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 Objections
Claims 21, 25, and 38 objected to because of the following informalities:
• Claim 1, line 8, “the user equipment” should be “a user equipment”, since it appears for first time.
Appropriate correction is required
Response to Remarks
This Office action is considered fully responsive to the amendments filed 07/27/2026.
a) Claims 21-40 are pending in the application. Claims 21-40 have been newly added and Claims 1-20 have been canceled.
b) The objection to the claims is withdrawn in light of Applicant’s amendments.
c) The claim rejection under 35 USC § 112(b) is withdrawn in light of Applicant’s amendments.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 07/27/2026 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of (US- 20190222289-A1) and (WO-2023072087-A1).
A) Regarding independent claims 21 and 34, see the U.S.C. 103 rejection below.
B) Regarding all dependent claims, see the U.S.C. 103 rejection below. The Claim Rejections section below details the rejections of the instant claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1 and 27-31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guo et al. (US-20240251362-A1), in view of John Wilson et al. (US- 20190222289-A1) further in view of Yang (WO-2023072087-A1), refer to citation of “U” in the PTO-892 of the clarified Google translation of (WO-2023072087-A1).
Regarding claim 1, Guo teaches an apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to (Figs. 10-11, [0018]-[0019], [0118]-[0119] and [0121] these sections describe an apparatus 1110 such as a base station or a user device which may be any wireless device (or UE) can include processor electronics 1120 such as a microprocessor that implements one or more of the techniques presented. The code, when executed, causing a processor to implement the functions of method, [0121]): determine that the first transmission configuration indicator state is to be applied in a first slot ([0044] indicates that “beam state” is equivalent to transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state. [0065] states “ The UE transmits a first set of uplink transmissions associated with a first transmission information in a first slot/sub-slot/frame/sub-frame and a second set of uplink transmissions associated with a second transmission information in a second slot/sub-slot/frame/sub-frame” that confirms that each slot is assigned with its own transmission resource information, which may include a specific TC state, as states in [0061] and [0117] that the transmission resource information can be a TCI state, where the abstract clearly state that timing advance information including a first timing advance TA information and a second timing advance TA information; receiving, transmission resource information / TCI associated with transmission information; determining a first transmission timing for a first transmission associated with a first transmission resource information (first TCI state) based on the first timing advance TA information and a second transmission timing for a second transmission associated with a second transmission resource information/second TCI state based on the second timing advance information . [0076] illustrates how the UE receive multiple timing advance information associated with respective transmission information and how the UE obtains the association between a transmission resource information and a transmission information based on the received information, “the association obtained by the UE indicates that a first transmission resource information named resource set A is associated with a first transmission information and a second transmission resource information named resource set B is associated with a second transmission information”),
wherein the first transmission configuration indicator state is associated with a first timing advance group identifier and a first timing advance value, the second transmission configuration indicator state is associated with a second timing advance group identifier different than the first timing advance group identifier ([0061] and [0117] describe that the transmission resource information can be a TCI state, where the abstract clearly state that timing advance information including a first timing advance TA information and a second timing advance TA information; receiving, transmission resource information /TCI associated with transmission information; determining a first transmission timing for a first transmission associated with a first transmission resource information (first TCI state) based on the first timing advance TA information and a second transmission timing for a second transmission associated with a second transmission resource information/second TCI state based on the second timing advance TA information, that confirms each TCI state has different TA information. [0023] lines 4-6 states “Normally, a network configures multiple Time Alignment Groups (TAG) to indicate timing advance for multiple serving cells and each TAG includes one or more serving cells.” and lines 7-9 states “The base station transmits a TAC associated with a TAG, and the UE applies the TAC to determine timing advance for all serving cells in the TAG”, [0066], lines 9-14 states “When the first timing advance information and the second timing advance information are different from each other, different timing advances are applied to the first slot and the second slot based on the first timing advance information and the second timing information.” That implies the first TAG identifier and the second TAG identifier are distinct because they correspond to different set of serving cells and may have different TA values as also stated in [0060], lines 11-16. [0066] states “The UE adjusts transmission timing of uplink transmissions in the first slot based on a first timing advance information and adjusts transmission timing of uplink transmissions in the second slot based on a second timing advance information”). That means the first TCI has TAG identifier and TA value that are different from those for second TCI stat, which means the first and second TCI states are associated with different TAG identifiers and TA values), and the second slot is succeeding and adjacent to the first slot ([0085]-[0086] explicitly state the first slot starts before the beginning of the timing of the second slot, e.g., the first slot starts earlier then the second one, and the two slots are adjacent in time domain. [0112], lines 1-4 confirms that the first time period and the second time period are adjacent in time domain, or wherein the first time period starts earlier than the second time period);
