DETAILED ACTION
This communication is in responsive to amendment for Application 18/576032 filed on 6/3/2026. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Status of Claims:
Claims 1-30 are presented for examination.
Response to Arguments
3. Examiner statements in the mailed non-final with respect to obvious limitations including common knowledge or well-known in the art are taken to be admitted prior art because applicant failed to traverse the Examiner’s assertion, see MPEP 2144.03 C.
4. Applicant’s arguments in the amendment filed on 6/3/2026 regarding claim rejection under 35 USC § 103 with respect to Claims 1-30 are moot in view of the new ground of rejection.
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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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, 4, 18, 20-21, 23 and 28-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Luo et al. (hereinafter Luo) US 2018/0054348 A1 in view of Park et al. (hereinafter Park) US 2020/0383060 A1.
Regarding Claim 1, Luo teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) (Fig. 3; UE 302), comprising:
a memory (Fig. 14);
and at least one processor coupled to the memory (Fig. 14) and configured to: transmit, to a base station having multiple transmission reception points (TRPs) (¶0079; The functionality of a TRP may be similar in one or more aspects to (or incorporated into) the functionality of…a base transceiver station (BTS), a transceiver function (TF), a radio transceiver), a channel state information (CSI) report based on a set of reference signals, the set of reference signals including a first reference signal associated with a first beam direction and a second reference signal associated with a second beam direction (Fig. 3 & ¶0187; the CSI feedback for a given link may be based on CSI-RS from multiple links. Thus, a UE may send a joint CSI report. ¶0191; a UE may communicate via multiple links where each link is associated with a corresponding beam. The UE may communicate with a first TRP via a first link (first beam), communicate with at least one other TRP via at least one second link (at least one second beam), etc.);
and switch, for one or more channels, to use the first beam direction to communicate with the base station via a first TRP of the multiple TRPs based on the CSI report before receiving any indication to switch beams from the base station (¶0196; a device e.g. a UE that is communicating via multiple links performs beam switching for one link independently of the beam switching for any of other links. For example, a UE can send a message on a particular link to inform a TRP that the UE is switching to another beam or direction).
Luo does not expressly teach “…before receiving any transmission…” However, this limitation is obvious in view of Luo’s teachings. This limitation means to one of ordinary skill in the art that the UE to switch to use the first beam direction without waiting for a transmission corresponding to the first beam direction from the base station. Here, Luo teaches “to inform a TRP that the UE is switching to another beam or direction” in ¶0196. This means that the switching for one or more channels take place without waiting for any confirmation from the base station. Luo also is directed to independent links which means that one link can indicate link switching or failure to other links without receiving the indication for the base station. See abstract.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to reach the claim language and realize the same conclusion from Luo’s teachings using common skills in the art in order to enable a UE to effectively communicate with different TRPs (e.g., gNodeBs or eNodeBs) on different links (¶0004).
Luo does not expressly teach that switching is based on “CSI report.” However, Luo still takes into account the feedback based on CSI report (CSI-RS). See ¶0116. Also, for channel state information (CSI) feedback, a TRP transmits a CSI reference signal (CSI-RS) that is detected by a UE. The UE generates CSI feedback (e.g., CQI, PMI, etc.) based on the CSI-RS and sends the CSI feedback to the TRP. See ¶0185-¶0190.
Park on the other hand teaches beam switching based on CSI-RS, see ¶0215-¶0220; the TPC procedure due to beam change/switching is not allowed to be initialized for the same TRP. An example of a condition for determining TRPs as the same one may include “a case where beam change/switching occurs based on a CSI-RS configured in the form of a (sub-) time unit”. More specifically, when the corresponding CSI-RS is configured as being intended for specific beam management or configured as a single CSI-RS resource and/or a plurality of CSI-RS resources but having the same TRP characteristics such that a specific group is configured for the plurality of CSI-RS resources, recognition of TRPs as the same one may be performed implicitly or explicitly (in other words, an indication which indicates whether they are the same TRP may be performed implicitly or explicitly).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed limitation to incorporate the teachings of Park into the system of Luo in order to provide a base station (gNB) with precise measurements—such as the CSI-RS Resource Indicator (CRI), Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI), and Layer 1 RSRP—measured by user equipment. This feedback lets the network dynamically switch narrow, highly directional beams to optimize signal quality, track user mobility, and minimize interference (common knowledge).
