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 .
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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.
Claim(s) 1-3, 49-51, 53 and 55 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TSAI et al., US 2020/0107352 A1 (Tsai hereinafter), in view of Huang et al., US 2022/0394548 A1 (Huang hereinafter).
Here is how the references teach the claims.
Regarding claim 1, Tsai discloses a network node configured to communicate with a wireless device (WD) (Tsai, paragraph [0109], FIG. 12 shows an exemplary apparatus 1200 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The apparatus 1200 can be configured to perform various functions in accordance with one or more embodiments or examples described herein. Thus, the apparatus 1200 can provide means for implementation of techniques, processes, functions, components, systems described herein. For example, the apparatus 1200 can be used to implement functions of the UE 120 or a combination of the BS 110 and the TRPs 111 and 112 in various embodiments and examples described herein), the network node comprising:
processing circuitry (Tsai, paragraph [0109], the apparatus 1200 can be used to implement functions of the UE 120 or a combination of the BS 110 and the TRPs 111 and 112 in various embodiments and examples described herein. The apparatus 1200 can include a general purpose processor or specially designed circuits to implement various functions, components, or processes described herein in various embodiments) configured to:
transmit a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) field codepoint (Tsai, paragraph [0017], The circuitry receives one or more activation commands that associate a first subset of the configured TCI states with one or more codepoints of a TCI field and a second subset of the configured TCI states with the one or more codepoints of the TCI field (i.e., receives TCI field code points transmitted by a network node). Also see paragraph [0052], the UE 120 can receive from the BS 110 an activation command to activate a subset of the M TCI state configurations from the TCI state table 'tci-StatesToAddModList' and map them into one or more codepoints of a TCI field), … and
configure the WD to determine two receive (RX) spatial filters for downlink channels and two transmit (TX) spatial filters for uplink channels (Tsai, paragraph [0037], For example, a set of RSs 133-138 are transmitted from over the set of Tx beams 113-118 (e.g., with a set of Tx spatial filters) of the TRPs 111 and 112 of the BS 110 (i.e., two transmit Tx spatial filters for uplink channels). Reference signal receive powers (RSRPs ), for example, can be measured based on the set of RSs 133-138 received by the set of Rx beams 123-128 (e.g., with a set of Rx spatial filters) of the antenna panels 121 and 122 of the UE 120 (i.e., two receive Rx spatial filters or downlink channels)), a first RX spatial filter and a first TX spatial filter being determined for a first transmission reception point (TRP) (Tsai, paragraph [0037], At the network side, the BS 110 can determine, for example, a first RS 134 of the TRP 111 for transmitting signals to the UE 120 based the reported RSs from the UE 120, where the first RS 134 is transmitted over the Tx beam 114 (i.e., a Tx spatial filter) of the TRP 111 (i.e., a first TRP) and received by the Rx beam 124 (i.e., first Rx spatial filter) of the panel 121 of the UE 120. The Rx beam 124 and the Tx beam 114 are thus associated with the first RS 134 and the communication (or beam pair) link 131 is established between the TRP 111 and the panel 121 (i.e., first and RX spatial filter and first Tx spatial filter selected/determined for a first TRP)), a second RX spatial filter and a second TX spatial filter being determined for a second TRP (Tsai, paragraph [0038], In a similar way, a second RS 137 transmitted by the Tx beam 117 (i.e., second Tx spatial filter) of the TRP 112 (i.e., a second TRP) of the BS 110 and received by the Rx beam 127 (i.e., a second Rx filter) of the panel 122 of the UE 120 can be determined based on the reported RSs from the UE 120. As a result, the Rx beam 127 and the Tx beam 117 are associated with second RS 137 and the communication link 132 is established between the TRP 112 and the panel 122 (i.e., a second RX spatial filter and a second TX spatial filter being determined for a second TRP)).
