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 .
Initial Examination
Applicant's submission filed on 02/27/24, including preliminary amendments filed on 09/26/24, has been entered.
Claims 1, 23, 45, and 67 are pending.
Claims 2-22, 24-44, 46-66, and 68-88 have been canceled.
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
Figures 1-10 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1, 23, 45, and 67 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. These claims recite the limitation "the single-TRP operation and the multi-TRP operation" in lines 11-12. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in these claims. Specifically, these limitations originally relied on previously recited, but now deleted, limitations. Examiner additionally notes “TRP” should also be spelled out, as that previous recitation has also been deleted. Finally, regarding only claims 45 and 67, Examiner notes Applicant did amend the limitations in the last two lines to overcome this issue, however, in these two claims the issue should also have been addressed in lines 10-11, in which case these particular amendments in the last two lines would likely not be necessary.
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)(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.
Claims 1, 23, 45, and 67 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by CATT (“Enhancements on multi-beam operation”, 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #104-3, R1-2100343, cited by Applicant of Record).
Regarding claim 1, CATT discloses a network node (gNB [pg. 7]) configured to communicate with a wireless device (UE [pg. 7]), WD, the WD having been activated and indicated with first and second transmission configuration indicator, TCI, states for at least one of downlink, DL, reception and uplink, UL, transmission, by the WD, each of the first and the second TCI states comprising either a DL TCI state and a UL TCI state, or a joint UL and DL TCI state (DL only, UL only, or joint DL/UL [pg. 7-8 prop. 9, fig. 2, tbl. below fig. 2]), the network node comprising:
processing circuitry (gNB (inherent) [pg. 7]) configured to:
determine an indication indicating to the WD to perform one of the single-TRP operation and the multi-TRP operation for one or more physical channels (Single and multi-TRP operations are dynamically switched (i.e., determine indication) [pg. 7-8 prop. 9, fig. 2, tbl. below fig. 2]), the determined indication including:
a first dedicated bit field in a downlink related downlink control information, DCI, scheduling a downlink physical channel [pg. 7-8 prop. 9, fig. 2, tbl. below fig. 2 col. 1 and/or col. 3];
a second dedicated bit field in an uplink related DCI scheduling an uplink physical channel [pg. 7-8 prop. 9, fig. 2, tbl. below fig. 2 col. 2, 4, and/or col. 1, 3]; and
a radio interface (gNB (inherent) [pg. 7]) in communication with the processing circuitry, the radio interface being configured to:
transmit the determined indication to the WD [pg. 7-8 prop. 9].
Regarding claim 23, it is substantially similar to claim 1, except is in method claim format, and is rejected under substantially similar reasoning.
Regarding claim 45, it substantially similar to claim 1, except is from the perspective of the WD, and is rejected under substantially similar reasoning, where CATT further discloses a wireless device (UE [pg. 7]), WD, configured to communicate with a network node (gNB [pg. 7]), … the WD comprising: a radio interface (UE (inherent) [pg. 7]) … and processing circuitry (UE (inherent) [pg. 7]) in communication with the radio interface, the processing circuitry being configured to: perform one of a single-transmission-reception operation and a multi-transmission-reception operation based on the received indication (Single and multi-TRP operations are dynamically switched (i.e., based on received indication) [pg. 7-8 prop. 9, fig. 2, tbl. below fig. 2]).
Regarding claim 67, it is substantially similar to claim 45, except is in method claim format, and is rejected under substantially similar reasoning.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Gao (US 20240187199 A1) discloses a network and terminal device using multiple TCI states transmitted in DCI for multi-TRP transmission [Abstract, par. 0162].
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Walter J DiVito whose telephone number is (571)272-2556. The examiner can normally be reached M-R: 8 am - 6 pm (PST).
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, Gary Mui can be reached at 571-270-1420. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/WALTER J DIVITO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465