Regarding Claims 4, Luo teaches the apparatus of claim 1, the at least one processor being further configured to: switch, for the one or more channels, to use the second beam direction with a second TRP of the multiple TRPs based on the set of reference signals before receiving any transmission corresponding to the second beam direction from the base station (¶0200; obvious because the communication is over multiple links with multiple TRPs).
Regarding Claims 18, Luo teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the CSI report is a multi-beam CSI report for inter-cell multiple transmission/reception point (m-TRP), and the at least one processor is configured to switch to using the first beam direction to receive a first channel based on an association with a physical cell ID (¶0084; this limitation is obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art because Luo’s teachings is not limited to TRP. For example, may options for the TRPs are disclosed in ¶0084; a TRP may refer to a physical entity that incorporates radio head functionality for a particular physical cell. This functionality may be similar in one or more aspects to (or incorporated into) the functionality of a NodeB, an eNodeB, a gNodeB, a radio network controller (RNC), a base station (BS), a radio base station (RBS), a base station controller (BSC), a base transceiver station (BTS), a transceiver function (TF), a radio transceiver, a radio router, a basic service set (BSS), an extended service set (ESS), a macro cell, a macro node, a Home eNB (HeNB), a femto cell, a femto node, a pico node, or some other similar entity. The TRPs 204 and 206 of FIG. 2 may communicate with each other via network entities 216, a direct communication link 218, or some other link).
Regarding Claim 20, Luo teaches the apparatus of claim 1, further comprising at least one antenna and a transceiver coupled to the at least one processor (Fig. 14).
Regarding Claim 21, Luo teaches an apparatus for wireless communication at a base station having multiple transmission reception points (TRPs) (¶0079; functionality of a TRP may be similar to functionality of a transceiver function (TF), a radio transceiver), comprising:
a memory (Fig. 14);
and at least one processor coupled to the memory (Fig. 14) and configured to: receive, from a user equipment (UE), a channel state information (CSI) report based on a set of reference signals, the set of reference signals including a first reference signal associated with a first beam direction and a second reference signal associated with a second beam direction (Fig. 3 & ¶0187; CSI feedback for a given link may be based on CSI-RS from multiple links. Thus, a UE may send a joint CSI report. ¶0191; a UE may communicate via multiple links where each link is associated with a corresponding beam. The UE may communicate with a first TRO via a first link (first beam), communicate with at least one other TRP via at least one second link (at least one second beam), etc.);
and switch, for one or more channels, to use the first beam direction to communication with the UE via a first TRP of the multiple TRPs before transmitting an indication to switch beams to the UE (obvious from ¶0196; a UE can send a message on a particular link to inform a TRP that the UE is a switching to another beam or direction. The UE can be a device or a base station. This limitation is obvious because the base station switches to use the first bean whenever it is informed by the UE about a beam switch. Moreover, switching to a first beam is not based on received CSI report. Stated differently, Luo teaches “to inform a TRP that the UE is switching to another beam or direction” in ¶0196. This means that the switching for one or more channels take place without waiting for any confirmation from the base station or vice versa. Luo also is directed to independent links which means that one link can indicate link switching or failure to other links without receiving the indication for the base station or vice versa. See abstract.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to reach the claim language and realize the same conclusion from Luo’s teachings using common skills in the art in order to enable a UE to effectively communicate with different TRPs (e.g., gNodeBs or eNodeBs) on different links (¶0004).
Luo does not expressly teach that switching is based on “CSI report.” However, Luo still takes into account the feedback based on CSI report (CSI-RS). See ¶0116. Also, for channel state information (CSI) feedback, a TRP transmits a CSI reference signal (CSI-RS) that is detected by a UE. The UE generates CSI feedback (e.g., CQI, PMI, etc.) based on the CSI-RS and sends the CSI feedback to the TRP. See ¶0185-¶0190.
