Examiner, Esq., Art Unit 2414
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