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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1-5, 8-12, 14-18 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.
Applicant's arguments filed 07/16/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The applicant’s argument in pages 11-13, the applicant asserts the prior art of record fails to teach the claims with the amendment but as indicated in the office action below, the combination of ABEDINI et al. (US 20220053433) and ALI et al. (US 20230130003) with the new reference, RAGHAVAN et al. (US 20210075474), would teach the claims.
The rejection is maintained.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-5, 14-18 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the enablement requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to enable one skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and/or use the invention.
In the claims 1, 14 cite “…wherein a first beamforming weight is applied to the first amplified downlink signal by the base station…”, however in the specification in par. 127, 158, the base station generate a beamforming signal by applying a beamforming weight to the downlink signal then transmit the beamforming signal to the repeater, and then the repeater amplify the received beamforming signal and, then the repeater transmit the amplified downlink beamforming signal to the terminal but does not enable the base station to apply beamforming weight to the amplified downlink signal as in the claim. Therefore, the claims are not enabled.
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 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) 8, 9, 10, 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ABEDINI et al. (US 20220053433) in view of ALI et al. (US 20230130003) and RAGHAVAN et al. (US 20210075474).
Regarding claim 8, ABEDINI et al. (US 20220053433) teaches a method performed by a base station in a wireless communication system (par. 3, 134, 188, 353, 400, gNB, the network access node), the method comprising:
transmitting, to a repeater device, configuration information including a first index list and a second index list (par. 260, 261, receive an SSB configuration from a gNB and may provide a means for receiving a first configuration specifying a first quantity of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) to be transmitted by the repeater device…the first configuration may include SSB indices);
generating a downlink signal based on a feedback signal received from a user equipment (UE) (par. 98, 116, 136, 267, 271, 272, 274, 275, 315, receiving a measurement report from a user equipment based on a signal measurement by the user equipment while the repeater device is concurrently transmitting from the first antenna array and receiving from the second antenna array, wherein the determining that the repeater device cannot transmit from the first antenna array of the antenna arrays while concurrently receiving from the second antenna array of the antenna arrays is based on the measurement report);
identifying whether an index of the feedback signal is included in the repeater index list (par. 171, 172, The information of the expected received SSB beams at the smart repeater is needed at the smart repeater to indicate which SSB to be forwarded; 267, 271, 272, 274, 275, 315, generating an indication that the repeater device will use the second quantity of beams to transmit SSBs and transmitting the indication to a network access node);
in case that the index of the feedback signal is included in the repeater index list (par. 134, 188, 325, 327, 328, 331, 353, 400, the repeater device may determine a synchronization signal block (SSB) index value associated with the control signal and configure an output power of a transmitter of the repeater device according to the SSB index value), transmitting, to the UE via the repeater device, the downlink signal (par. 272, 426, the relaying the transmission between the network access node and the user equipment may include concurrently receiving a first transmission from the network access node and transmitting the first transmission to the user equipment, or concurrently receiving a second transmission from the user equipment and transmitting the second transmission to the network access node…the network access node may also determine a synchronization signal block (SSB) index value associated with the control signal and configure an output power of respective transmitters of the plurality of repeater devices according to the SSB index value);
However, ABEDINI does not teach identifying whether an index of the feedback signal is included in the first index list or the second index list;
in case that the index of the feedback signal is included in the first index list:
transmitting, to the UE via the repeater device, the downlink signal to which the first beamforming direction is applied; and
in case that the index of the feedback signal is included in the second index list:
transmitting, to the UE via the repeater device, the downlink signal to which a second beamforming direction is applied by the repeater device.