Park on the other hand teaches beam switching based on CSI-RS, see ¶0215-¶0220; the TPC procedure due to beam change/switching is not allowed to be initialized for the same TRP. An example of a condition for determining TRPs as the same one may include “a case where beam change/switching occurs based on a CSI-RS configured in the form of a (sub-) time unit”. More specifically, when the corresponding CSI-RS is configured as being intended for specific beam management or configured as a single CSI-RS resource and/or a plurality of CSI-RS resources but having the same TRP characteristics such that a specific group is configured for the plurality of CSI-RS resources, recognition of TRPs as the same one may be performed implicitly or explicitly (in other words, an indication which indicates whether they are the same TRP may be performed implicitly or explicitly).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed limitation to incorporate the teachings of Park into the system of Luo in order to provide a base station (gNB) with precise measurements—such as the CSI-RS Resource Indicator (CRI), Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI), and Layer 1 RSRP—measured by user equipment. This feedback lets the network dynamically switch narrow, highly directional beams to optimize signal quality, track user mobility, and minimize interference (common knowledge).
Claim 23 is substantially similar to claim 4, thus the same rationale applies
Claim 28 is substantially similar to claim 20, thus the same rationale applies
Claim 29 is substantially similar to claim 1, thus the same rationale applies.
Claim 30 is substantially similar to claim 21, thus the same rationale applies.
Claims 2-3 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Luo-Park in view of Kwon et al. (hereinafter Kwon) US 2019/0141691 A1.
Regarding Claim 2, Luo teaches the apparatus of claim 1, but does not expressly teach wherein the at least one processor is configured to switch to use the first beam direction with the first TRP based on the set of reference signals before receiving a downlink control information (DCI) that indicates an update to a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state.
Kwon teaches wherein the at least one processor is configured to switch to use the first beam direction with the first TRP based on the set of reference signals before receiving a downlink control information (DCI) that indicates an update to a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state (Fig. 5, ¶0113 & ¶0116; operating in a QCL environment after beam failure recovery but prior to TCI states related to spatial QCL purposes updates are complete are provided. Utilizing QCL information after beam failure recovery but before TCI states related to spatial QCL purposes are updated may lead to degraded performance due to outdated or incorrect QCL information. See also Fig. 5 operations 500 for more details).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed limitation to incorporate the teachings of Kwon into the system of Luo-Park in order to operating in a QCL environment after beam failure (¶0113). Utilizing QCL information after beam failure recovery but before TCI states related to spatial QCL purposes are updated may lead to degraded performance due to outdated or incorrect QCL information. Id.
Regarding Claim 3, Luo teaches the apparatus of claim 1, but does not expressly teach wherein the at least one processor is configured to switch to use the first beam direction with the first TRP based on the set of reference signals before receiving an activation of a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state from the base station.
Kwon teaches wherein the at least one processor is configured to switch to use the first beam direction with the first TRP based on the set of reference signals before receiving an activation of a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state from the base station (Fig. 5, ¶0113 & ¶0116; operating in a QCL environment after beam failure recovery but prior to TCI states related to spatial QCL purposes updates are complete are provided. Utilizing QCL information after beam failure recovery but before TCI states related to spatial QCL purposes are updated may lead to degraded performance due to outdated or incorrect QCL information. See also Fig. 5 operations 500 for more details).
Claim 22 is substantially similar to claims above, thus the same rationale applies.
Claims 5-6, 10, 13-17, 19, 24 and 26-27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Luo-Park in view of Beam management enhancement for multi-TRP simultaneous reception, CATT 8.1.2.3” (hereinafter NPL, IDS filed 1/2/2024, entry 1 under Non-patent literature documents).
Regarding Claim 5, Luo teaches the apparatus of claim 4, but does not expressly teach wherein the first reference signal and the second reference signal have a quasi co-location (QCL) type D relationship with a pair of transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states or with a single TCI state that includes a parameter to indicate multiple beams.
NPL teaches wherein the first reference signal and the second reference signal have a quasi co-location (QCL) type D relationship with a pair of transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states or with a single TCI state that includes a parameter to indicate multiple beams (NPL define QCL Type D relationships for multi-TRPs, see introduction & proposal 3 for QCL-typeD configuration).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed limitation to incorporate the teachings of NPL into the system of Luo-Park in order to evaluate and if needed specify beam management related enhancements for simultaneous multi-TRP transmission with multi-panel reception (1. Introduction, first 3 lines).