Guo does not explicitly teach receive, while applying a first transmission configuration indicator state for uplink transmissions, a downlink-control-information-based beam indication or beam switch indicating that a second transmission configuration indicator state for uplink transmissions is to be applied for the user equipment;
However, John Wilson teaches receive, while applying a first transmission configuration indicator state for uplink transmissions, a downlink-control-information-based beam indication or beam switch indicating that a second transmission configuration indicator state for uplink transmissions is to be applied for the user equipment ([0005] states “A base station may transmit downlink control information (DCI) to the UE to update TCI states (e.g., based on current channel conditions),” [0006] states “A base station may transmit an indication that such DCI based control beam switching is enabled. The DCI may include a TCI state, where the TCI state may be associated with a first or second subset of TCI states. The UE may, based on whether the TCI state belongs to the first subset of TCI states or the second subset of TCI states, trigger a beam switching operation.” and [0007] states “The method may further include receiving, from the base station, DCI indicating a TCI state, where the indicated TCI state is associated with one of a first subset of TCI states or a second subset of TCI states.” See also [0023], [0055] and claim 10. These sections confirm that the BS can send a message, to instruct the UE, as a beam indication or beam switch indicating that the second TCI state for uplink transmissions is to be applied (switched with the first TCI state) for uplink transmission).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Guo to incorporate the teaching of John Wilson (in analogous art) by receiving, while applying the first transmission configuration indicator state, a beam indication or beam switch indicating that the second transmission configuration indicator state for uplink transmissions is to be applied for the user equipment to support efficient techniques for dynamically updating a set of TCI states configured for indicating (John Wilson, [0054]).
Guo and John Wilson do not explicitly teach and, based on an initial beam application time, the second transmission configuration indicator state is applied in a second slot, and a second timing advance value larger than the first timing advance value; based at least on the second timing advance value being larger than the first timing advance value, change the initial beam application time of the user equipment by adding a number of symbols into the initial beam application time to produce a changed beam application time; determine, based on the changed beam application time, a third slot for first application of the second transmission configuration indicator state; and apply the second transmission configuration indicator state from the third slot onward.
However, Yang teaches and based on an initial beam application time, the second transmission configuration indicator state is applied in a second slot (Para. 1 Page 12 states “ the BAT of the CC belonging to the first TAG may be the first slot, and the BAT of the CC belonging to the second TAG may be the second slot.” See also Para. 8 Page 16 that describes the second TAG (second TCI state) based on the initial BAT, beam application time, and the related timing advances. Thus, the second TCI state is applied in the second slot which is determined based on the initial BAT, see Para. 10 Page 28), and a second timing advance value larger than the first timing advance value (Para. 2 Page 8 states “if the time of the first symbol is t1, the time difference between the Corresponding to the TAG to which the ACK belongs and the TA corresponding to the first TAG is t2,and if the TA corresponding to the TAG to which the ACK belongs is greater than the first For a TA corresponding to a TAG, the time of the timing start symbol is (t1+t2).” See also Para. 3 Page 10 and example in Para. 4 Page 10 which confirms that the second timing advance value larger than the first timing advance value); based at least on the second timing advance value being larger than the first timing advance value, change the initial beam application time of the user equipment by adding a number of symbols into the initial beam application time to produce a changed beam application time (Para. 1, Page 3 states “The BAT of the BWP of the CCs belonging to each TAG in the group can make the beams of the BWPs of the CCs belonging to the same TAG in the target BWP group take effect at the same time, that is, the beams of the BWPs of the CCs belonging to the same TAG can be aligned, so that Data transfer is done correctly. “That implies the BAT can be aligned (changed) across different CCs or BWP within TAGs for proper transmission of data. This describes when different CCs and BWPs have different TAGs may have different TA values, which can result in misalignment in time slots and symbols and then BAT is determined for each TAG to align the time slots and symbols as stated in Para. 9, Page 7 and Para. 5 Page 2, Para. 5 Page 7, Parag. 