DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 26 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 26 recites, in part, “wherein a number of subsets is associated with capability of the UE for a CSI processing unit (CPU) associated with the CSI report.”. The underlined and italicized portion of the claim is unclear, because the claim does not recite what subsets are associated with a capability. That is, what subsets are associated with a capability of the UE?. Thus the claim is unclear.
Claim Objections
Claim 26 is objected to because of the following informalities: claim 26 recites, in part, “wherein a number of subsets is associated with capability of the UE for a CSI processing unit (CPU) associated with the CSI report.”. The office recommends amending the claim to recite “a capability of the UE”. Appropriate correction is required.
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) 21-23, 25, 27-29, 31, 33-35, and 37-39, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Abdelghaffar et al. (US 2023/0062380 A1).
Regarding claims 21 and 27, the disclosure of Abdelghaffar teaches:
a user equipment (UE) (fig.1 depicts a plurality of user equipment, element 115) in a communication system (fig.1 depicts a wireless communications system), the UE comprising:
a transceiver (fig.11 element 1115 depicts the transceiver of the UE); and
a processor (fig.11 element 1140) coupled with the transceiver (fig.11 depicts the transceiver coupled with the transceiver via bus 1145) and configured to:
perform a method performed by the user equipment (UE) (fig.1 depicts a plurality of user equipment, element 115) in a communication system (fig.1 depicts a wireless communications system), the method comprising:
receiving, via a higher layer signaling (par.[0107] which recites, in part, “For example, the base station 105 may transmit control signaling, such as a radio resource control (RRC) message, that indicates a CSI report configuration.” The RRC is Layer-3/Higher Layers Signaling), a first configuration of a channel state information (CSI) report (par.[0006] which recites, in part, “A method for wireless communications at a UE is described. The method may include receiving, from a base station, signaling indicating a CSI report configuration”) and a second configuration of a CSI reference signal (CSI-RS) resource set (par.[0107] which recites, in part, “The CSI report configuration may indicate the configured set of CSI measurement resources, as well as any other resource settings that the UE 115 may select and use to generate a CSI report based on channel and interference measurements performed in accordance with the selected resource setting. For example,”, thus, the RRC signaling indicates the CSI-RS resource set. See also, “The CSI report configuration may link to a setting for one or more of a non-zero power (NZP) CSI-RS resource for channel measurement (CMR), a CSI-RS resource for interference measurement (CSI-IM), or an NZP CSI-RS for interference measurement (NZP IMR), or any combination thereof.”), wherein the first configuration includes configurations associated with CSI-RS antenna ports (par.[0004] which recites, in part, “For instance, the base station may transmit a CSI configuration to the UE that indicates a mapping between resources used for the one or more CSI-RSs and one or more of active antenna panels, one or more active sub-panels, or a combination thereof. In some cases, antenna ports (e.g., or groups of antenna ports) associated with the CSI-RS may be mapped to antenna panels or sub-panels, or both.”);
determining at least one report quantity based on at least one configuration among the configurations (par.[0121] which recites, in part, “For instance, the UE 115-a may receive a CSI report configuration 220-a from the base station 105-a and a CSI report configuration 220-b from the base station 105-b. The CSI report configurations 220 may include information for the UE 15-a to use in determining and reporting CSI, such as CSI report timing, quantities to measure, codebooks to use, and/or TCI state and antenna panel configuration information (e.g., associated with the corresponding base station 105), among other examples.” That is, the ReportQuantity Information Element (IE) is used to determine which quantities to measure, such as CSI, CQI, SSB, PMI, etc.. Additionally, the disclosure teaches a quantity of reports to send back, par.[0191], which recites, in part, “the UE 115-b may generate one or more CSI reports based on hypotheses performed at 745, where each CSI report includes CSI feedback based on respective hypotheses. For example, the UE 115-b may be configured to generate a quantity of CSI reports for each hypothesis group. In a specific example, the UE 115-b may generate one CSI report for each of two hypothesis groups.”); and
transmitting the CSI report including the at least one report quantity (fig.7 element 755, 760, 765 which teaches the UE generating a CSI report based on the reporting configuration received at the UE and then transmitting said reports to the network).
Regarding claims 22, 28, 34, and 38, Abdelghaffar teaches:
wherein CSI-RS resources of the CSI-RS resource set correspond to each of the configurations (par.[0107] which recites, in part, “The CSI report configuration may indicate the configured set of CSI measurement resources, as well as any other resource settings that the UE 115 may select and use to generate a CSI report based on channel and interference measurements performed in accordance with the selected resource setting.”. That is, the reporting configuration comprises the CSI-RS resource set, which correspond to the CSI-RS resources which are measured at the UE to report a channel information).