Regarding claim 49, Tsai discloses a method in a network node configured to communicate with a wireless device (WD) (Tsai, paragraph [0109], FIG. 12 shows an exemplary apparatus 1200 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The apparatus 1200 can be configured to perform various functions in accordance with one or more embodiments or examples described herein. Thus, the apparatus 1200 can provide means for implementation of techniques, processes, functions, components, systems described herein. For example, the apparatus 1200 can be used to implement functions of the UE 120 or a combination of the BS 110 and the TRPs 111 and 112 in various embodiments and examples described herein), the method comprising:
transmitting a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) field codepoint (Tsai, paragraph [0017], The circuitry receives one or more activation commands that associate a first subset of the configured TCI states with one or more codepoints of a TCI field and a second subset of the configured TCI states with the one or more codepoints of the TCI field (i.e., receives TCI field code points transmitted by a network node). Also see paragraph [0052], the UE 120 can receive from the BS 110 an activation command to activate a subset of the M TCI state configurations from the TCI state table 'tci-StatesToAddModList' and map them into one or more codepoints of a TCI field), … and
configuring the WD to determine two receive (RX) spatial filters for downlink channels and two transmit (TX) spatial filters for uplink channels (Tsai, paragraph [0037], For example, a set of RSs 133-138 are transmitted from over the set of Tx beams 113-118 (e.g., with a set of Tx spatial filters) of the TRPs 111 and 112 of the BS 110 (i.e., two transmit Tx spatial filters for uplink channels). Reference signal receive powers (RSRPs ), for example, can be measured based on the set of RSs 133-138 received by the set of Rx beams 123-128 (e.g., with a set of Rx spatial filters) of the antenna panels 121 and 122 of the UE 120 (i.e., two receive Rx spatial filters or downlink channels)), a first RX spatial filter and a first TX spatial filter being determined for a first transmission reception point (TRP) (Tsai, paragraph [0037], At the network side, the BS 110 can determine, for example, a first RS 134 of the TRP 111 for transmitting signals to the UE 120 based the reported RSs from the UE 120, where the first RS 134 is transmitted over the Tx beam 114 (i.e., a Tx spatial filter) of the TRP 111 (i.e., a first TRP) and received by the Rx beam 124 (i.e., first Rx spatial filter) of the panel 121 of the UE 120. The Rx beam 124 and the Tx beam 114 are thus associated with the first RS 134 and the communication (or beam pair) link 131 is established between the TRP 111 and the panel 121 (i.e., first and RX spatial filter and first Tx spatial filter selected/determined for a first TRP)), a second RX spatial filter and a second TX spatial filter being determined for a second TRP (Tsai, paragraph [0038], In a similar way, a second RS 137 transmitted by the Tx beam 117 (i.e., second Tx spatial filter) of the TRP 112 (i.e., a second TRP) of the BS 110 and received by the Rx beam 127 (i.e., a second Rx filter) of the panel 122 of the UE 120 can be determined based on the reported RSs from the UE 120. As a result, the Rx beam 127 and the Tx beam 117 are associated with second RS 137 and the communication link 132 is established between the TRP 112 and the panel 122 (i.e., a second RX spatial filter and a second TX spatial filter being determined for a second TRP)).
Regarding claim 53, Tsai discloses a wireless device (WD), configured to communicate with a network node (Tsai, paragraph [0109], FIG. 12 shows an exemplary apparatus 1200 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The apparatus 1200 can be configured to perform various functions in accordance with one or more embodiments or examples described herein. Thus, the apparatus 1200 can provide means for implementation of techniques, processes, functions, components, systems described herein. For example, the apparatus 1200 can be used to implement functions of the UE 120 or a combination of the BS 110 and the TRPs 111 and 112 in various embodiments and examples described herein), the WD comprising:
a radio interface (Tsai, Fig. 12, element 1230) configured to:
receive a transmission configuration indication (TCI) field codepoint (Tsai, paragraph [0017], The circuitry receives one or more activation commands that associate a first subset of the configured TCI states with one or more codepoints of a TCI field and a second subset of the configured TCI states with the one or more codepoints of the TCI field (i.e., receives TCI field code points transmitted by a network node). Also see paragraph [0052], the UE 120 can receive from the BS 110 an activation command to activate a subset of the M TCI state configurations from the TCI state table 'tci-StatesToAddModList' and map them into one or more codepoints of a TCI field), … and
processing circuitry in communication with the radio interface (Tsai, Fig. 12, elements 1210 and 1230) and configured to:
determine two receive (RX) spatial filters for downlink channels and two transmit (TX) spatial filters for uplink channels (Tsai, paragraph [0037], For example, a set of RSs 133-138 are transmitted from over the set of Tx beams 113-118 (e.g., with a set of Tx spatial filters) of the TRPs 111 and 112 of the BS 110 (i.e., two transmit Tx spatial filters for uplink channels). Reference signal receive powers (RSRPs ), for example, can be measured based on the set of RSs 133-138 received by the set of Rx beams 123-128 (e.g., with a set of Rx spatial filters) of the antenna panels 121 and 122 of the UE 120 (i.e., two receive Rx spatial filters or downlink channels)), a first RX spatial filter and a first TX spatial filter being determined for a first transmission reception point (TRP) (Tsai, paragraph [0037], At the network side, the BS 110 can determine, for example, a first RS 134 of the TRP 111 for transmitting signals to the UE 120 based the reported RSs from the UE 120, where the first RS 134 is transmitted over the Tx beam 114 (i.e., a Tx spatial filter) of the TRP 111 (i.e., a first TRP) and received by the Rx beam 124 (i.e., first Rx spatial filter) of the panel 121 of the UE 120. The Rx beam 124 and the Tx beam 114 are thus associated with the first RS 134 and the communication (or beam pair) link 131 is established between the TRP 111 and the panel 121 (i.e., first and RX spatial filter and first Tx spatial filter selected/determined for a first TRP)), a second RX spatial filter and a second TX spatial filter being determined for a second TRP (Tsai, paragraph [0038], In a similar way, a second RS 137 transmitted by the Tx beam 117 (i.e., second Tx spatial filter) of the TRP 112 (i.e., a second TRP) of the BS 110 and received by the Rx beam 127 (i.e., a second Rx filter) of the panel 122 of the UE 120 can be determined based on the reported RSs from the UE 120. As a result, the Rx beam 127 and the Tx beam 117 are associated with second RS 137 and the communication link 132 is established between the TRP 112 and the panel 122 (i.e., a second RX spatial filter and a second TX spatial filter being determined for a second TRP)).