1 Page 3, and Para. 4 Page 27 also confirm that changing of beam application time of the apparatus for correct data transmission, which confirm the changing based on the difference between Tas of different TAGs, for example in Para. 3 Page 8, the BAT will be shifted by 2 symbols, adding number of symbols to the initial BAT); determine, based on the changed beam application time, a third slot for first application of the second transmission configuration indicator state (Para. 13 Page 6 describes how the apparatus calculates the timing start symbol and determines the next slot on the time domain resources that corresponding to the CC or BWP via the process that includes calculating the next slot using the timing start symbol (as shown in Example 4 on page 9 which states “And, map T0 (that is, the first symbol) to the second time point TAG3-T2 (that is, the timing start symbol corresponding to TAG3) on the time domain resource corresponding to CC2, and then count Y from TAG3-T2 according to the SCS of CC2 symbols, the first slot located after the Yth symbol (TAG3-T6) is used as the first slot corresponding to TAG3, so that the first slot is used as the BAT of the CC belonging to TAG3. Another examples about determining the slot based on the changed BAT of the apparatus have been highlighted on pages 7-8); and apply the second transmission configuration indicator state from the third slot onward (Paras. 7-8 Page 13 state “when the target CC is the CC where the ACK is located, in the target CC group, the BAT of the CC belonging to the same TAG group is the third slot. Wherein, the above third slot may be the first slot located after the fourth symbol on the time domain resource corresponding to the third CC, and the third CC may be the CC with the smallest SCS in the same TAG group. “ That means applying the transmission from the next slot, third slot onward. Para. 7 Page 22 states “based on the above case 2, the BAT of the BWP of the CC belonging to the third TAG may be the fourth slot; the BAT of the BWP of the CC belonging to the fourth TAG may be the fifth slot.” That implies the system allows the BAT (and the TCI state) to be assigned in any slot, including the third slot or onward based on the configuration and TA values, see also Para. 10 Page 19, Para. 5 Page 26 show examples support that the BAT (corresponding to the second TCI is assigned to the third slot or later depends on the configuration and mapping of the TA values and TAGs, Paras 1-4 Page 36).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Guo in view of John Wilson to incorporate the teaching of Yang (in analogous art) by including based on an initial beam application time, the second transmission configuration indicator state is applied in a second slot for correctly determine the next slot for the data transmission (Yang, Para. 1 Page 33).
Regarding claim 27 (New), Guo, John Wilson and Yang teach the apparatus of claim 21,
Guo and John Wilson do not explicitly teach wherein determining the third slot comprises determining the third slot as a slot succeeding and adjacent to the second slot.
However, Yang teaches wherein determining the third slot comprises determining the third slot as a slot succeeding and adjacent to the second slot (Pare. 9 Page 10 and Paras. 10-13 Page 28 show that the slots are numbered in continuous sequential way, and the third slot is the next slot, right after the second slot. Figs. 3-18 illustrate the slot progress in a linear consecutive order such as the first slot is followed by the second slot, and so on, see also Para. 10 Page 40).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Guo in view of John Wilson to incorporate the teaching of Yang (in analogous art) by including based on an initial beam application time, the second transmission configuration indicator state is applied in a second slot for correctly determine the next slot for the data transmission (Yang, Para. 1 Page 33).
Regarding claim 28 (New), Guo, John Wilson and Yang teach the apparatus of claim 21, wherein
Guo and John Wilson do not explicitly teach determining the third slot is based at least on determining whether uplink transmission is scheduled on both a slot where the first transmission configuration indicator state is applicable and a slot where the second transmission configuration indicator state is applicable.
However, Yang teaches determining the third slot is based at least on determining whether uplink transmission is scheduled on both a slot where the first transmission configuration indicator state is applicable and a slot where the second transmission configuration indicator state is applicable (Para. 13 Page 28 states” Optionally, in the target CC group, the BAT of CCs belonging to the same TAG group is the third slot; wherein, the third slot is the first slot after the fourth symbol on the time domain resource corresponding to the third CC, The third CC is the CC with the smallest SCS in the same TAG group.” Apra. 1 Page 15 states “ the first slot is mapped to a time point on the time domain resource corresponding to CC1 (that is, the third CC above), and the next slot after the time point on the time domain resource corresponding to CC1 is used as the BAT of the CC belonging to TAG2 .” That implies the determining the BAT for the second TCI state to start from the slot 3 or any subsequent available slot if slot 2 is skipped or unavailable).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Guo in view of John Wilson in view of Matsumura1 to incorporate the teaching of Yang (in analogous art) by including based on an initial beam application time, the second transmission configuration indicator state is applied in a second slot for correctly determine the next slot for the data transmission (Yang, Para. 1 Page 33).