Regarding claims 23, 29 35, and 39, Abdelghaffar teaches:
wherein the at least one configuration is a plurality of configurations among the configurations (par.[0107] which describes the reporting configuration is associated with one or more resources setting (i.e. resource set) or configurations of resource settings “Each resource setting of the one or more resource settings to which the CSI report configuration links may be associated with multiple resources sets, but one active resource set (for example, one active resource set). The UE 115 may select one or more resources from a resource set to use for reporting the CSI. In some cases, the UE 115 may include, in the CSI report, a resource indicator (e.g., a CRI) associated with the selected one or more resources; in this manner, the base station 105 may be informed of the correspondence between the selected resource and the reported CSI.”), and wherein the CSI report including the at least one report quantity determined based on the plurality of configurations is transmitted on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) (as discussed above the CSI report generated at the UE is based on the reporting configuration comprising a plurality of resource set configurations therein. The UE generates the CSI report based on the resources in the active configured set of CSI-RS resources, which correspond to the signaled reporting configuration and sends the report on the uplink to the base station. This would require a PUSCH or PUCCH depending on when the report is sent. It is known in 3GPP for a UE to multiplex UCI (i.e. CSI Reporting) on the PUSCH under certain circumstances, otherwise the UE would utilize the PUCCH which is the Uplink Control Channel, see fig.7 the UE transmits the report on the uplink. The office is taking Official Notice that the CSI reports are sent on the PUSCH or PUCCH as discussed above).
Regarding claims 25 and 31, the disclosure of Abdelghaffar teaches:
wherein each of the configurations is associated with a number of CSI-RS antenna ports used for determining the at least one report quantity for a corresponding configuration (par.[0011] recites, in part, “the CSI feedback based on a first quantity of CSI-RS ports associated with a first antenna panel of the base station and a second quantity of CSI-RS ports associated with a second antenna panel of the base station, the first antenna panel being mapped to a first CSI-RS resource and the second antenna panel being mapped to a second CSI-RS resource”. Additionally, the generation of CSI feedback is based on CSI-RS resources which are mapped to antenna panels of the network node in accordance with the CSI report configuration. The reporting configuration comprising a mapping between CSI-RS resources set/settings to antenna ports, which are associated with antenna panels par.[0059]).
Regarding claims 33 and 37, the disclosure of Abdelghaffar teaches:
a base station (fig.1 depicts a plurality of base stations, element 105) in a communication system (fig.1 depicts a wireless communications system), the base station comprising:
a transceiver (fig.15 element 1515); and
a processor (fig.15 element 1540) coupled with the transceiver (fig.15 depicts the transceiver coupled with the transceiver via bus 1550) and configured to:
perform a method performed by the base station (UE) (fig.1 depicts a plurality of base stations) in the communication system (fig.1 depicts a wireless communications system), the method comprising:
transmitting, via a higher layer signaling (par.[0107] which recites, in part, “For example, the base station 105 may transmit control signaling, such as a radio resource control (RRC) message, that indicates a CSI report configuration.” The RRC is Layer-3/Higher Layers Signaling), a first configuration of a channel state information (CSI) report (par.[0006] which recites, in part, “A method for wireless communications at a UE is described. The method may include receiving, from a base station, signaling indicating a CSI report configuration”) and a second configuration of a CSI reference signal (CSI-RS) resource set (par.[0107] which recites, in part, “The CSI report configuration may indicate the configured set of CSI measurement resources, as well as any other resource settings that the UE 115 may select and use to generate a CSI report based on channel and interference measurements performed in accordance with the selected resource setting. For example,”, thus, the RRC signaling indicates the CSI-RS resource set,), wherein the first configuration includes configurations associated with CSI-RS antenna ports (par.[0004] which recites, in part, “For instance, the base station may transmit a CSI configuration to the UE that indicates a mapping between resources used for the one or more CSI-RSs and one or more of active antenna panels, one or more active sub-panels, or a combination thereof. In some cases, antenna ports (e.g., or groups of antenna ports) associated with the CSI-RS may be mapped to antenna panels or sub-panels, or both.”);
and identifying at least one report quantity based on the CSI report (par.[0121] which recites, in part, “For instance, the UE 115-a may receive a CSI report configuration 220-a from the base station 105-a and a CSI report configuration 220-b from the base station 105-b. The CSI report configurations 220 may include information for the UE 15-a to use in determining and reporting CSI, such as CSI report timing, quantities to measure, codebooks to use, and/or TCI state and antenna panel configuration information (e.g., associated with the corresponding base station 105), among other examples.” That is, the ReportQuantity Information Element (IE) is used to determine which quantities to measure, such as CSI, CQI, SSB. Additionally, the disclosure teaches a quantity of reports to send back, par.[0191], which recites, in part, “the UE 115-b may generate one or more CSI reports based on hypotheses performed at 745, where each CSI report includes CSI feedback based on respective hypotheses. For example, the UE 115-b may be configured to generate a quantity of CSI reports for each hypothesis group. In a specific example, the UE 115-b may generate one CSI report for each of two hypothesis groups.”); and
wherein the at least one report quantity is associated with at least one configuration among the configuration (fig.7 element 755, 760, 765 which teaches the UE generating a CSI report based on the reporting configuration received at the UE and then transmitting said reports to the network, the report quantity (i.e. quantities to measure) corresponding to the reporting configuration).
