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
Acknowledgment is made of applicant's claim for foreign priority based on an application no.
JP2021-135503 filed in Japan on 08/17/2022. It is noted that the applicant has filed a certified copy of the application as required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 02/13/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
Figures 1, 2A and 2B should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). Corrected drawings in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. The replacement sheet(s) should be labeled “Replacement Sheet” in the page header (as per 37 CFR 1.84(c)) so as not to obstruct any portion of the drawing figures. If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Objections
Claims 10-14 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 10, line 2, Claim 12, line 2, Claim 13, line 2 and Claim 14, line 3, “beam failure detection” should read - - - beam failure detection (BFD) - - - for consistency of applicant’s claim drafting.
Claim 11, line 2, “AC field” should read - - - Access Category (AC) field - - - at its first occurrence.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 10-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by AGIWAL et al. US 20220046441 A1, hereinafter AGIWAL.
Regarding Claim 10, AGIWAL teaches [a] terminal (FIG. 20, UE 2000/ “terminal”) comprising:
a receiver (Transceiver, 2020) that receives a configuration regarding beam failure detection in a unit of transmission/reception point (TRP) corresponding to a specific cell (AGIWAL, ¶0347, a set 0/pool 0/list 0 of BFD RSs corresponds to set 0/pool 0/list 0 of candidate beam RSs / “a configuration regarding BFD”; see also ¶0237, RSs of the TRP of SCell (“specific cell” for which beam failure recovery is initiated, indicate which TRP has failed in BFR MAC CE; ) and
a processor (Processor, 2010) that controls, based on the configuration, to transmit an enhanced beam failure recovery medium access control control element (BFR MAC CE) in message of a random access procedure (AGIWAL, FIG. 11, ¶0507, the UE generates the BFR MAC CE and transmit the MAC PDU including BFR MAC CE to the gNB/ base station . . . ¶0511, the UE triggers random access procedure on SpCell . . . ¶0512, [UE] transmit the MAC PDU including BFR MAC CE to a gNB in MsgA or Msg3 during the random access procedure . . .; see also ¶0234, the enhanced format BFR MAC CE 1000, 1100 is generated by the UE/” terminal”);
wherein the enhanced BFR MAC CE includes a TRP notification field corresponding to an index of the specific cell (AGIWAL, ¶0234, set bit corresponding to SCell of TRP for which beam failure is detected to one ¶0236, [i]ndicate[s] BFR is for TRP of a serving cell (set T=1) . . . ¶0137 . . . indicate[s] which TRP has failed in BFR MAC CE. (AC=0, T=1, TRP ID, R bits), examiner interprets T and TRP ID to correspond to “TRP notification field”; ¶0234 TRP sequentially indexed entries), and
the TRP corresponds to a set of beam failure detection reference signals (BFD-RSs) (AGIWAL, ¶0347-0348, Set 0/pool 0/list 0 of BFD RSs corresponds to set 0/pool 0/list 0 of candidate beam RSs, set 1/pool 1/list 1 of BFD RSs corresponds to set 1/pool 1/list 1 of candidate beam RSs; TRP or transmission point to a set of BFD-RSs / RS resources used for BFD).
Regarding Claim 11, AGIWAL teaches Claim 10.
AGIWAL further teaches the TRP notification field indicates presence of an AC field (AGIWAL, FIG. 6, ¶0062 AC is a control field included per failed TRP; ¶0211, [a]dd BFR information for each set/pool of BFD RSs for which beam failure is detected (i.e., one AC octet for each set/pool of BFD RSs); ¶0535, C sub i (BFR MAC CE) indicates the presence of octet(s) containing the AC field for the SCell with ServCellIndex I ), and
the AC field indicates presence of a candidate RS-ID field in a corresponding octet (AGIWAL, FIG. TBD, ¶0238, include candidate RS ID of TRP in BFR MAC CE (AC=1, T=1, Candidate RS ID; ¶0258, set bit corresponding to SCell of TRP for which beam failure is detected to one; ¶0535, C sub i (BFR MAC CE) indicates the presence of octet(s) containing the AC field for the SCell with ServCellIndex I).
Regarding Claim 12, the claim discloses similar features of Claim 10 and is rejected based on the same rationales of Claim 10, in method form (AGIWAL, a radio communication method for a terminal (FIG. 6-8, a method performed by a user equipment (UE)/ “terminal”); ¶0048, disclosure applicable to 3GPP new radio (NR) or 5G mobile communication standards; ¶0058; see also FIG. 10-11, ¶0234, the enhanced format BFR MAC CE 1000, 1100 is generated by the UE/ ”terminal”)).
Regarding Claim 13, the claim discloses similar features of Claim 10, and is rejected based on the same rationales of Claim 10 (AGIWAL, a base station (FIG. 21, base station, 2100) comprising: a transmitter (Transceiver, 2120) and a processor (FIG. 20, Processor 2110).
Regarding Claim 14, the claim discloses similar features of Claim 10, and is rejected based on the same rationales of Claim 10 (AGIWAL, Abstract; FIG. 3, disclosed throughout, a system (FIG. 3, 300 wireless network / wireless communication system / “system”) comprising a terminal (FIG. 20, UE 2000 /” terminal” and a base station (FIG. 21, base station 2100)).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
KOSKELA et al. (US 20230199529 A1): Abstract; FIG. 1-8, disclosed throughout M-TRP beam failure indication the UE being configured to communicate with a plurality of TRPs; FIG. 1B, FIG. 2, the beam failure indication data indicates the beam failure on the at least one TRP; and transmitting the BFR MAC CE to a network element of a wireless communication network; see also FIG. 4A, 4B; 6A-6H, MAC CE format with AC and Candidate RS ID in octet.
JIA et al. (US 20230353224 A1): Abstract, teaches a method and apparatus for generating and reporting beam failure information; FIG. 9--19, illustrate TRP-specific BFR MAC CEs; ¶0094; ¶0104; ¶0117.
ZHENG et al. (US 20230362670 A1): Abstract; FIG. 2, detecting beam failures of specific TRPs; generating a BFR MAC CE with TRP information; FIG. 4; FIG. 6, 0079, signaling associated with beam failure recovery for a multi-TRP deployment using a multi-TRP BFR MAC-CE; FIG. 7-10 IGS. 7-11, illustrates multi-TRP BFR MAC-CEs indicating beam failure information.
Wu et al. (US 20240340068 A1): Abstract; TRP related BFD and recovery procedures; ¶0060, FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate two exemplary format diagrams of a BFR MAC CE in accordance with 3GPP standard document TS38.321; ¶0063, the AC field indicates the presence of the Candidate reference signal identifier (RS ID) field in this octet.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRACY L WILLIAMS whose telephone number is 571-270-7694. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 8:30-5:30. 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, Ayman Abaza can be reached at 571-270-0422. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TRACY L WILLIAMS/Examiner, Art Unit 2465 /AYMAN A ABAZA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465