DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
The applicant has amended the following:
Claims: 1, 7, 11, 17, 21 and 25 have been amended.
Claims: 2-6, 8-10, 12-16, 18-20 and 22-24 have not been amended.
EXAMINER NOTES:
The examiner notes that the applicant’s amendments have changed the scope of the claims and necessitated the new grounds of rejection presented herein.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-25 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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) 1-25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ZHOU et al. (US Patent Publication 2020/0107314 herein after referenced as Zhou314) in view of Farag et al. (US Patent Publication 2022/0271821 herein after referenced as Farag) and further in view of Zhou et al. (US Patent Publication 2020/0154450 herein after referenced as Zhou450).
Regarding claim 1 and claim 11 and claim 21, Zhou314 discloses:
A user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory communicatively coupled with the at least one processor and storing processor-readable code that, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to: and A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: and An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: means for (Zhou314, [0007] discloses Certain aspects provide a method for wireless communication by a user equipment UE (i.e. reads on UE and reads on apparatus). The method generally includes providing an indication to a base station BS of a number of aperiodic trigger states supported by the UE. The method generally includes receiving an activation of one or more aperiodic trigger states from the BS in accordance with the indication; Zhou314, Fig. 8 & [0070] discloses In certain aspects, the computer-readable medium/memory 812 is configured to store instructions e.g., computer-executable code that when executed by the processor 804, cause the processor 804 to perform the operations illustrated in FIG. 4 and/or FIG. 6, or other operations for performing the various techniques discussed herein for a UE indication of the UE capability for the maximum number of supported trigger states).
receive, from a serving cell, information indicating a set of activated channel state information (CSI) trigger states (Zhou314, Fig. 3 shows the BS signaling (i.e. reads on receive, from a serving cell) activating subset of trigger states (i.e. reads on information indicating a set of activated channel state information CSI trigger states) to the UE at step 310; Zhou314, Fig. 3 & [0056] discloses At 310, the UE 302 may receive signaling activating a subset of the configured trigger states, for example, via lower layer signaling such as MAC-CE, or via RRC. The triggered A-CSI-RS resource sets may be used by the UE 302 and BS 304 for the A-CSI-RS and CSI (i.e. reads on channel state information CSI) reporting at 314 and 316, respectively; Zhou314, [0051] discloses The UE may be configured with downlink resources for channel state information CSI reference signals RS, such as aperiodic CSI-RS A-CSI-RS; Zhou314, [0074] discloses In 3GPP, the term “cell” can refer to a coverage area of a Node B NB and/or a NB subsystem serving this coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used. In NR systems, the term “cell” and BS, next generation NodeB gNB or gNodeB, access point AP, distributed unit DU, carrier, or transmission reception point TRP may be used interchangeably).
that are respectively associated with a set of transmission configuration indication (TCI) states each having a respective source reference signal; (Zhou314, [0031] discloses For the same A-CSI-RS resource in the same resource set, the transmission configuration indicator TCI state e.g., beam may be different for different trigger states. Thus, different trigger states, including those that trigger one or more of the same A-CSI-RS (i.e. reads on each having a respective source reference signal) resources, may be associated with different TCI states (i.e. reads on that are respectively associated with a set of TCI states); Zhou314, [0051] discloses The UE may be configured with downlink resources for channel state information CSI reference signals RS, such as aperiodic CSI-RS A-CSI-RS).
and track, based at least in part on a capability to concurrently track multiple TCI states, a subset of TCI states, of the set of TCI states, (Zhou314, [0056] discloses the UE 302 can send the BS 304 an indication of the supported number of trigger states. For example, the UE 302 sends an indication of the maximum number of active A-CSI-RS trigger states that the UE supports e.g., or a requested number of active A-CSI-RS trigger states (i.e. reads on based at least in part on a capability to concurrently track multiple TCI states). Although the UE indication of the supported number of trigger states at 306 is shown in FIG. 3 as before the configuration of the trigger states, in other examples, the UE indication could be provided after the configuration but before the activation at 310. At 312, the UE 302 may receive DCI from the BS 304 trigger one or more A-CSI-RS resource set(s), for example, by indicating/selecting one or more trigger states (i.e. reads on a subset of TCI states), of the activated subset of trigger states (i.e. reads on of the set of TCI states), associated with the one or more A-CSI-RS resource sets. The triggered A-CSI-RS resource sets may be used by the UE 302 and BS 304 for the A-CSI-RS and CSI reporting at 314 and 316, respectively; Zhou314, [0031] discloses Because the total number of active trigger states is determined by the BS e.g., up to 64 active trigger states with the same A-CSI-RS potentially having different TCI states for each trigger states, the UE may track e.g., time and frequency tracking many TCI states e.g., up to 64 TCI states for the same A-CSI-RS resource for dynamic beam indication/beam switch. In some examples, the UE may track the many TCI states simultaneously e.g., at the same time, concurrently, or during an overlapping period of time).