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.
Claim(s) 24, 30, 36, and 40, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abdelghaffar as applied to claim(s) 21, 27, 33, and 37, in view of Nimbalker et al. (WO 2024/172749 A1).
Regarding claims 24, 30, 36, and 40, the disclosure of Abdelghaffar teaches the transmission of a reporting configuration comprising a plurality of resource sets to the mobile device as discussed above, but may not disclose:
wherein the first configuration includes power offset configurations for the CSI report associated with the configurations.
In an analogous art, the disclosure of Nimbalker teaches:
wherein the first configuration includes power offset configurations for the CSI report associated with the configurations (par.[0028] which recites, in part, “The CSI configuration associates a CSI trigger state with one or more power offset values and a set of one or more NZP-CSI-RS resources.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant application to combine the teachings Abdelghaffar with the disclosure of Nimbalker. The motivation/suggestion would have been to facilitate configuring a UE to report CSI assuming the power offset for any of the aperiodic, semi-persistent, or periodic report.
Claim(s) 26 and 32 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abdelghaffar as applied to claim(s) 21, 27, 33, and 37, in view of Ibrahim et al. (US 2025/0293741 A1), which claims priority to provisional application dated 04/26/2022.
Regarding claims 26 and 32, the disclosure of Abdelghaffar discloses the independent claims, but may not disclose:
wherein a number of subsets is associated with a capability of the UE for a CSI processing unit (CPU) associated with the CSI report.
In an analogous art, the disclosure of Ibrahim teaches:
wherein a number of subsets is associated with capability of the UE for a CSI processing unit (CPU) associated with the CSI report (par.[0097] which recites, in part, “A CSI processing unit (CPU) may be referred to as a minimum CSI processing unit and a WTRU (e.g., UE) may support one or more CPUs (e.g., N CPUs). A WTRU (e.g., UE) with N CPUs may estimate N CSI feedback calculations in parallel, wherein N may be a WTRU (e.g., UE) capability.”. That is, the UE is configured with CSI CPUs which provide for parallel CSI processing, which is considered a capability of the UE, but also a constraint on the amount of CSI can be processed., par.[0119,0129-0130]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the instant application to combine the teachings of Abdelghaffar with the disclosure of Ibrahim. The motivation/suggestion would have been to determine the amount of parallel CSI can be processed at the UE.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Chou et al. (US 2023/0088818 A1) “Downlink Multi-Antenna Transmission in Wireless Communication System” par.[0018] which teaches: “the CSI report configuration indicating CSI reference signal (CSI-RS) resources configured for transmitting CSI-RSs from multiple TRPs, the CSI report configuration indicating a report quantity to request the UE to report CSI information of preferred CSI-RS resource indicators (CRIs) corresponding to ones of the CSI-RS resources indicated by the CSI report configuration, the preferred CRIs corresponding to preferred TRPs selected from the multiple TRPs by the UE or the base station”
Cheema et al. (US 2025/0323699 A1) “Multiple Mode Orbital Angular Momentum”
Ly et al. (US 2023/0370137 A1) “Channel State Information Processing Parameters for Multiple Configured Codebooks”
Lee et al. (WO 2024/172894 A1) “Spatial Element Adaptation for Network Energy Saving”, see fig(s). 7-8.
Lin (US 2024/0048201 A1) “Method and Apparatus for Channel State Information Reference Resource in a Wireless Communication System”
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JAMAAL HENSON
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2411
/JAMAAL HENSON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411