Regarding claim 29 (New), Guo, John Wilson and Yang teach the apparatus of claim 21,
Guo further teaches wherein at least one uplink transmission associated with the first slot or the second slot comprises at least one of a physical uplink shared channel, a physical uplink control channel, or a sounding reference signal ([0052] describes that the uplink transmission, whether for the first or the second slot, could be physical uplink shared channel, physical uplink control channel, or sounding reference signal as states “uplink signal” can be PUCCH, PUSCH, SRS or PRACH”. [0117] states “each of the first transmission and the second transmission comprises at least one of a transmission occasion of an uplink signal comprising PUCCH, PUSCH, SRS or PRACH, or a repetition of the uplink signal and wherein the transmission information comprises at least one of information grouping one or more reference signals ….. a timing advance offset of a transmission information”).
Claim 30 (New), Guo, John Wilson and Yang teach the apparatus of claim 21,
Guo and John Wilson do not explicitly teach wherein the apparatus determines that the second transmission configuration indicator state is applicable one slot later than the second transmission configuration indicator state would be applicable if timing remained the same .
However, Yang teaches wherein the apparatus determines that the second transmission configuration indicator state is applicable one slot later than the second transmission configuration indicator state would be applicable if timing remained the same (Para. 5 Page 9 Para. 6 Page 12, Example 3 and Example 5 and related figures (refer to citation of “V” in the PTO-892 of the clarified Google translation for the figures of (WO-2023072087-A1)) that illustrate the scenario when the TA for one TAG is greater than the other, the slot for beam application (and thus the TCI state) is shifted accordingly. That can result in the second TCI state, for example, being applicable one slot later than it would be if the Tas are equally long. Paras. 2-3 Page 8 states “if the time of the first symbol is t1, the time difference between the Corresponding to the TAG to which the ACK belongs and the TA corresponding to the first TAG is t2,and if the TA corresponding to the TAG to which the ACK belongs is greater than the first For a TA corresponding to a TAG, the time of the timing start symbol is (t1+t2).” And “the timing start symbol determined according to the TA corresponding to the first TAG and the TA corresponding to the TAG to which the CC where the ACK belongs is 2 symbols behind in time compared to the symbol on the time domain resource corresponding to the CC where the ACK is located. “See also Para. 3 Page 10 and example in Para. 4 Page 10 which confirms that the second timing advance value larger than the first timing advance value ).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Guo in view of John Wilson to incorporate the teaching of Yang (in analogous art) by including based on an initial beam application time, the second transmission configuration indicator state is applied in a second slot for correctly determine the next slot for the data transmission (Yang, Para. 1 Page 33).
Regarding claim 31 (New), Guo, John Wilson and Yang teach the apparatus of claim 30,
Guo and John Wilson do not explicitly teach wherein the determination that the second transmission configuration indicator state is applicable one slot later is based on the second timing advance value being larger than the first timing advance value
However, Yang teaches wherein the determination that the second transmission configuration indicator state is applicable one slot later is based on the second timing advance value being larger than the first timing advance value (Para. 5 Page 9 Para. 6 Page 12, Example 3 and Example 5 and related figures (refer to the translated version of these figures) illustrate the scenario when the TA for one TAG is greater than the other, the slot for beam application (and thus the TCI state) is shifted accordingly. That can result in the second TCI state, for example, being applicable one slot later than it would be if the Tas are equally long. Paras. 2-3 Page 8 states “if the time of the first symbol is t1, the time difference between the Corresponding to the TAG to which the ACK belongs and the TA corresponding to the first TAG is t2,and if the TA corresponding to the TAG to which the ACK belongs is greater than the first For a TA corresponding to a TAG, the time of the timing start symbol is (t1+t2).” And “the timing start symbol determined according to the TA corresponding to the first TAG and the TA corresponding to the TAG to which the CC where the ACK belongs is 2 symbols behind in time compared to the symbol on the time domain resource corresponding to the CC where the ACK is located. “See also Para. 3 Page 10 and example in Para. 4 Page 10 which confirms that the second timing advance value larger than the first timing advance value).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Guo in view of John Wilson to incorporate the teaching of Yang (in analogous art) by including based on an initial beam application time, the second transmission configuration indicator state is applied in a second slot for correctly determine the next slot for the data transmission (Yang, Para. 1 Page 33).
As to claims 34, 37-39, see similar rejection to claims 21, 27, 29-30, respectively. The apparatus teaches the method.
Claims 22-23, and 40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guo et al. (US-20240251362-A1), in view of John Wilson et al. (US- 20190222289-A1), in view of Yang (WO-2023072087-A1), refer to citation of “U” in the PTO-892 of the clarified Google translation of (WO-2023072087-A1), and further in view of Matsumura et al. (WO-2023085353-A1), hereinafter referred to as “Matsumura1”, refer to citation of “W” in the PTO-892 of the clarified Google translation of (WO-2023085353-A1).
