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 .
Priority
Should applicant desire to obtain the benefit of foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) prior to declaration of an interference, a certified English translation of the foreign application must be submitted in reply to this action. 37 CFR 41.154(b) and 41.202(e).
Failure to provide a certified translation may result in no benefit being accorded for the non-English application.
Applicant cannot rely upon the certified copy of the foreign priority application to overcome this rejection because a translation of said application has not been made of record in accordance with 37 CFR 1.55. When an English language translation of a non-English language foreign application is required, the translation must be that of the certified copy (of the foreign application as filed) submitted together with a statement that the translation of the certified copy is accurate. See MPEP §§ 215 and 216.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 23-41 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(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) 23-26, 29-35, 37, 39-41 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Venugopal et al (US 2021/0306994 A1).
Regarding claim 23, 31 & 32, Venugopal discloses apparatuses and a method comprising:
at least one processor (see processor [0008]); and
at least one memory storing instructions which, when executed by the at least one
processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform:
receiving/sending (see receiving means [0044] or see transmitting), from a base station (see fig. 1, note Macro BS)/to a user equipment (see fig. 1/fig. 3), an indication of at least one group of
downlink reference signals for tracking (see [0047], “The downlink reference signal can be a synchronization signal block (SSB), a tracking reference signal (IRS)”), by the apparatus, downlink reception time to use for timing of uplink transmissions at the apparatus (see main basis of invention, “adjusting uplink transmit timing for an uplink transmission based on the timing parameter.’);
tracking , for timing of uplink transmissions at the apparatus (see “setting uplink timing based on …the UL beam is indicated by a QCL reference to a DL NZP-CSI-RS or SSB. The UE is configured with a TRS quasi-co-located with the same NZP-CSI-RS or SSB. The UE estimates the power delay profile (PDP) of the DL multipath channel from the TRS, as seen in FIG. 4”, therefore as further shown in fig. 3, at TRS1 assocatited with Tx beam 1 and trs2 beam assocatied with tx beam 2, and uplink timing adjustment is determined by parameters in [0007] or [0067] ), at least one downlink reference signal within each of the at least one group of downlink reference signals (see [0068] “use a specific DL RS (or a set of RSs”).
Regarding claims 24 and 33, Venugopal discloses the apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the reference signals within each group are interchangeable for tracking, by the apparatus, downlink reception time to use for timing of uplink transmissions at the apparatus (see [0078], “The method of any of the preceding clauses, in which setting the timing parameter comprises setting the timing parameter by calculating a beam specific timing advance, in which the QCL source reference signal comprises a downlink reference signal including a TRS (tracking reference signal),”).
Regarding claims 25 and 34, Venugopal discloses the apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the base station groups at least two downlink reference signals into the at least one group of downlink reference signals, wherein the apparatus comprises instructions, when executed by the at least one processor,
further cause the apparatus at least to perform:
sending, to the base station, an indication that the apparatus can track a first
number of groups (see [0123], “The apparatus of any of the clauses 25-27, in which the at least one processor is configured to transmit a timing advance command including at least one sub-timing advance group (TAG) index,”);
wherein the base station groups the at least two downlink reference signals into a second
number of groups, the second number of groups being not greater than the first number of
groups (see [0123], “The apparatus of any of the clauses 25-27, in which the at least one processor is configured to transmit a timing advance command including at least one sub-timing advance group (TAG) index,” also see “groups” therefore indicating a second).
Regarding claims 26 and 37, Venugopal discloses the apparatus according to claim 25, wherein the apparatus comprises instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus at least to perform:
means for sending a grouping indication to the base station, the grouping indication
indicating how to group a number of downlink reference signals into the at least one group of
downlink reference signals (([0086] 6. The method of any of the preceding clauses, further comprising indicating a maximum number of sub-timing advance groups (TAGs) supported by the UE. [0087] 7. The method of any of the preceding clauses, further comprising receiving an indication of a number of sub-timing advance groups));
wherein the base station groups the at least two downlink reference signals based on the
grouping indication (([0086] 6. The method of any of the preceding clauses, further comprising indicating a maximum number of sub-timing advance groups (TAGs) supported by the UE. [0087] 7. The method of any of the preceding clauses, further comprising receiving an indication of a number of sub-timing advance groups)).