Regarding Claim 6, Luo-Park in view of NPL teaches the apparatus of claim 5, NPL further teaches the at least one processor being further configured to: transmit or receive a control channel, in a single downlink control information (sDCI) operation with the multiple TRPs, based on the first beam direction (obvious from proposal 7 because gNB response of the TRP can be the DCI format).
Regarding Claim 10, Luo-Park in view of NPL teaches the apparatus of claim 5, NPL further teaches wherein for a multiple downlink control information (mDCI) configuration for communication with the multiple TRPs, the at least one processor is further configured to: transmit or receive a first transmission of the one or more channels associated with a first control resource set (CORESET) based on the first beam direction (obvious, see proposal 8); and transmit or receive a repetition of the one or more channels associated with a second CORESET based on the second beam direction (obvious, see proposals 8-9).
Regarding Claim 13, Luo teaches the apparatus of claim 1, but does not expressly teach wherein the CSI report is a non-group-based CSI report, and the at least one processor is configured to switch to the first beam direction for reception of at least one of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a time-domain multiplexed (TDM) physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a PDCCH with repetitions configured in two search space sets of two control resource sets (CORESETs), a single frequency network (SFN) PDCCH, an SFN PDSCH, a PDCCH associated with a CORESET pool index, or a PDSCH associated with the CORESET pool index.
NPL further teaches wherein the CSI report is a non-group-based CSI report, and the at least one processor is configured to switch to the first beam direction for reception of at least one of a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), a time-domain multiplexed (TDM) physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a PDCCH with repetitions configured in two search space sets of two control resource sets (CORESETs), a single frequency network (SFN) PDCCH, an SFN PDSCH, a PDCCH associated with a CORESET pool index, or a PDSCH associated with the CORESET pool index (proposal 3).
Regarding Claim 14, Luo-Park in view of NPL teaches the apparatus of claim 13, Luo further teaches wherein the at least one processor is configured to switch to the first beam direction for reception in a single downlink control information (sDCI) configuration for the multiple TRPs (¶0083-¶0084, ¶0194-¶201 & Fig. 12),
However, Luo teaches CSI feedback in ¶0116-¶0118 & ¶0185-¶0190 but does not expressly teach wherein the switch to the first beam direction is based on the first reported reference signal in the non-group-based CSI report.
NPL teaches wherein the switch to the first beam direction is based on the first reported reference signal in the non-group-based CSI report (proposal 3).
Regarding Claim 15, Luo-Park in view of NPL teaches the apparatus of claim 13, Luo further teaches the at least one processor further configured to: switch, for the one or more channels, to use the second beam direction with a second TRP of the multiple TRPs based on the set of reference signals before receiving any transmission corresponding to the second beam direction from the base station, the switch to the first beam direction and the second beam direction for reception being based on an order in which the first reference signal and the second reference signal are reported in the CSI report (obvious from ¶0083-¶0084, ¶0187-¶200 & Fig. 12; the CSI feedback for a given link may be based on CSI-RS from multiple links. Thus, a UE may send a joint CSI report. This joint report may be sent on one or more of the links. When transmitting the feedback, the transmitter may provide information on how it uses the CSI-RS from multiple links. See also multi link beam switching in ¶0194-¶201).
Regarding Claim 16, Luo teaches the apparatus of claim 1, Luo further teaches wherein the CSI report, and the at least one processor is configured to switch to the first beam direction and the second beam direction for reception of the one or more channels based on an order in which the first reference signal and the second reference signal are reported in the CSI report (¶0185-¶0190 & ¶083-¶084 & Fig. 12; CSI reports),
Luo does not expressly teach that CSI report is “a group-based CSI report,” and Luo does not expressly teach the one or more channels including at least one of a frequency-domain multiplexed (FDM) physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a spatial-domain multiplexed (SDM) PDSCH, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) with repetitions configured in two search space sets of two control resource sets (CORESETs), a PDCCH associated with a CORESET pool index, or a PDSCH associated with the CORESET pool index.