Zhou314 discloses a process of utilizing a reference signal associated with a TCI state but fails to explicitly recite a TCI state for a non-serving cell SSB and therefore fails to disclose “including at least one TCI state for which the respective source reference signal is a non-serving cell synchronization signal block (SSB).”
In addition, Zhou314 discloses that the base station may limit the number of activated trigger states based on the indicated UE capability but fails to explicitly recite that said UE drops TCIs based on the number of TCIs exceeding the capability and therefore fails to disclose “determine that the subset of TCI states to be tracked exceeds the capability to concurrently track multiple TCI states; and drop, from the subset of TCI states to be tracked, one or more TCI states”.
In a related field of endeavor, Farag discloses:
including at least one TCI state for which the respective source reference signal is a non-serving cell synchronization signal block (SSB) (Farag, [0175]-[0176] discloses A source RS in the TCI (i.e. reads on including at least one TCI state) can be a source RS associated with a serving cell, or a source RS (i.e. reads on for which the respective source reference signal is a SSB) associated with a non-serving cell (i.e. reads on non-serving cell). The source RS of a serving cell can be at least one of the following: (1) synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel PBCH block SSB of serving cell and discloses Similarly, the source RS of a non-serving cell can be at least one of the following: (1) SSB of non-serving cell; Farag, [0131] discloses To streamline the handover process and reduce its overhead and latency L1/L2 centric handover, also known as inter-cell beam management, can be utilized, wherein a network indicates to the UE a beam of a non-serving cell i.e., a cell with a PCI different from the PCI of the serving cell using a channel that conveys a TCI state ID e.g. TCI state code point. The present disclosure provides aspects related to the configuration of the TCI states and source RS for cells with PCI different from the PCI of the serving cell; Farag, [0191] discloses the activated TCI state IDs correspond to: (1) one serving cell or a group of serving cells; (2) one or more non-serving cells or one or more groups of non-serving cells; and (3) a UE capability can determine the maximum number of non-serving cells or groups of non-serving cells with activated TCI state IDs; Farag, [0451] discloses the maximum number of entities configured is K. Out of the K entities, L entities can have activated TCI states, this is denoted as the activated list. Wherein, L can depend on a UE capability and/or can be specified in the system specifications. An entity can be a cell with a PCI; Farag, [0315] discloses The QCL relation or the source RSspatial relation can be established through a TCI state. A TCI-state configuration associates a TCI state ID with one or more source RS as illustrated in FIG. 12. A TCI-state configuration table contains a row for each TCI-state ID 1201, 1202, 1203. Each row contains a TCI-state ID 1204, QCL-Type1 1205, and optionally QCL-Type2 1206. Each QCL-Type includes a source reference signal and a QCL-Type, where the QCL-Type can be Type-A, Type-B, Type-C or Type-D. Each TCI-state can have at most 1 QCL-Type-D. For example, qcl-Type1 can be of QCL-Type A, while qcl-Type2 can be of QCL-Type D. A reference signal can be a reference signal of an entity as illustrated in FIG. 21).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Zhou314 to incorporate the teachings of Farag for the purpose of providing the system with a means to streamline the handover process and reduce its overhead and latency (Farag, [0131]) and for the purpose of making the system more dynamic and adaptable by providing the system with added functionalities and various different alternatives in design, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios (i.e. Zhou314, [0088]) and thereby, preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of process of utilizing a reference signal associated with a TCI state as taught by Zhou314) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of process of utilizing a reference signal associated with a TCI state, wherein the process includes utilizing a QCL relation and an SSB reference signal of a maximum amount of non-serving cells as taught by Farag) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of process of utilizing a reference signal associated with a TCI state (i.e. as taught by both Zhou314 & Farag) and is dependent upon the specific intended use, design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system as has been established in MPEP 2144.04.