But, ALI et al. (US 20230130003) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches identifying whether an index of the feedback signal is included in the first index list or the second index list (par. 171, 172, The information of the expected received SSB beams at the smart repeater is needed at the smart repeater to indicate which SSB to be forwarded; par. 182, 185,the case of sweeping each 4 contiguous SSB at the smart repeater with SSB grouping factor 4 at the BS. SSBs 0, 1, 2, 3 503 are sent in one direction, while SSBs 4, 5, 6, 7 505 are sent in another direction by the BS 501);
in case that the index of the feedback signal is included in the first index list (par. 171, 172, The information of the expected received SSB beams at the smart repeater is needed at the smart repeater to indicate which SSB to be forwarded, ; par. 182, 185, the case of sweeping each 4 contiguous SSB at the smart repeater with SSB grouping factor 4 at the BS. SSBs 0, 1, 2, 3 503 are sent in one direction, while SSBs 4, 5, 6, 7 505 are sent in another direction by the BS 501…The smart repeater 604 is indicated in the configuration message 606 that for this burst to activate the transmission at SSB slots 0, 1 starting with initial angle −45 with an offset of 45 degrees for each next SSB, so that it transmits in the directions −45 and 0, while for the second burst it deactivates the transmission, and transmits again with the same configuration in SSB burst 3.):
transmitting, to the UE via the repeater device, the downlink signal to which the first beamforming direction is applied (par. 171, 172, 175, 176, 181, 182, 185, SSB beam direction indication for a smart repeater, a BS configures the repeater(s) with spatial information related to each SSB transmission. To allow a smart repeater to forward the received SSB beam to the intended direction, in one embodiment, the BS indicates to the smart repeater the direction or the Tx spatial information (e.g., phase shifters, TCI state) for forwarding the SSB beam. An association between the SSB beam ID transmitted from the BS and the forwarded beam ID from the repeater may be indicated for each SSB); and
in case that the index of the feedback signal is included in the second index list (par. 171, 172, The information of the expected received SSB beams at the smart repeater is needed at the smart repeater to indicate which SSB to be forwarded, ; par. 182, 185, the case of sweeping each 4 contiguous SSB at the smart repeater with SSB grouping factor 4 at the BS. SSBs 0, 1, 2, 3 503 are sent in one direction, while SSBs 4, 5, 6, 7 505 are sent in another direction by the BS 501…The smart repeater 604 is indicated in the configuration message 606 that for this burst to activate the transmission at SSB slots 0, 1 starting with initial angle −45 with an offset of 45 degrees for each next SSB, so that it transmits in the directions −45 and 0, while for the second burst it deactivates the transmission, and transmits again with the same configuration in SSB burst 3.):
transmitting, to the UE via the repeater device, the downlink signal to which a second beamforming direction is applied by the repeater device (par. 171, 172, 175, 176, 181, 182, 185, SSB beam direction indication for a smart repeater, a BS configures the repeater(s) with spatial information related to each SSB transmission. To allow a smart repeater to forward the received SSB beam to the intended direction, in one embodiment, the BS indicates to the smart repeater the direction or the Tx spatial information (e.g., phase shifters, TCI state) for forwarding the SSB beam. An association between the SSB beam ID transmitted from the BS and the forwarded beam ID from the repeater may be indicated for each SSB).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by ALI in the system of ABEDINI to forward or relay the signal.
The motivation would have been to reduce the footprint of the smart repeater coverage, or necessities using omni directional transmission at the smart repeater to cover as many UEs as possible.