Regarding claim 22 (New), Guo, John Wilson and Yang teach the apparatus of claim 21,
Guo, John Wilson and Yang do not explicitly teach wherein the initial beam application time is determined after a last symbol of a physical uplink control channel carrying an acknowledgment in response to the downlink-control-information-based beam indication or beam switch.
However, Matsumura1 teaches wherein the initial beam application time is determined after a last symbol of a physical uplink control channel carrying an acknowledgment in response to the downlink-control-information-based beam indication or beam switch (Paras. 4-5 Page 10, Paras. 8 , 10 Page 12, and Paras. 12-13 Page 13 provides the timing for determining the BAT after a PUCCH/PUSCH carrying an ACK/NACK for beam pointing, where HARQ-ACK information corresponding to DCI, ACK corresponding to DCI, as states “BAT may be the first slot after at least Y symbols from the last symbol of transmission of ACK for beam-directed DCI, or at least from the last symbol of transmission of ACK/NACK for beam-directed DCI.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Guo in view of John Wilson in view of Yang to incorporate the teaching of Matsumura1 (in analogous art) by including the initial beam application time is determined after a last symbol of a physical uplink control channel carrying an acknowledgment in response to the downlink-control-information-based beam indication for correctly determine the timing at which the TCI is applied (Matsumura1, Para. 3 Page 11).
Regarding claim 23 (New), Guo, John Wilson, Yang and Matsumura1 teach the apparatus of claim 22,
Guo and John Wilson do not explicitly teach wherein the first slot and the initial beam application time are determined on a carrier having a smallest subcarrier spacing among carriers applying the downlink-control-information-based beam indication or beam switch.
However, Yang teaches wherein the first slot and the initial beam application time are determined on a carrier having a smallest subcarrier spacing among carriers applying the downlink-control-information-based beam indication (Case 1: The reference CC is the first CC, and the first CC is the CC with the smallest SCS in the first TAG. See also case 2, Para 5 Page 35 and the examples in Para. 4 Page 9 and Para. 6 Page 16. That provide the reference for BAT and slot determination is the CC with smallest SCS among the relevant carriers , either within a TAG or within target group. ) or beam switch.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Guo in view of John Wilson in view of Matsumura1 to incorporate the teaching of Yang (in analogous art) by including based on an initial beam application time, the second transmission configuration indicator state is applied in a second slot for correctly determine the next slot for the data transmission (Yang, Para. 1 Page 33).
As to claims 35-36, see similar rejection to claims 22-23, respectively. The apparatus teaches the method.
Regarding claim 40 (New), Guo, John Wilson and Yang teach the method of claim 34,
Guo teaches the first transmission configuration indicator state is associated with the first timing advance group identifier and the first timing advance value; the second transmission configuration indicator state is associated with the second timing advance group identifier and the second timing advance value ([0061] and [0117] describe that the transmission resource information can be a TCI state, where the abstract clearly state that timing advance information including a first timing advance TA information and a second timing advance TA information; receiving, transmission resource information /TCI associated with transmission information; determining a first transmission timing for a first transmission associated with a first transmission resource information (first TCI state) based on the first timing advance TA information and a second transmission timing for a second transmission associated with a second transmission resource information/second TCI state based on the second timing advance TA information, that confirms each TCI state has different TA information. [0023] lines 4-6 states “Normally, a network configures multiple Time Alignment Groups (TAG) to indicate timing advance for multiple serving cells and each TAG includes one or more serving cells.” and lines 7-9 states “The base station transmits a TAC associated with a TAG, and the UE applies the TAC to determine timing advance for all serving cells in the TAG”, [0066], lines 9-14 states “When the first timing advance information and the second timing advance information are different from each other, different timing advances are applied to the first slot and the second slot based on the first timing advance information and the second timing information.” That implies the first TAG identifier and the second TAG identifier are distinct because they correspond to different set of serving cells and may have different TA values as also stated in [0060], lines 11-16. [0066] states “The UE adjusts transmission timing of uplink transmissions in the first slot based on a first timing advance information and adjusts transmission timing of uplink transmissions in the second slot based on a second timing advance information”). That means the first TCI has TAG identifier and TA value that are different from those for second TCI stat, which means the first and second TCI states are associated with different TAG identifiers and TA values),
Guo, does not explicitly teach wherein the third slot is determined according to a timing relationship in which: an acknowledgment for downlink control information indicating the second transmission configuration indicator state precedes the initial beam application time and the second transmission configuration indicator state is applicable after the changed beam application time when the second timing advance value is larger than the first timing advance value.
