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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This action is in response to filing on 02/15/2024.
Claims 1-30 are currently pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 02/15/2024 and 09/11/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-3, 13-17, and 27-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gao (EP 4,047,978 A1) in view of Ko (Pub. No.: US 2021/0176687 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Gao teaches
An apparatus for wireless communication at a first wireless device (Gao [0098], [0104], [0106-0108], fig. 2 and fig. 6: wireless communication device), comprising:
a memory (Gao [0243] and fig. 10: memory); and
at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to, based at least in part on information stored in the memory (Gao [0243] and fig. 10: processor coupled to the memory):
receive, from a second wireless device through a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) (Gao [0107], fig. 2, and fig. 6: communications between network device (second wireless device) and terminal device (first wireless device) through IRS (RIS)), a set of reference signals (RSs) mapped to a set of single port resources (Gao [0209]: single port; Gao [0004] and fig. 6 multiple reference signals (set) received through IRS), the set of single port resources being… time division multiplexed (TDMed) (Gao [0114] and [0022]: “reference signals are sent in a time division multiplexing manor”); and
transmit, to the second wireless device through the RIS, a set of measurement results based on the set of RSs, the set of measurement results being mapped to a set of surface configurations of the RIS (Gao [0205] and fig. 6: terminal device (first wireless device) reports through IRS (RIS) to the network device (second wireless device) measurement results calculated; Gao [0098] and fig. 5: resource mapping).
Gao does not appear to explicitly teach the set of single port resources being quasi-co-located (QCLed).
However, Ko, in the analogous art of transmitting and receiving reference signals, teaches
the set of single port resources being quasi-co-located (QCLed) (Ko [0358] and [0319]: “a QCLed SS/PBCH block and RMSI. It is necessary to clearly indicate a bandwidth in which the SS/PBCH block and the initial active DL BWP are multiplexed”; Ko [0068]: single port resources)
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 Gao to incorporate the teachings of Ko and have the resources be quasi-co-located (QCLed). Doing so would allow for decoding complexity to be reduced (Ko [0018]).
Regarding claim 2, Gao modified by Ko teaches
The apparatus of claim 1 (the limitations of parent claim 1 as indicated above),
Gao further teaches
wherein each measurement result of the set of measurement results is one or more of: a reference signal received power (RSRP), a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), a signal-to-noise and interference ratio (SINR), or an energy value (Gao [0207] and [0018]: energy efficiency (expressed as a value)).
Regarding claim 3, Gao modified by Ko teaches
The apparatus of claim 1 (the limitations of parent claim 1 as indicated above), wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
Gao further teaches
compute HΦiG corresponding to each measurement result of the set of measurement results, wherein H denotes a first channel between the second wireless device and the RIS, Φi denotes one surface configuration of the RIS in the set of surface configurations, and G denotes a second channel between the RIS and the first wireless device (Gao [0004], [0011], [0186-0192], and equations 1-2: terminal device calculates HΦG, vectors between each of the channels).
Regarding claim 13, Gao modified by Ko teaches
The apparatus of claim 1 (the limitations of parent claim 1 as indicated above),
Gao further teaches
wherein the first wireless device is a first user equipment (UE) (Gao [0104]: “terminal device may be referred to as user equipment”) and the second wireless device is a base station or a second UE (Gao [0102]: “the network device may be any device having a wireless transceiver function. The device includes but is not limited to an evolved NodeB (evolved NodeB, eNB), a radio network controller (radio 30 network controller, RNC), a NodeB (NodeB, NB), a base station controller (base station controller, BSC), a base transceiver
station (base transceiver station, BTS), a home base station (for example, home evolved NodeB, or home NodeB, HNB), a baseband unit (baseband unit, BBU), an access point (access point, AP) in a wireless fidelity (wireless fidelity, Wi-Fi) system, a wireless relay node, a wireless backhaul node, a transmission point (transmission point, TP) or a transmission reception point (transmission reception point, TRP),”).