NPL teaches a group-based CSI report (proposal 3).
NPL also teaches the one or more channels including at least one of a frequency-domain multiplexed (FDM) physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a spatial-domain multiplexed (SDM) PDSCH, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) with repetitions configured in two search space sets of two control resource sets (CORESETs) (see proposals 1 & 8), a PDCCH associated with a CORESET pool index, or a PDSCH associated with the CORESET pool index.
Regarding Claim 17, Luo-Park teaches the apparatus of claim 1, wherein the CSI report, and the at least one processor is configured to switch to the first beam direction based on the first reference signal in a first channel measurement resource (CMR) set and the second beam direction based on the second reference signal in a second CMR set for reception of the one or more channels (obvious from ¶0200. Also see ¶0185-¶0190 & ¶083-¶084 & Fig. 12; CSI reports. See Park in ¶0215-¶0220),
Luo does not expressly teach that the CSI report is “is a group-based CSI report “ and Luo also does not teach the one or more channels including at least one of a frequency-domain multiplexed (FDM) physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a spatial-domain multiplexed (SDM) PDSCH, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) with repetitions configured in two search space sets of two control resource sets (CORESETs), a PDCCH associated with a CORESET pool index, or a PDSCH associated with the CORESET pool index.
NPL teaches is a group-based CSI report (proposal 3).
NPL also teaches the one or more channels including at least one of a frequency-domain multiplexed (FDM) physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a spatial-domain multiplexed (SDM) PDSCH, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) with repetitions configured in two search space sets of two control resource sets (CORESETs) (see proposals 1 & 8), a PDCCH associated with a CORESET pool index, or a PDSCH associated with the CORESET pool index.
Regarding Claim 19, Luo teaches the apparatus of claim 18, but does not expressly teach wherein the first channel is further associated with at least one of a single control resource set (CORESET) pool index or a set of more than one CORESET pool index.
NPL further teaches wherein the first channel is further associated with at least one of a single control resource set (CORESET) pool index or a set of more than one CORESET pool index (see proposal 8).
Claims 24 and 26-27 are substantially similar to claims above, thus the same rationale applies.
Claims 7-9, 11-12 and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Luo-Park in view of NPL and further in view of Ly et al. (hereinafter Ly) US 2020/0045737 A1.
Regarding Claim 7, Luo in view of NPL teaches the apparatus of claim 5, but do not expressly teach the at least one processor being further configured to: transmit or receive a first transmission of the one or more channels in a first occasion based on the first beam direction; and transmit or receive a repetition of the one or more channels in a second occasion based on the second beam direction.
Ly teaches the at least one processor being further configured to: transmit or receive a first transmission of the one or more channels in a first occasion based on the first beam direction (¶0095; the SS/PBCH block 205 may be a directional (e.g., beamformed) transmission. For example, base station 105-a may transmit SS/PBCH block 205-a using a first beam in the direction of UE 115-a, and UE 115-a may use receive beam 215-a to receive SS/PBCH block 205-a); and transmit or receive a repetition of the one or more channels in a second occasion based on the second beam direction (¶0110, ¶0123 & Fig. 5A; A base station 105 may transmit repetitions of the SI message 325 in different beam directions (e.g., corresponding to different SS/PBCH blocks) within the SI window 320).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed limitation to incorporate the teachings of Ly into the system of Luo-Park in view of NPL in order to transmit or receive data where each transmission may be transmitted in a slightly different direction (¶0123).
Regarding Claim 8, Luo-Park in view of NPL teaches the apparatus of claim 7, NPL further teaches wherein and the CSI report comprises a group-based CSI report or a multi-beam CSI report for inter-cell TRPs (see group-based reporting under proposal 1 under “Enhancements on beam reporting” group-based reporting).