However, Matsumura1 teaches wherein the third slot is determined according to a timing relationship in which: an acknowledgment for downlink control information indicating the second transmission configuration indicator state precedes the initial beam application time ( Study 1 in Page 10 provides that the shifting to the next slot/third slot for applying a new TCI state/second TCI can be determined based on the timing relationship where the ACK for the DCI indicating the new/second TCI state precedes the initial BAT. Para. 10 Page 12 describes that the BAT may be the first slot after at least Y symbols after the last symbol of transmission of ACK for beam-directed DCI that trigger the new TCL state, where “a control unit that applies the TCI state to at least one of multiple types of channels and signals at a timing after at least a specific time from uplink transmission based on the DCI format”, see Para. 2 Page 32, and the UE may update the indicated beam (TCI state) at a specific time after sending its ACK, see Paras. 2-4 Page 13. That implies the UE waits for the next available uplink slot to apply the new TCI state if the initial slot after the BAT is not suitable);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Guo in view of John Wilson in view of Yang to incorporate the teaching of Matsumura1 (in analogous art) by including the initial beam application time is determined after a last symbol of a physical uplink control channel carrying an acknowledgment in response to the downlink-control-information-based beam indication for correctly determine the timing at which the TCI is applied (Matsumura1, Para. 3 Page 11).
Yang further teaches and the second transmission configuration indicator state is applicable after the changed beam application time when the second timing advance value is larger than the first timing advance value (Para. 2 Page 8 states “if the time of the first symbol is t1, the time difference between the Corresponding to the TAG to which the ACK belongs and the TA corresponding to the first TAG is t2,and if the TA corresponding to the TAG to which the ACK belongs is greater than the first For a TA corresponding to a TAG, the time of the timing start symbol is (t1+t2).” See also Para. 3 Page 10 and example in Para. 4 Page 10 which confirms that the second timing advance value larger than the first timing advance value. Para. 1, Page 3 states “The BAT of the BWP of the CCs belonging to each TAG in the group can make the beams of the BWPs of the CCs belonging to the same TAG in the target BWP group take effect at the same time, that is, the beams of the BWPs of the CCs belonging to the same TAG can be aligned, so that Data transfer is done correctly. “That implies the BAT can be aligned (changed) across different CCs or BWP within TAGs for proper transmission of data. This describes when different CCs and BWPs have different TAGs may have different TA values, which can result in misalignment in time slots and symbols and then BAT is determined for each TAG to align the time slots and symbols as stated in Para. 9, Page 7 and Para. 5 Page 2, Para. 5 Page 7, Parag. 1 Page 3, and Para. 4 Page 27 also confirm that changing of beam application time of the apparatus for correct data transmission, which confirm the changing based on the difference between Tas of different TAGs, for example in Para. 3 Page 8, the BAT will be shifted by 2 symbols, adding number of symbols to the initial BAT. Para. 13 Page 6 describes how the apparatus calculates the timing start symbol and determines the next slot on the time domain resources that corresponding to the CC or BWP via the process that includes calculating the next slot using the timing start symbol (as shown in Example 4 on page 9 which states “And, map T0 (that is, the first symbol) to the second time point TAG3-T2 (that is, the timing start symbol corresponding to TAG3) on the time domain resource corresponding to CC2, and then count Y from TAG3-T2 according to the SCS of CC2 symbols, the first slot located after the Yth symbol (TAG3-T6) is used as the first slot corresponding to TAG3, so that the first slot is used as the BAT of the CC belonging to TAG3. Another examples about determining the slot based on the changed BAT of the apparatus have been highlighted on pages 7-8. The above confirms that the second TCI state is applicable after the changed beam application time when the second TA value is larger than the first TA value and the second TCI state can be applied in the third/next slot.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Guo in view of John Wilson in view of Matsumura1 to incorporate the teaching of Yang (in analogous art) by including based on an initial beam application time, the second transmission configuration indicator state is applied in a second slot for correctly determine the next slot for the data transmission (Yang, Para. 1 Page 33).
Claims 24-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guo et al. (US-20240251362-A1), in view of John Wilson et al. (US- 20190222289-A1) in view of Yang (WO-2023072087-A1), refer to citation of “U” in the PTO-892 of the clarified Google translation of (WO-2023072087-A1), and further in view of Farag et al. (US-20230299902-A1).