Regarding claim 14, Gao modified by Ko teaches
The apparatus of claim 1 (the limitations of parent claim 1 as indicated above),
Gao further teaches
further comprising a transceiver coupled to the at least one processor (Gao fig. 10: transceiver coupled to the processor).
Regarding claim 15, Gao teaches
An apparatus for wireless communication at a first wireless device (Gao [0099], [0102], and fig. 11: wireless communication device), comprising:
a memory (Gao fig. 11: memory); and
at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to, based at least in part on information stored in the memory (Gao fig. 11: processor coupled to the memory):
transmit, to a second wireless device through a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) (Gao [0107], fig. 2, and fig. 6: communications between network device (second wireless device) and terminal device (first wireless device) through IRS (RIS)), a set of reference signals (RSs) mapped to a set of single port resources (Gao [0209]: single port; Gao [0004] and fig. 6 multiple reference signals (set) received through IRS), the set of single port resources being… time division multiplexed (TDMed) (Gao [0114] and [0022]: “reference signals are sent in a time division multiplexing manor”); and
receive, from the second wireless device through the RIS, a set of measurement results based on the set of RSs, the set of measurement results being mapped to a set of surface configurations of the RIS (Gao [0205] and fig. 6: terminal device (first wireless device) reports through IRS (RIS) to the network device (second wireless device) measurement results calculated; Gao [0098] and fig. 5: resource mapping).
Gao does not appear to explicitly teach the set of single port resources being quasi-co-located (QCLed).
However, Ko, in the analogous art of transmitting and receiving reference signals, teaches
the set of single port resources being quasi-co-located (QCLed) (Ko [0358] and [0319]: “a QCLed SS/PBCH block and RMSI. It is necessary to clearly indicate a bandwidth in which the SS/PBCH block and the initial active DL BWP are multiplexed”; Ko [0068]: single port resources)
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 Gao to incorporate the teachings of Ko and have the resources be quasi-co-located (QCLed). Doing so would allow for decoding complexity to be reduced (Ko [0018]).
Regarding claim 16, Gao modified by Ko teaches
The apparatus of claim 15 (the limitations of parent claim 15 as indicated above),
Gao further teaches
wherein each measurement result of the set of measurement results is one or more of: a reference signal received power (RSRP), a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), a signal-to-noise and interference ratio (SINR), or an energy value (Gao [0207] and [0018]: energy efficiency (expressed as a value)).
Regarding claim 17, Gao modified by Ko teaches
The apparatus of claim 15 (the limitations of parent claim 15 as indicated above),
Gao further teaches
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
compute HΦiG corresponding to each measurement result of the set of measurement results, wherein H denotes a first channel between the first wireless device and the RIS, Φi denotes one surface configuration of the RIS in the set of surface configurations, and G denotes a second channel between the RIS and the second wireless device (Gao [0004], [0011], [0186-0192], and equations 1-2: calculates HΦG, vectors between each of the channels).
Regarding claim 27, Gao modified by Ko teaches
The apparatus of claim 15 (the limitations of parent claim 15 as indicated above),
Gao further teaches
wherein the second wireless device is a first user equipment (UE) (Gao [0104]: “terminal device may be referred to as user equipment”) and the first wireless device is a base station or a second UE (Gao [0102]: “the network device may be any device having a wireless transceiver function. The device includes but is not limited to an evolved NodeB (evolved NodeB, eNB), a radio network controller (radio 30 network controller, RNC), a NodeB (NodeB, NB), a base station controller (base station controller, BSC).
Regarding claim 28, Gao modified by Ko teaches
The apparatus of claim 15 (the limitations of parent claim 15 as indicated above),
Gao further teaches
further comprising a transceiver coupled to the at least one processor (Gao fig. 11 and [0231]: “a transceiver 3200 in a network device 3000 shown in FIG. 11”, coupled to processor 3202).