However, ABEDINI does not teach applying a first beamforming weight to the downlink signal; the downlink signal to which the first beamforming weight is applied; and the downlink signal to which a second beamforming weight is applied by the repeater device;
But, RAGHAVAN et al. (US 20210075474) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches applying a first beamforming weight to the downlink signal (par. 96, 106, the relay node 504 may select a best beam pair (k.sub.2, m.sub.2) for the indirect access link, where k.sub.2 is a beamforming vector of beam weights that represents a direction for a best transmit beam for the indirect access link and m.sub.2 is a beamforming vector of beam weights that represents a direction for a best receive beam to be used by the base station 506 on the indirect access link); the downlink signal to which the first beamforming weight is applied (par. 96, 106, the relay node 504 may select a best beam pair (k.sub.2, m.sub.2) for the indirect access link, where k.sub.2 is a beamforming vector of beam weights that represents a direction for a best transmit beam for the indirect access link and m.sub.2 is a beamforming vector of beam weights that represents a direction for a best receive beam to be used by the base station 506 on the indirect access link); and the downlink signal to which a second beamforming weight is applied by the repeater device (par. 96, 100, 106, the UE 502 and the relay node 504 may select or otherwise coordinate a best beam pair (k.sub.3, m.sub.3) for the relay link, where k.sub.3 is a beamforming vector of beam weights that represents a direction for a best transmit beam for the relay link and m.sub.3 is a beamforming vector of beam weights that represents a direction for a best receive beam for the relay link);
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by RAGHAVAN in the system of ABEDINI and ALI to direct beam.
The motivation would have been to mitigate common impairments by using beam weighting.
Regarding claim 9, ABEDINI et al. (US 20220053433) teaches the method of claim 8, wherein the configuration information further includes at least one of uplink downlink (UD) configuration information or synchronization signal block (SSB) position information (par. 261, 301, 325, the SSB indices may map to beam information that may be used by the repeater device for subsequent transmissions. In some examples, the beam information may include spatial quasi co-location information for the first quantity of SSBs).
Regarding claim 10, ABEDINI et al. (US 20220053433) teaches the method of claim 8, further comprising: receiving, from the repeater device, status information of the repeater device, wherein the status information includes at least one of an index for the repeater device, a capability of the repeater device, or a preferred base station of the repeater device (par. 299, 308, process 2600 (e.g., a method) at a network access node for communicating beam information…the process 2600 may further include receiving capability information from the repeater device, estimating a quantity of beams supported by the repeater device based on the capability information).
Regarding claim 12, ABEDINI et al. (US 20220053433) teaches the method of claim 8, wherein the first index list or the second index list includes information on at least one beam index of at least one of a synchronization signal block (SSB) index or a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) index (par. 260, 261, receive an SSB configuration from a gNB and may provide a means for receiving a first configuration specifying a first quantity of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) to be transmitted by the repeater device…the first configuration may include SSB indices).
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ABEDINI et al. (US 20220053433), ALI et al. (US 20230130003), and RAGHAVAN et al. (US 20210075474) as applied to claim 8 above, and further in view of SVENDSEN et al. (US 20220271818).
Regarding claim 11, ABEDINI does not explicitly teach the method of claim 8, further comprising: receiving, from the repeater device, the feedback signal generated from the UE based on beam sweeping, wherein the feedback signal is associated with an index of a preferred downlink signal.
But, SVENDSEN et al. (US 20220271818) in a similar or same field of endeavor teaches receiving, from the repeater device, the feedback signal generated from the UE based on beam sweeping (par. 53, 84, the UE 210 may send to gNB1 SSB identifiers (e.g., SSB beam indexes) to identify the selected gNB SSB transmit beams used by neighbor (or support) gNBs (used by gNB2, gNB3 to transmit to UE 210). And, at 11), the serving gNB (gNB1) forwards the SSB identifiers (or SSB indexes) identifying the selected gNB SSB transmit beams used by neighbor (or support) gNBs (e.g., used by gNB2, gNB3 to transmit to UE 210)), wherein the feedback signal is associated with an index of a preferred downlink signal (par. 53, 78, 84, a specific SSB beam pattern (identifies a set of SSB beams for beam sweeping for that gNB, including SSB indexes for these SSB beams, beam directions (in azimuth and/or elevation directions), beam widths of SSB beams, and/or other beam information)).
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by SVENDSEN in the system of ABEDINI, ALI, and RAGHAVAN to specify beam for communication.