Zhou314 in view of Farag discloses utilizing a UE capability to determine the maximum number of non-serving cells or groups of non-serving cells with activated TCI state IDs but fails to explicitly recite that the TCIs are dropped based on exceeding the UE capability and therefore fails to disclose “determine that the subset of TCI states to be tracked exceeds the capability to concurrently track multiple TCI states; and drop, from the subset of TCI states to be tracked, one or more TCI states”.
In a related field of endeavor, Zhou450 discloses:
determine that the subset of TCI states to be tracked exceeds the capability to concurrently track multiple TCI states; (Zhou450, [0088] discloses In some cases, adding this updated active QCL assumption for monitoring to a set of active QCL assumptions for monitoring at UE 115-a may result in the number of active QCL assumptions for monitoring (i.e. reads on determine that the subset of TCI states to be tracked) to exceed a threshold number of active QCL assumptions for UE 115-a e.g., where the threshold number corresponds to the maximum capability of the UE 115-a (i.e. reads on exceeds the capability to concurrently track multiple TCI states). In this case, the UE 115-a, base station 105-a, or both may implement one or more CORESET monitoring rules to handle the active QCL number exceeding the UE capability. For example, UE 115-a may decide which CORESETs 230 with different active QCLs to monitor. Additionally or alternatively, UE 115-a may select a set of CORESETs 230, and may modify the monitoring for the remaining CORESETs 230 to use active QCLs for the selected CORESETs 230; Zhou, [0085] discloses For example, one UE capability may indicate a total number of active transmission configuration indicator TCI states supported by UE 115-a for PDCCH and physical downlink shared channel PDSCH transmissions e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, etc.. Additionally or alternatively, UE 115-a may include a maximum supported number of configured TCI-states per component carrier e.g., 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, etc. in the UE capabilities 215. UE 115-a may simultaneously monitor for and process a number of downlink beams 220 e.g., for control information, data, or both less than or equal to the threshold number of active TCI-states. This threshold number of supported TCI-states may include active QCL assumptions for monitoring).
and drop, from the subset of TCI states to be tracked, one or more TCI states (Zhou450, [0090] discloses UE 115-a may monitor for the CORESETs 230 based on the determined priority order. In a first implementation, UE 115-a may use a dropping rule for CORESET 230 monitoring. In this implementation, UE 115-a may monitor for downlink transmissions 245 in a subset of the CORESETs 230 with highest priorities, where the number of different active QCL assumptions for the subset of the CORESETs 230 is less than or equal to the threshold number of active QCL assumptions for UE 115-a. UE 115-a may suppress monitoring for i.e., drop the remaining CORESETs 230 with different active QCL assumptions (i.e. reads on drop, from the subset of TCI states to be tracked, one or more TCI states) and with lower priority according to the determined priority order; Zhou450, [0089] discloses UE 115-a, base station 105-a, or both may determine a priority order for monitoring the configured CORESETs 230. For example, UE 115-a may prioritize the CORESET updated with the updated active QCL assumption e.g., the CORESET 230 updated based on the RACH preamble message 240. UE 115-a may determine the priority order for the remaining CORESETs 230 based on one or more CORESET 230 or search space parameters. In a first example, UE 115-a may prioritize the remaining CORESETs 230 based on CORESET ID values. UE 115-a may either assign higher priority to CORESETs 230 with lower ID values or may assign higher priority to CORESETs 230 with higher ID values. In a second example, UE 115-a may prioritize the remaining CORESETs 230 based on monitoring period lengths for the CORESETs 230. For example, UE 115-a may either assign higher priority to CORESETs 230 with shorter monitoring periods or may assign higher priority to CORESETs 230 with longer monitoring periods).