Regarding claim 29, Gao teaches
A method for wireless communication at a first wireless device (Gao [0003], [0098], [0104], [0106-0108], fig. 2 and fig. 6: method for wireless communication at a wireless communication device), comprising:
receiving, from a second wireless device through a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) (Gao [0107], fig. 2, and fig. 6: communications between network device (second wireless device) and terminal device (first wireless device) through IRS (RIS)), a set of reference signals (RSs) mapped to a set of single port resources (Gao [0209]: single port; Gao [0004] and fig. 6 multiple reference signals (set) received through IRS), the set of single port resources being… time division multiplexed (TDMed) (Gao [0114] and [0022]: “reference signals are sent in a time division multiplexing manor”); and
transmitting, to the second wireless device through the RIS, a set of measurement results based on the set of RSs, the set of measurement results being mapped to a set of surface configurations of the RIS (Gao [0205] and fig. 6: terminal device (first wireless device) reports through IRS (RIS) to the network device (second wireless device) measurement results calculated; Gao [0098] and fig. 5: resource mapping).
Gao does not appear to explicitly teach the set of single port resources being quasi-co-located (QCLed).
However, Ko, in the analogous art of transmitting and receiving reference signals, teaches
the set of single port resources being quasi-co-located (QCLed) (Ko [0358] and [0319]: “a QCLed SS/PBCH block and RMSI. It is necessary to clearly indicate a bandwidth in which the SS/PBCH block and the initial active DL BWP are multiplexed”; Ko [0068]: single port resources)
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 Gao to incorporate the teachings of Ko and have the resources be quasi-co-located (QCLed). Doing so would allow for decoding complexity to be reduced (Ko [0018]).
Regarding claim 30, Gao teaches
A method for wireless communication at a first wireless device (Gao [0003], [0099], [0102], and fig. 11: method at a wireless communication device), comprising:
transmitting, to a second wireless device through a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) (Gao [0107], fig. 2, and fig. 6: communications between network device (second wireless device) and terminal device (first wireless device) through IRS (RIS)), a set of reference signals (RSs) mapped to a set of single port resources (Gao [0209]: single port; Gao [0004] and fig. 6 multiple reference signals (set) received through IRS), the set of single port resources being …time division multiplexed (TDMed) (Gao [0114] and [0022]: “reference signals are sent in a time division multiplexing manor”); and
receiving, from the second wireless device through the RIS, a set of measurement results based on the set of RSs, the set of measurement results being mapped to a set of surface configurations of the RIS (Gao [0205] and fig. 6: terminal device (first wireless device) reports through IRS (RIS) to the network device (second wireless device) measurement results calculated; Gao [0098] and fig. 5: resource mapping).
Gao does not appear to explicitly teach the set of single port resources being quasi-co-located (QCLed).
However, Ko, in the analogous art of transmitting and receiving reference signals, teaches
the set of single port resources being quasi-co-located (QCLed) (Ko [0358] and [0319]: “a QCLed SS/PBCH block and RMSI. It is necessary to clearly indicate a bandwidth in which the SS/PBCH block and the initial active DL BWP are multiplexed”; Ko [0068]: single port resources)
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 Gao to incorporate the teachings of Ko and have the resources be quasi-co-located (QCLed). Doing so would allow for decoding complexity to be reduced (Ko [0018]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-12 and 18-26 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.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claims recite in part: “wherein each measurement result of the set of measurement results corresponds to a reward of a Markov decision process (MDP), wherein each surface configuration of the set of surface configurations of the RIS corresponds to an action of the MDP, and wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: compute a function of the HΦiG corresponding to each measurement result, wherein the function of the HΦiG corresponds to a state of the MDP.”. This limitation in combination with the preceding limitations differentiate from found prior art.
Conclusion
The following prior art not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Haghighat et al. (Pub. No.: US 2024/0413868 A1) discloses a WTRU receiving configuration information indication a reference signal set and a RIS.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RACHEL E MARKS whose telephone number is (703)756-1309. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8:30am-6pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Charles C Jiang can be reached at (571)270-7191. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/R.E.M./Examiner, Art Unit 2412 /CHARLES C JIANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2412
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