Regarding claim 55, Tsai discloses a method in a wireless device (WD) configured to communicate with a network node (Tsai, paragraph [0109], FIG. 12 shows an exemplary apparatus 1200 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The apparatus 1200 can be configured to perform various functions in accordance with one or more embodiments or examples described herein. Thus, the apparatus 1200 can provide means for implementation of techniques, processes, functions, components, systems described herein. For example, the apparatus 1200 can be used to implement functions of the UE 120 or a combination of the BS 110 and the TRPs 111 and 112 in various embodiments and examples described herein), the method comprising:
receiving a transmission configuration indication (TCI) field codepoint (Tsai, paragraph [0017], The circuitry receives one or more activation commands that associate a first subset of the configured TCI states with one or more codepoints of a TCI field and a second subset of the configured TCI states with the one or more codepoints of the TCI field (i.e., receives TCI field code points transmitted by a network node). Also see paragraph [0052], the UE 120 can receive from the BS 110 an activation command to activate a subset of the M TCI state configurations from the TCI state table 'tci-StatesToAddModList' and map them into one or more codepoints of a TCI field), … and
determining two receive (RX) spatial filters for downlink channels and two transmit (TX) spatial filters for uplink channels (Tsai, paragraph [0037], For example, a set of RSs 133-138 are transmitted from over the set of Tx beams 113-118 (e.g., with a set of Tx spatial filters) of the TRPs 111 and 112 of the BS 110 (i.e., two transmit Tx spatial filters for uplink channels). Reference signal receive powers (RSRPs ), for example, can be measured based on the set of RSs 133-138 received by the set of Rx beams 123-128 (e.g., with a set of Rx spatial filters) of the antenna panels 121 and 122 of the UE 120 (i.e., two receive Rx spatial filters or downlink channels)), a first RX spatial filter and a first TX spatial filter being determined for a first transmission reception point (TRP) (Tsai, paragraph [0037], At the network side, the BS 110 can determine, for example, a first RS 134 of the TRP 111 for transmitting signals to the UE 120 based the reported RSs from the UE 120, where the first RS 134 is transmitted over the Tx beam 114 (i.e., a Tx spatial filter) of the TRP 111 (i.e., a first TRP) and received by the Rx beam 124 (i.e., first Rx spatial filter) of the panel 121 of the UE 120. The Rx beam 124 and the Tx beam 114 are thus associated with the first RS 134 and the communication (or beam pair) link 131 is established between the TRP 111 and the panel 121 (i.e., first and RX spatial filter and first Tx spatial filter selected/determined for a first TRP)), a second RX spatial filter and a second TX spatial filter being determined for a second TRP (Tsai, paragraph [0038], In a similar way, a second RS 137 transmitted by the Tx beam 117 (i.e., second Tx spatial filter) of the TRP 112 (i.e., a second TRP) of the BS 110 and received by the Rx beam 127 (i.e., a second Rx filter) of the panel 122 of the UE 120 can be determined based on the reported RSs from the UE 120. As a result, the Rx beam 127 and the Tx beam 117 are associated with second RS 137 and the communication link 132 is established between the TRP 112 and the panel 122 (i.e., a second RX spatial filter and a second TX spatial filter being determined for a second TRP)).
Regarding claims 1, 49, 53 and 55, Tsai does not explicitly disclose the TCI field codepoint indicating two uplink (UL) TCI states and two downlink (DL) TCI states of a plurality of TCI states configured for the WD.