Regarding claim 24 (New), Guo, John Wilson and Yang teach the apparatus of claim 21,
Guo, John Wilson and Yang do not explicitly teach wherein each of the first transmission configuration indicator state and the second transmission configuration indicator state is a joint or uplink transmission configuration indicator state.
However, Farag teaches wherein each of the first transmission configuration indicator state and the second transmission configuration indicator state is a joint or uplink transmission configuration indicator state ([0121] explicitly states “(1) in case of joint TCI state indication, wherein a same beam is used for DL and UL channels, a joint TCI state that can be used at least for UE-dedicated DL channels and UE-dedicated UL channels; (2) in case of separate TCI state indication, wherein different beams are used for DL and UL channels, a DL TCI state that can be used at least for UE-dedicated DL channels; or (3) in case of separate TCI state indication, wherein different beams are used for DL and UL channels, a UL TCI state that can be used at least for UE-dedicated UL channels.” That implies the first and second TCI states can be a joint or uplink TCI states, see also [0125] and [0406]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Guo in view of John Wilson in view of Yang to incorporate the teaching of Farag (in analogous art) by including each of the first transmission configuration indicator state and the second transmission configuration indicator state is a joint or uplink transmission configuration indicator state to flexibly accommodate various services/applications with different requirements, new multiple access schemes to support massive connections, and so on. (Farag, [0009]).
Regarding claim 25 (New), Guo, John Wilson, Yang and Matsumura teach the apparatus of claim 24,
Guo, John Wilson and Yang do not explicitly teach wherein, for uplink transmission, a timing advance group identifier associated with the joint or uplink transmission configuration indicator state is used.
However, Farag teaches wherein, for uplink transmission, a timing advance group identifier associated with the joint or uplink transmission configuration indicator state is used ([0293] provides that the TA values and TAG can be associated with both UL and DL TCI states, see also [0406] and [0362] that illustrate the reference signals (such as SSBs or CSI-RS) are associated with TAGs, and these signals also linked to the TCI states (joint, UL, or DL) see [0226] and [0406], where [0239] also states “A UE is configured to measure the DL delta propagation delay of DL reference signals. The UE is configured or determines a reference signal (RS1) to use for DL reference timing. For example, the reference signal can be a reference associated with a source RS (e.g., QCL Type D or spatial relation source RS) of an indicated TCI state. The indicated TCI state can be a joint TCI state or an UL TCI state.” [0363], Figs. 16-21 and Table 1 describe how TAGs are mapped to the TRPs and panels or cells, and the reference signals, which are then associated with TCI states.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Guo in view of John Wilson in view of Yang to incorporate the teaching of Farag (in analogous art) by including each of the first transmission configuration indicator state and the second transmission configuration indicator state is a joint or uplink transmission configuration indicator state to flexibly accommodate various services/applications with different requirements, new multiple access schemes to support massive connections, and so on. (Farag, [0009]).
Regarding claim 26 (New), Guo, John Wilson, Yang and Matsumura teach the apparatus of claim 25,
Guo, John Wilson and Yang do not explicitly teach wherein activated joint or uplink transmission configuration indicator states of uplink signals or uplink channels associated with one control resource set pool index correspond to both the first timing advance group identifier and the second timing advance group identifier.
However, Farag teaches wherein activated joint or uplink transmission configuration indicator states of uplink signals or uplink channels associated with one control resource set pool index correspond to both the first timing advance group identifier and the second timing advance group identifier ([0202] , [0242]-[0244] and [0293] provide a TA group can be associated with an entity, wherein the entity index can be: (1) TRP index; (2) PCI; (3) CORESETPOOLindex; (4) SSB index; and (5) TA group index. For example, a first TA group is associated with a first entity (e.g., TRP or cell or panel or CORESETPOOLIndex). A second TA group is associated with a second entity (e.g., TRP or cell or panel or CORESETPOOLIndex), where the first and second TAGs are associated with different TCL states, such as first and second TCL states [01125], [0293] and [0416]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Guo in view of John Wilson in view of Yang to incorporate the teaching of Farag (in analogous art) by including each of the first transmission configuration indicator state and the second transmission configuration indicator state is a joint or uplink transmission configuration indicator state to flexibly accommodate various services/applications with different requirements, new multiple access schemes to support massive connections, and so on. (Farag, [0009]).
Claim 32 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guo et al. (US-20240251362-A1), in view of John Wilson et al. (US- 20190222289-A1) in view of Yang (WO-2023072087-A1), refer to citation of “U” in the PTO-892 of the clarified Google translation of (WO-2023072087-A1), and further in view of Matsumura et al. (US-20250016868-A1), hereinafter referred to as “Matsumura2”).