The motivation would have been to provide ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC) devices may require high reliability and very low latency.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
WANUGA et al. (US 20240364414) teaches the repeater may then determine the access link beam from the mapping of SSB index to access link beam established by the SSB configuration message in FIG. 3 above. The repeater 404 may receive the PDCCH and PDSCH transmissions from the donor, at 410, as scheduled, may amplify the received signalling, and may forward the singling, at 412, using the access link transmit beam as configured (par. 82).
XIA et al. (US 20200304187) teaches the beamform calibrator 404 may iteratively adjust the beamforming weights for secondary RX/TX beamforming components 440, 445 until a difference between a quality parameter associated with a TX reference signal and a quality parameter associated with an RX reference signal drops below a threshold (par. 36).
ABEDINI et al. (US 20220053433) teaches a method performed by a repeater device in a wireless communication system (par. 260, 261, repeater device), the method comprising:
receiving, from a base station, control information including configuration information indicating a repeater index list (par. 260, 261, receive an SSB configuration from a gNB and may provide a means for receiving a first configuration specifying a first quantity of synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) to be transmitted by the repeater device…the first configuration may include SSB indices);
receiving, from the base station, a downlink signal (par. 3, 134, 188, 353, 400, a second power assigned to second traffic transmitted in a downlink);
identifying whether an index of the downlink signal is included in the repeater index list (par. 134, 188, 325, 353, 400, the repeater device may determine a synchronization signal block (SSB) index value associated with the control signal and configure an output power of a transmitter of the repeater device according to the SSB index value);
based on identifying that the index of the downlink signal is included in the repeater index list (par. 134, 188, 325, 353, 400, the repeater device may determine a synchronization signal block (SSB) index value associated with the control signal and configure an output power of a transmitter of the repeater device according to the SSB index value),
amplifying the downlink signal and transmitting the amplified downlink signal (par. 134, 166, 188, 325, 353, 400, the repeater device may configure the output power of the repeater device by at least one of: configuring a maximum output power of the transmitter, configuring a maximum amplification gain of the transmitter, or configuring a first power assigned to first traffic transmitted in an uplink and a second power assigned to second traffic transmitted in a downlink, wherein the first power is different from the second power; par. 71, 166, The first RF repeater device 806 may amplify and forward (e.g., convey) RF signals exchanged between the first UE 810, the second UE 814, and the network access node 802).
ALI et al. (US 20230130003) teaches receiving, from the base station, a downlink signal (par. 168, 186, the latter format, information regarding the BWP(s) on which the repeater will forward the received signal(s), in either DL transmission from the network or UL transmission from UE(s) or both);
identifying whether an index of the downlink signal is included in the first index list or second index list (par. 171, 172, The information of the expected received SSB beams at the smart repeater is needed at the smart repeater to indicate which SSB to be forwarded; par. 182, 185,the case of sweeping each 4 contiguous SSB at the smart repeater with SSB grouping factor 4 at the BS. SSBs 0, 1, 2, 3 503 are sent in one direction, while SSBs 4, 5, 6, 7 505 are sent in another direction by the BS 501);
in case that the index of the downlink signal is included in the first index list (par. 171, 172, The information of the expected received SSB beams at the smart repeater is needed at the smart repeater to indicate which SSB to be forwarded, ; par. 182, 185, the case of sweeping each 4 contiguous SSB at the smart repeater with SSB grouping factor 4 at the BS. SSBs 0, 1, 2, 3 503 are sent in one direction, while SSBs 4, 5, 6, 7 505 are sent in another direction by the BS 501…The smart repeater 604 is indicated in the configuration message 606 that for this burst to activate the transmission at SSB slots 0, 1 starting with initial angle −45 with an offset of 45 degrees for each next SSB, so that it transmits in the directions −45 and 0, while for the