Therefore, at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the invention of Zhou314 in view of Wang to incorporate the teachings of Zhou450 for the purpose of providing the system with a means to select and prioritize which TCI state or QCL assumptions to monitor in the event that the number of active TCI state or QCL assumptions exceed the UE maximum capability (Zhou450, [0088]-[0090]) and for the purpose of making the system more dynamic and adaptable by providing the system with added functionalities and various different alternatives in design, thereby allowing the system to handle a number of various different combination of specific design structure and scenarios (i.e. Zhou314, [0088]) and thereby, preventing the system from being limited to a single specific design structure and scenario and furthermore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize based on the guidelines to rationales supporting a conclusion of obviousness seen on MPEP 2143, that the modification would involve use of a simple substitution of one known element and base device (i.e. performing a process of process of simultaneously monitoring TCI states as taught by Zhou314) with another known element and comparable device utilizing a known technique (i.e. performing a process of process of simultaneously monitoring TCI states, wherein the process prioritizes which TCI states to monitor and which TCI states to drop when exceeding a maximum capability as taught by Zhou450) to improve the similar devices in the same way and to obtain the predictable result of the system performing a process of process of simultaneously monitoring TCI states (i.e. as taught by both Zhou314 & Zhou450) and is dependent upon the specific intended use, design incentives, needs and requirements (i.e. such as due to teachings of a known standard, current technology, conservation of resources, personal preferences, economic considerations, etc.) of the user and the system as has been established in MPEP 2144.04.
Regarding claim 2 and claim 12 and claim 22, Zhou314 in view of Wang and further in view of Zhou450 discloses:
The UE of claim 1, wherein, to cause the UE to (see claim 1) and The method of claim 11, wherein (see claim 11) and The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the means for (see claim 21).
track the subset of TCI states for which the respective source reference signal is a non-serving cell SSB, the processor-readable code, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to cause the UE to track one or more of a time and frequency offset or one or more quasi co-location (QCL) properties associated with the non-serving cell SSB (Zhou314, [0031] discloses Because the total number of active trigger states is determined by the BS e.g., up to 64 active trigger states with the same A-CSI-RS potentially having different TCI states for each trigger states, the UE may track e.g., time and frequency tracking many TCI states e.g., up to 64 TCI states for the same A-CSI-RS resource for dynamic beam indication/beam switch. In some examples, the UE may track the many TCI states simultaneously e.g., at the same time, concurrently, or during an overlapping period of time; Farag, [0191] discloses the activated TCI state IDs correspond to: (1) one serving cell or a group of serving cells; (2) one or more non-serving cells or one or more groups of non-serving cells; and (3) a UE capability can determine the maximum number of non-serving cells or groups of non-serving cells with activated TCI state IDs; Farag, [0451] discloses the maximum number of entities configured is K. Out of the K entities, L entities can have activated TCI states, this is denoted as the activated list. Wherein, L can depend on a UE capability and/or can be specified in the system specifications. An entity can be a cell with a PCI; Farag, [0315] discloses The QCL relation or the source RSspatial relation can be established through a TCI state. A TCI-state configuration associates a TCI state ID with one or more source RS as illustrated in FIG. 12. A TCI-state configuration table contains a row for each TCI-state ID 1201, 1202, 1203. Each row contains a TCI-state ID 1204, QCL-Type1 1205, and optionally QCL-Type2 1206. Each QCL-Type includes a source reference signal and a QCL-Type, where the QCL-Type can be Type-A, Type-B, Type-C or Type-D. Each TCI-state can have at most 1 QCL-Type-D. For example, qcl-Type1 can be of QCL-Type A, while qcl-Type2 can be of QCL-Type D. A reference signal can be a reference signal of an entity as illustrated in FIG. 21).
Regarding claim 3 and claim 13 and claim 23, Zhou314 in view of Wang and further in view of Zhou450 discloses:
The UE of claim 1, (see claim 1) and The method of claim 11 (see claim 11) and The apparatus of claim 21 (see claim 21).
wherein the subset of TCI states includes a total quantity of non-serving cell SSBs with different physical cell identities (PCIs) that does not exceed the capability to concurrently track multiple TCI states (Zhou314, [0064] discloses the BS may limit the number of configured aperiodic trigger states based on the indicated UE capability e.g., configures equal or less than the number of trigger states supported by the UE; Farag, [0191] discloses the activated TCI state IDs correspond to: (1) one serving cell or a group of serving cells; (2) one or more non-serving cells or one or more groups of non-serving cells; and (3) a UE capability can determine the maximum number of non-serving cells or groups of non-serving cells with activated TCI state IDs; Farag, [0451] discloses the maximum number of entities configured is K. Out of the K entities, L entities can have activated TCI states, this is denoted as the activated list. Wherein, L can depend on a UE capability and/or can be specified in the system specifications. An entity can be a cell with a PCI).