Regarding claim 32 (New), Guo, John Wilson, and Yang teach the apparatus of claim 21, wherein the at least one memory and the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus at least to
Guo, John Wilson and Yang do not explicitly teach report, to a network entity, downlink reference signals of different transmission configuration indicator states with different capability index values in a layer-1 beam report.
However, Matsumura2 teaches report, to a network entity, downlink reference signals of different transmission configuration indicator states with different capability index values in a layer-1 beam report (Fig. 5, [0041]-[0042], [0151] and [0178] illustrates that the UE can report downlink signals that associated with different TCI states in its Layer1 (L1 beam report such as the L1-RSRP, the UE may transmit both of a DL beam/TCI state and a UL beam/TCI state as one report [0178], and the UE may use two separate non-group based beam reports. The UE may update a 1st TCI state in each set based on a 1st beam report, and update a 2nd TCI state in each set based on a 2nd beam report [0168]. [0209] describes the UE may transmit (report) UE capability information indicating (different capability index values) whether to support the examples in the present disclosure to a network (base station), that may be applied only to the UE that has transmitted specific UE capability information or the UE that supports the specific UE capability. These capabilities can be related to the DL RS and UE panel/panel group as described in [0122]-[0123] and [0128], where the UE performs UL transmission to the one or plurality of TRPs by using one or a plurality of panels [0063]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Guo in view of John Wilson in view of Yang to incorporate the teaching of Matsumura2 (in analogous art) by including report, to a network entity, downlink reference signals of different transmission configuration indicator states with different capability index values in a layer-1 beam report for supporting multi-TRP and advance scenarios (Matsumura2, [0063]).
Claim 33 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guo et al. (US-20240251362-A1), in view of John Wilson et al. (US- 20190222289-A1) in view of Yang (WO-2023072087-A1), refer to citation of “U” in the PTO-892 of the clarified Google translation of (WO-2023072087-A1), in view of Matsumura et al. (US-20250016868-A1), hereinafter referred to as “Matsumura2” ,and further in view of Tidestav et al. (US-20240348302-A1).
Regarding claim 33 (New), Guo, John Wilson, Yang, and Matsumura2 teach the apparatus of claim 32,
Guo, John Wilson, Yang, and Matsumura2 do not explicitly teach wherein the different capability index values indicate that different panels are used, and wherein the apparatus is able to perform uplink transmissions on adjacent slots where the first transmission configuration indicator state and the second transmission configuration indicator state are applied.
However, Tidestav teaches wherein the different capability index values indicate that different panels are used ([0022] and [0038] describe how the DL RS related to the capability of the UE and the UE report its max rank of its capability, see also [0047], [0083]-[0084]. [0144]-[0145] illustrate the different configuration for reporting, by the UE, based on the panels ( same/different) are used for different same or different beams/TCI states), and wherein the apparatus is able to perform uplink transmissions on adjacent slots where the first transmission configuration indicator state and the second transmission configuration indicator state are applied ([0004]-[0009] describe that the slot-based scheduling and each slot can be independently configured for UL transmission especially for NR (5G New Radio). [0047]-[0048] provide the network can assign different TCI states to different slots, including adjacent slots since they have different panels. [0147-]- [0148] also confirm that, as states “Each beam group consists of 2 beams wherein the 2 beams within each beam group can be received simultaneously by a UE using different UE panels. The 2 beams may also be used to simultaneously transmit to two different beam directions using different UE panels“).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to someone of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Guo in view of John Wilson in view of Yang in view of Matsumura2 to incorporate the teaching of Tidestav (in analogous art) by including the apparatus is able to perform uplink transmissions on adjacent slots where the first transmission configuration indicator state and the second transmission configuration indicator state are applied supports a diverse set of use cases and a diverse set of deployment scenarios. (Tidestav, [0002]).
Relevant Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's
disclosure.
Zhang et al. (US-20220330192-A1), Zhang et al. (US-11985617-B2), Harada et al. (US-20240172158-A1), Lim et al. (US-20180279334-A1), Bai et al. (US-20240284475-A1) and Jang et al. (US-20220353698-A1) and Go et al. (WO-2023140679-A1 ) teach methods for reporting multiple transmission and reception with considering of increasing number of users and devices in the 5G/6G network systems.
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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/SANAA AL SAMAHI/Examiner, Art Unit 2463
/ASAD M NAWAZ/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2463