Regarding claim 29 and 40, the apparatus according to claim 23,
wherein the indication of at least one group of downlink reference signals (see [0023], “The QCL type indicates the time, frequency, and spatial relationship with the source reference signal”) comprises an
indication that downlink reference signals within a group have a QCL type relative to each other (see QCL, [0023]), wherein the downlink reference signals within a group have a QCL type (see QCL type [0023]) relative to each other when the downlink reference signals have similar propagation delay (see propagation delay [0026]).
Regarding claim 30 and 41, The apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the apparatus
comprises instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus
at least to perform:
means for-receiving, from the base station and after receiving the indication of at least
one group of downlink reference signals, a second indication of one or more groups of downlink
reference signals ([0086] 6. The method of any of the preceding clauses, further comprising indicating a maximum number of sub-timing advance groups (TAGs) supported by the UE. [0087] 7. The method of any of the preceding clauses, further comprising receiving an indication of a number of sub-timing advance groups),
wherein the second indication indicates a different grouping of the downlink reference
signals,
wherein the different grouping is triggered by at least one of:
an indication sent from the apparatus to the base station (see indication [0086]);
an expiry of a pre-defined time period; or
performance degradation observed at the base station (see impaired performance [0055]).
Regarding claim 35, Venugopal discloses the apparatus according to claim 34, wherein the apparatus
comprises instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus
at least to perform:
means for receiving, from the user equipment, an indication that the user equipment can
track a first number of groups ([0086] 6. The method of any of the preceding clauses, further comprising indicating a maximum number of sub-timing advance groups (TAGs) supported by the UE. [0087] 7. The method of any of the preceding clauses, further comprising receiving an indication of a number of sub-timing advance groups);
wherein the means for performing the grouping groups the at least two downlink
reference signals into a second number of groups, the second number of groups being not greater
than the first number of groups (([0086] 6. The method of any of the preceding clauses, further comprising indicating a maximum number of sub-timing advance groups (TAGs) supported by the UE. [0087] 7. The method of any of the preceding clauses, further comprising receiving an indication of a number of sub-timing advance groups).
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.
Claim(s) 27-28 & 38 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Venugopal et al (US 2021/0306994 a1 A1) in view of Zhu et al. (US 20220085943 A1).
Regarding claims 27 and 38, Venugopal discloses the apparatus according to claim 23 and apparatus of claim 32,
However, Zhu best discloses wherein the indication of at least one group of downlink reference signals comprises an association of downlink reference signals to a coresetPoolIndex (see Zhu coresetpoolindex [0138]);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to combine the teachings of Nam with that Ji. Doing so would conform to well-known standards in the field of invention.
Regarding claim 28, Venugopal discloses the apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the indication of at least one group of downlink reference signals (see downlink reference signal [0023]) comprises an association of Quasi Co-Location (QCL) TypeA (see QCL and Type A, [0023]) source downlink reference signal of a Transmission Configuration Indicator(TCI) state (see TCI state , [0023])
However, Zhu best discloses TCI State of a particular CORESET to a particular coresetPoolIndex (see Zhu coresetpoolindex [0138]);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to combine the teachings of Nam with that Ji. Doing so would conform to well-known standards in the field of invention.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 36 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to K. WILFORD SHAHEED whose telephone number is (469) 295-9175. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 9 am-6pm; CST; ALT Friday. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. The examiner’s Supervisor, Jinsong Hu, can be reached at (571)272-3965, where attempts to reach the examiner are unsuccessful.
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/KHALID W SHAHEED/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2643
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