Luo in view of NPL do not expressly teach “the first occasion and the second occasion are frequency division multiplexed (FDM) or spatial division multiplexed (SDM),”
Ly teaches the first occasion and the second occasion are frequency division multiplexed (FDM) or spatial division multiplexed (SDM) (¶0083; using time division multiplexing (TDM) techniques, frequency division multiplexing (FDM) techniques, or hybrid TDM-FDM techniques).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed limitation to incorporate the teachings of Ly into the system of Luo-Park in view of NPL in order to maximize network capacity by enabling simultaneous data transmission (known in the art). Utilizing such teachings enable FDM to divide bandwidth into distinct channels for analog/radio use, offering simple, continuous, low-latency communication (known in the art). SDM also increases efficiency by using physical separation (e.g., MIMO antennas or multiple fibers) to boost throughput without increasing bandwidth (known in the art).
Regarding Claim 9, Luo-Park in view of NPL teaches the apparatus of claim 7, NPL further teaches wherein the first occasion and the second occasion, and the CSI report comprises a non-group-based CSI report, a group-based CSI report, or a multi-beam CSI report for inter-cell TRPs (see group-based reporting under introduction option 1 or under “Enhancements on beam reporting” group-based reporting).
Luo in view of NPL do not expressly teach “…are time division multiplexed (TDM),”
Ly teaches “…are time division multiplexed (TDM) (¶0083; using time division multiplexing (TDM) techniques, frequency division multiplexing (FDM) techniques, or hybrid TDM-FDM techniques).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed limitation to incorporate the teachings of Ly into the system of Luo-Park in view of NPL in order to maximize network capacity by enabling simultaneous data transmission (known in the art). Utilizing such teachings enable FDM to divide bandwidth into distinct channels for analog/radio use, offering simple, continuous, low-latency communication (known in the art). SDM also increases efficiency by using physical separation (e.g., MIMO antennas or multiple fibers) to boost throughput without increasing bandwidth (known in the art).
Regarding Claim 11, Luo-Park in view of NPL teaches the apparatus of claim 10, NPL teaches wherein the first transmission and, and the CSI report comprises a group-based CSI report or a multi-beam CSI report for inter-cell TRPs (see group-based reporting under introduction option 1 or under “Enhancements on beam reporting” group-based reporting).
Luo in view of NPL do not expressly teach “the repetition are frequency division multiplexed (FDM) or spatial division multiplexed (SDM)”
Ly teaches the repetition are frequency division multiplexed (FDM) or spatial division multiplexed (SDM) (¶0083; using time division multiplexing (TDM) techniques, frequency division multiplexing (FDM) techniques, or hybrid TDM-FDM techniques).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed limitation to incorporate the teachings of Ly into the system of Luo-Park in view of NPL in order to maximize network capacity by enabling simultaneous data transmission (known in the art). Utilizing such teachings enable FDM to divide bandwidth into distinct channels for analog/radio use, offering simple, continuous, low-latency communication (known in the art). SDM also increases efficiency by using physical separation (e.g., MIMO antennas or multiple fibers) to boost throughput without increasing bandwidth (known in the art).
Regarding Claim 12, Luo-Park in view of NPL teaches the apparatus of claim 10, NPL further teaches wherein the first transmission and the repetition are time division multiplexed (TDM), and the CSI report comprises a non-group-based CSI report, a group-based CSI report, or a multi-beam CSI report for inter-cell TRPs (see non-group-based reporting under “2. Enhancement on beam reporting”).
Luo in view of NPL do not expressly teach “wherein the first transmission and the repetition are time division multiplexed (TDM)”
Ly teaches wherein the first transmission and the repetition are time division multiplexed (TDM) (¶0083; using time division multiplexing (TDM) techniques, frequency division multiplexing (FDM) techniques, or hybrid TDM-FDM techniques).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed limitation to incorporate the teachings of Ly into the system of Luo-Park in view of NPL in order to maximize network capacity by enabling simultaneous data transmission (known in the art). Utilizing such teachings enable FDM to divide bandwidth into distinct channels for analog/radio use, offering simple, continuous, low-latency communication (known in the art). SDM also increases efficiency by using physical separation (e.g., MIMO antennas or multiple fibers) to boost throughput without increasing bandwidth (known in the art).
Claim 25 is substantially similar to the above claims, thus the same rationale applies.
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 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.
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MAHRAN ABU ROUMI
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2455
/MAHRAN Y ABU ROUMI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2455
Prosecution Insights