Regarding claim 4 and claim 14, Zhou314 in view of Wang and further in view of Zhou450 discloses:
The UE of claim 1, (see claim 1) and The method of claim 11 (see claim 11).
wherein the subset of TCI states includes a total quantity of TCI states for which the source reference signal is a non-serving cell SSB that does not exceed the capability to concurrently track multiple TCI states (Zhou314, [0064] discloses the BS may limit the number of configured aperiodic trigger states based on the indicated UE capability e.g., configures equal or less than the number of trigger states supported by the UE; Farag, [0191] discloses the activated TCI state IDs correspond to: (1) one serving cell or a group of serving cells; (2) one or more non-serving cells or one or more groups of non-serving cells; and (3) a UE capability can determine the maximum number of non-serving cells or groups of non-serving cells with activated TCI state IDs; Farag, [0451] discloses the maximum number of entities configured is K. Out of the K entities, L entities can have activated TCI states, this is denoted as the activated list. Wherein, L can depend on a UE capability and/or can be specified in the system specifications. An entity can be a cell with a PCI).
Regarding claim 5 and claim 15 and claim 24, Zhou314 in view of Wang and further in view of Zhou450 discloses:
The UE of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory further stores processor- readable code configured to cause the UE to (see claim 1) and The method of claim 11, further comprising (see claim 11) and The apparatus of claim 21, further comprising (see claim 21).
receive information that indicates a time duration in which to track the subset of TCI states for which the respective source reference signal is a non-serving cell SSB (Farag, [0334] discloses the entity index/ID could be an index/ID of another RRC parameter indicating non-serving cell e.g., cell with PCI different from the PCI of the serving cell information such as non-serving cell SSB time-domain position, SSB frequency-domain position, PCI and etc.; Farag, [0142] discloses The reference RS can be triggered by the NW/gNB, for example via DCI in case of aperiodic (AP) RS, or can be configured with a certain time-domain behavior, such as a periodicity and offset in case of periodic RS, or can be a combination of such configuration and activation/deactivation in case of semi-persistent RS; Zhou314, [0031] discloses For the same A-CSI-RS resource in the same resource set, the transmission configuration indicator TCI state e.g., beam may be different for different trigger states. Thus, different trigger states, including those that trigger one or more of the same A-CSI-RS resources, may be associated with different TCI states).
Regarding claim 6 and claim 16, Zhou314 in view of Wang and further in view of Zhou450 discloses:
The UE of claim 5, (see claim 5) and The method of claim 15 (see claim 15).
wherein a quantity of TCI states with a non-serving cell SSB as a source reference signal, or a quantity of non-serving cell SSBs that are tracked within the time duration does not exceed the capability to concurrently track multiple TCI states (Farag, [0334] discloses the entity index/ID could be an index/ID of another RRC parameter indicating non-serving cell e.g., cell with PCI different from the PCI of the serving cell information such as non-serving cell SSB time-domain position, SSB frequency-domain position, PCI and etc.; Farag, [0142] discloses The reference RS can be triggered by the NW/gNB, for example via DCI in case of aperiodic AP RS, or can be configured with a certain time-domain behavior, such as a periodicity and offset in case of periodic RS, or can be a combination of such configuration and activation/deactivation in case of semi-persistent RS; Zhou314, [0031] discloses For the same A-CSI-RS resource in the same resource set, the transmission configuration indicator TCI state e.g., beam may be different for different trigger states. Thus, different trigger states, including those that trigger one or more of the same A-CSI-RS resources, may be associated with different TCI states; Zhou314, [0064] discloses the BS may limit the number of configured aperiodic trigger states based on the indicated UE capability e.g., configures equal or less than the number of trigger states supported by the UE; Farag, [0191] discloses the activated TCI state IDs correspond to: (1) one serving cell or a group of serving cells; (2) one or more non-serving cells or one or more groups of non-serving cells; and (3) a UE capability can determine the maximum number of non-serving cells or groups of non-serving cells with activated TCI state IDs; Farag, [0451] discloses the maximum number of entities configured is K. Out of the K entities, L entities can have activated TCI states, this is denoted as the activated list. Wherein, L can depend on a UE capability and/or can be specified in the system specifications. An entity can be a cell with a PCI).