second burst it deactivates the transmission, and transmits again with the same configuration in SSB burst 3.), generating a first amplified downlink signal by amplifying the downlink signal (par. 171, 172, 175, 176, 181, 182), and transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), the first amplified downlink signal (par. 171, 172, 175, 176, 181, 182, 185), wherein a first beamforming direction is applied to the first amplified downlink signal (par. 171, 172, 175, 176, 181, 182, 185, SSB beam direction indication for a smart repeater, a BS configures the repeater(s) with spatial information related to each SSB transmission. To allow a smart repeater to forward the received SSB beam to the intended direction, in one embodiment, the BS indicates to the smart repeater the direction or the Tx spatial information (e.g., phase shifters, TCI state) for forwarding the SSB beam. An association between the SSB beam ID transmitted from the BS and the forwarded beam ID from the repeater may be indicated for each SSB); and
in case that the index of the downlink signal is included in the second index list (par. 171, 172, The information of the expected received SSB beams at the smart repeater is needed at the smart repeater to indicate which SSB to be forwarded, ; par. 182, 185, the case of sweeping each 4 contiguous SSB at the smart repeater with SSB grouping factor 4 at the BS. SSBs 0, 1, 2, 3 503 are sent in one direction, while SSBs 4, 5, 6, 7 505 are sent in another direction by the BS 501…The smart repeater 604 is indicated in the configuration message 606 that for this burst to activate the transmission at SSB slots 0, 1 starting with initial angle −45 with an offset of 45 degrees for each next SSB, so that it transmits in the directions −45 and 0, while for the second burst it deactivates the transmission, and transmits again with the same configuration in SSB burst 3.), generating a second amplified downlink signal by amplifying the downlink signal (par. 171, 172, 175, 176, 181, 182); and applying a second beamforming direction to the second amplified downlink signal (par. 171, 172, 175, 176, 181, 182, 185); and transmitting, to the UE, the second amplified downlink signal to which the second beamforming direction is applied (par. 171, 172, 175, 176, 181, 182, 185, SSB beam direction indication for a smart repeater, a BS configures the repeater(s) with spatial information related to each SSB transmission. To allow a smart repeater to forward the received SSB beam to the intended direction, in one embodiment, the BS indicates to the smart repeater the direction or the Tx spatial information (e.g., phase shifters, TCI state) for forwarding the SSB beam. An association between the SSB beam ID transmitted from the BS and the forwarded beam ID from the repeater may be indicated for each SSB);
RAGHAVAN et al. (US 20210075474) teaches applying a first beamforming weight to the downlink signal (par. 96, 106, the relay node 504 may select a best beam pair (k.sub.2, m.sub.2) for the indirect access link, where k.sub.2 is a beamforming vector of beam weights that represents a direction for a best transmit beam for the indirect access link and m.sub.2 is a beamforming vector of beam weights that represents a direction for a best receive beam to be used by the base station 506 on the indirect access link); the downlink signal to which the first beamforming weight is applied (par. 96, 106, the relay node 504 may select a best beam pair (k.sub.2, m.sub.2) for the indirect access link, where k.sub.2 is a beamforming vector of beam weights that represents a direction for a best transmit beam for the indirect access link and m.sub.2 is a beamforming vector of beam weights that represents a direction for a best receive beam to be used by the base station 506 on the indirect access link); and the downlink signal to which a second beamforming weight is applied by the repeater device (par. 96, 100, 106, the UE 502 and the relay node 504 may select or otherwise coordinate a best beam pair (k.sub.3, m.sub.3) for the relay link, where k.sub.3 is a beamforming vector of beam weights that represents a direction for a best transmit beam for the relay link and m.sub.3 is a beamforming vector of beam weights that represents a direction for a best receive beam for the relay link);
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 THINH D TRAN whose telephone number is (571)270-3934. The examiner can normally be reached mon-fri 9-6.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, FARUK HAMZA can be reached at 5712727969. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/THINH D TRAN/for /Thinh Tran/, Patent Examiner of Art Unit 2466 10/02/2026