In the same filed of endeavor (e.g., communication system) Huang discloses a method related to signaling for beam indication in a wireless communication system that comprises the TCI field codepoint indicating two uplink (UL) TCI states and two downlink (DL) TCI states of a plurality of TCI states configured for the WD (Huang, paragraph [0452], The first MAC CE could indicate up to 2 DL TCI states for a code-point of a TCI field of a DCI (i.e., TCI field indicating two DL TCI states configured for the WD). The second MAC CE could indicate up to 2 UL TCI states for a code-point of a TCI field of a DCI (i.e., TCI field indicating two UL TCI states configured for the WD));
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Tsai by using the features, as taught by Huang, in order to support high data throughput to improve voice over IP and multimedia services for the next generation wireless communication system (see Huang, paragraphs [0002] and [0004]).
Regarding claim 2, Tsai discloses wherein the first and the second TCI states are activated by a first medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) command, among a plurality of configured TCI states (Tsai, paragraph [0057], In a second scenario, the MAC-CE activates more than one TCI state in the configured TCI state list. Accordingly, an additional DCI signaling in the PDCCH scheduling the PDSCH is used).
Regarding claim 3, Tsai discloses wherein the first and the second TCI states are indicated by a downlink control information, (DCI) format, among a plurality of activated TCI states (Tsai, paragraph [0009], In an embodiment, one activation command associates the first subset of the configured TCI states to the one or more codepoints of the TCI field in DCI and the second subset of the configured TCI states to the one or more codepoints).
Regarding claim 50, Tsai discloses wherein the first and the second TCI states are activated by a first medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) command, among a plurality of configured TCI states (Tsai, paragraph [0057], In a second scenario, the MAC-CE activates more than one TCI state in the configured TCI state list. Accordingly, an additional DCI signaling in the PDCCH scheduling the PDSCH is used).
Regarding claim 51, Tsai discloses wherein the first and the second TCI states are indicated by a downlink control information (DCI) format, among a plurality of activated TCI states (Tsai, paragraph [0009], In an embodiment, one activation command associates the first subset of the configured TCI states to the one or more codepoints of the TCI field in DCI and the second subset of the configured TCI states to the one or more codepoints).
Claim(s) 52, 54 and 56 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TSAI et al., US 2020/0107352 A1 (Tsai hereinafter), in view of Huang et al., US 2022/0394548 A1 (Huang hereinafter), as applied to the claims above and further in view of ZHOU et al., US 2024/0251469 A1 (Zhou’469 hereinafter).
Here is how the references teach the claims.
Regarding claims 52, 54 and 56, Tsai and Huang disclose the method of claim 49, the WD of claim 53 and the method of claim 55. Tsai and Huang do not explicitly disclose the following features.
Regarding claim 52, wherein at least a first CORESET is associated to a first common beam and at least a second CORESET is associated to a second common beam.
Regarding claim 54, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to associate at least a first CORESET to a first common beam and associate at least a second CORESET to a second common beam.
Regarding claim 56, further comprising associating at least a first CORESET to a first common beam and associate at least a second CORESET to a second common beam.
In the same field of endeavor (e.g., communication system) Zhou’469 discloses a method related to a wireless communication system that comprises the following features.
Regarding claim 52, wherein at least a first CORESET is associated to a first common beam and at least a second CORESET is associated to a second common beam (Zhou’469, paragraph [0052], using the MAC-CE based implicit TCI state update, in which the first TCI codepoint may be applied to the plurality of channels or reference signals, may be undesirable. For example, a base station may transmit DCI to originally select first and second TCI codepoints for a first common beam including a first control resource set (CORESET) and a second common beam including a second CORESET, respectively, for diversity purposes).
Regarding claim 54, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to associate at least a first CORESET to a first common beam and associate at least a second CORESET to a second common beam (Zhou’469, paragraph [0052], using the MAC-CE based implicit TCI state update, in which the first TCI codepoint may be applied to the plurality of channels or reference signals, may be undesirable. For example, a base station may transmit DCI to originally select first and second TCI codepoints for a first common beam including a first control resource set (CORESET) and a second common beam including a second CORESET, respectively, for diversity purposes).
Regarding claim 56, further comprising associating at least a first CORESET to a first common beam and associate at least a second CORESET to a second common beam (Zhou’469, paragraph [0052], using the MAC-CE based implicit TCI state update, in which the first TCI codepoint may be applied to the plurality of channels or reference signals, may be undesirable. For example, a base station may transmit DCI to originally select first and second TCI codepoints for a first common beam including a first control resource set (CORESET) and a second common beam including a second CORESET, respectively, for diversity purposes).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Tsai and Huang by using the features, as taught by Zhou’469, in order to provide further improvements in radio access technologies to support increasing demand for mobile broadband access (see Zhou’469, abstract and paragraph [0004]).
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.
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/OBAIDUL HUQ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2473 Dated: 07/02/2026
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