Regarding claim 7 and claim 17 and claim 25, Zhou314 in view of Wang and further in view of Zhou450 discloses:
The UE of claim 1, (see claim 1) and The method of claim 11 (see claim 11) and The apparatus of claim 21 (see claim 21).
wherein the subset of TCI states to be tracked is associated with a quantity of non-serving cell SSBs or a quantity of physical cell identities (PCIs) that exceeds the capability to concurrently track multiple TCI states; and wherein the one or more TCI states associated with a non-serving cell SSB or a different PCI than the serving cell (Farag, [0191] discloses the activated TCI state IDs correspond to: (1) one serving cell or a group of serving cells; (2) one or more non-serving cells or one or more groups of non-serving cells; and (3) a UE capability can determine the maximum number of non-serving cells or groups of non-serving cells with activated TCI state IDs; Farag, [0451] discloses the maximum number of entities configured is K. Out of the K entities, L entities can have activated TCI states, this is denoted as the activated list. Wherein, L can depend on a UE capability and/or can be specified in the system specifications. An entity can be a cell with a PCI).
Regarding claim 8 and claim 18, Zhou314 in view of Wang and further in view of Zhou450 discloses:
The UE of claim 7, (see claim 7) and The method of claim 17 (see claim 17).
wherein the one or more TCI states are dropped from the subset of TCI states to be tracked according to a timeline-based dropping rule until the quantity of non-serving cell SSBs or the quantity of PCIs included in the subset of TCI states to be tracked does not exceed the capability to concurrently track multiple TCI states (Zhou450, [0090] discloses UE 115-a may monitor for the CORESETs 230 based on the determined priority order. In a first implementation, UE 115-a may use a dropping rule for CORESET 230 monitoring. In this implementation, UE 115-a may monitor for downlink transmissions 245 in a subset of the CORESETs 230 with highest priorities, where the number of different active QCL assumptions for the subset of the CORESETs 230 is less than or equal to the threshold number of active QCL assumptions for UE 115-a. UE 115-a may suppress monitoring for i.e., drop the remaining CORESETs 230 with different active QCL assumptions and with lower priority according to the determined priority order; Zhou450, [0089] discloses UE 115-a, base station 105-a, or both may determine a priority order for monitoring the configured CORESETs 230. For example, UE 115-a may prioritize the CORESET updated with the updated active QCL assumption e.g., the CORESET 230 updated based on the RACH preamble message 240. UE 115-a may determine the priority order for the remaining CORESETs 230 based on one or more CORESET 230 or search space parameters. In a first example, UE 115-a may prioritize the remaining CORESETs 230 based on CORESET ID values. UE 115-a may either assign higher priority to CORESETs 230 with lower ID values or may assign higher priority to CORESETs 230 with higher ID values. In a second example, UE 115-a may prioritize the remaining CORESETs 230 based on monitoring period lengths for the CORESETs 230. For example, UE 115-a may either assign higher priority to CORESETs 230 with shorter monitoring periods or may assign higher priority to CORESETs 230 with longer monitoring periods; Farag, [0191] discloses the activated TCI state IDs correspond to: (1) one serving cell or a group of serving cells; (2) one or more non-serving cells or one or more groups of non-serving cells; and (3) a UE capability can determine the maximum number of non-serving cells or groups of non-serving cells with activated TCI state IDs; Farag, [0451] discloses the maximum number of entities configured is K. Out of the K entities, L entities can have activated TCI states, this is denoted as the activated list. Wherein, L can depend on a UE capability and/or can be specified in the system specifications. An entity can be a cell with a PCI).
Regarding claim 9, Zhou314 in view of Wang and further in view of Zhou450 discloses:
The UE of claim 7, (see claim 7) and The method of claim 17 (see claim 17).
wherein the one or more TCI states are dropped from the subset of TCI states to be tracked according to an identifier-based dropping rule until the quantity of non-serving cell SSBs or the quantity of PCIs included in the subset of TCI states to be tracked does not exceed the capability to concurrently track multiple TCI states (Zhou450, [0090] discloses UE 115-a may monitor for the CORESETs 230 based on the determined priority order. In a first implementation, UE 115-a may use a dropping rule for CORESET 230 monitoring. In this implementation, UE 115-a may monitor for downlink transmissions 245 in a subset of the CORESETs 230 with highest priorities, where the number of different active QCL assumptions for the subset of the CORESETs 230 is less than or equal to the threshold number of active QCL assumptions for UE 115-a. UE 115-a may suppress monitoring for i.e., drop the remaining CORESETs 230 with different active QCL assumptions and with lower priority according to the determined priority order; Zhou450, [0089] discloses UE 115-a, base station 105-a, or both may determine a priority order for monitoring the configured CORESETs 230. For example, UE 115-a may prioritize the CORESET updated with the updated active QCL assumption e.g., the CORESET 230 updated based on the RACH preamble message 240. UE 115-a may determine the priority order for the remaining CORESETs 230 based on one or more CORESET 230 or search space parameters. In a first example, UE 115-a may prioritize the remaining CORESETs 230 based on CORESET ID values. UE 115-a may either assign higher priority to CORESETs 230 with lower ID values or may assign higher priority to CORESETs 230 with higher ID values. In a second example, UE 115-a may prioritize the remaining CORESETs 230 based on monitoring period lengths for the CORESETs 230. For example, UE 115-a may either assign higher priority to CORESETs 230 with shorter monitoring periods or may assign higher priority to CORESETs 230 with longer monitoring periods; Farag, [0191] discloses the activated TCI state IDs correspond to: (1) one serving cell or a group of serving cells; (2) one or more non-serving cells or one or more groups of non-serving cells; and (3) a UE capability can determine the maximum number of non-serving cells or groups of non-serving cells with activated TCI state IDs; Farag, [0451] discloses the maximum number of entities configured is K. Out of the K entities, L entities can have activated TCI states, this is denoted as the activated list. Wherein, L can depend on a UE capability and/or can be specified in the system specifications. An entity can be a cell with a PCI).
Regarding claim 10 and claim 20, Zhou314 in view of Wang and further in view of Zhou450 discloses:
The UE of claim 1, (see claim 1) and The method of claim 11 (see claim 11).
wherein the set of activated CSI trigger states is indicated in a medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) (Zhou314, Fig. 3 & [0056] discloses At 310, the UE 302 may receive signaling activating a subset of the configured trigger states, for example, via lower layer signaling such as MAC-CE, or via RRC).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Matsumura et al. (US Patent Publication 2024/0237124) discloses a system wherein a UE may transmit, as the UE capability information, whether to support a MAC CE for activation/deactivation of a non-serving cell, whether to support a MAC CE at least one field in the MAC CE in each embodiment, or an allowed number of non-serving cells or SSBs for each non-serving cell to be activated and The UE may receive a MAC CE (first MAC CE) including information used for activation/deactivation of non-serving cells, and may receive a second MAC CE including information for further activation (indication / specification / restriction / limitation / narrowing) of at least one non-serving cell of active non-serving cells indicated in the first MAC CE and wherein a maximum configurable number of TCI states related to the non-serving cell may be limited by a value reported as UE capability information. “A TCI state is related to a non-serving cell” means, for example, that “an RS configured as QCL type A/D in the TCI state is related to the non-serving cell”. “An RS is related to a non-serving cell” may mean, for example, that “the RS (SSB) of the non-serving cell is configured as a QCL source” and that “a PCI for the non-serving cell is configured”.
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 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 MICHAEL Y MAPA whose telephone number is (571)270-5540. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Thursday: 10 AM - 8 PM EST.
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, Anthony Addy can be reached at (571) 272 - 7795. 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.
/MICHAEL Y MAPA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2645
Prosecution Insights