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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 03/15/2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Preliminary Amendments
The present Office Action is based upon the original patent application filed as modified by the preliminary amendment filed on 03/15/2025.
Claim(s) 1-16, 23-24, 30, and 33 are now pending in the present application.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 23 and 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over He et al. (US 2022/0312246 A1), hereinafter referred to as He, in view of Zhang et al. (US2022/0304036 A1), hereinafter referred to as Zhang.
Regarding claim 23, He teaches: A communication method ( see ¶[0021], FIG. 4 shows a method 400 of TRP configuration ), comprising:
transmitting, at a network device and to a terminal device, a first configuration indicating a time offset between a first transmission reception point (TRP) and a second TRP ( see ¶[0031], the UE 110 receives a TRP configuration from the gNB 120 a. In some embodiments, the TRP configuration includes a P-TRP and a S-TRP. At 410, the UE 110 receives a time difference (TD) measurement configuration from the gNB 120 a. Based on the TD measurement configuration, the UE 110 determines the radio frame TD between the P-TRP and the S-TRP (e.g., in Tcunits) ), wherein the terminal device is able to support asynchronous multi-TRP (MTRP) transmissions from the first and second TRPs.
He, however, fails to explicitly teach information related to the terminal device is able to support asynchronous multi-TRP (MTRP) transmissions from the first and second TRPs.
However, Zhang, in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches: wherein the terminal device is able to support asynchronous multi-TRP (MTRP) transmissions from the first and second TRPs ( see Zhang, ¶[0087], UE reports that it can support multi-TRP operation for some cells as well as the mode of multi-TRP, e.g. synchronized or unsynchronized. For example, the UE may report whether the UE can support multi-TRP operation for some cells, as well as the mode of the multi-TRP. For example, the UE can indicate whether it can support synchronized multi-TRP or unsynchronized multi-TRP for the cells).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify He's teachings with Zhang's above teaching, such as supporting unsynchronized multi-trp transmission, to improve reliability and robustness.
Regarding claim 24, the combination teaches: The method of claim 23, further comprising: receiving, from the terminal device, first capability information of the terminal device, wherein the first capability information indicates at least one of: the terminal device being able to support the asynchronous MTRP transmissions ( see Zhang, ¶[0087], UE reports that it can support multi-TRP operation for some cells as well as the mode of multi-TRP, e.g. synchronized or unsynchronized. For example, the UE may report whether the UE can support multi-TRP operation for some cells, as well as the mode of the multi-TRP. For example, the UE can indicate whether it can support synchronized multi-TRP or unsynchronized multi-TRP for the cells), or
a maximum time offset that the terminal device is able to support for the asynchronous MTRP transmissions.
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify He's teachings with Zhang's above teaching, such as supporting unsynchronized multi-trp transmission, to enhance reliability and increase coverage.
Claim(s) 1, 14, 16, 30, and 33 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over He, in view of Zhang, and further in view of Zhou et al. (US 2024/0357521 A1), hereinafter referred to as Zhou.
Regarding claim 1, He teaches: A communication method ( see ¶[0021], FIG. 4 shows a method 400 of TRP configuration ), comprising:
receiving, at a terminal device and from a network device, a first configuration indicating a time offset between a first transmission reception point (TRP) and a second TRP ( see ¶[0031], the UE 110 receives a TRP configuration from the gNB 120 a. In some embodiments, the TRP configuration includes a P-TRP and a S-TRP. At 410, the UE 110 receives a time difference (TD) measurement configuration from the gNB 120 a. Based on the TD measurement configuration, the UE 110 determines the radio frame TD between the P-TRP and the S-TRP (e.g., in Tcunits) ), wherein the terminal device is able to support asynchronous multi-TRP (MTRP) transmissions from the first and second TRPs; and
in accordance with determination that the terminal device synchronizes with the first TRP, performing, at the terminal device, at least one of: downlink reception with the second TRP based on the time offset or uplink transmission with the second TRP based on the time offset.
He, however, fails to explicitly teach information related to (a) the terminal device is able to support asynchronous multi-TRP (MTRP) transmissions from the first and second TRPs and (b) in accordance with determination that the terminal device synchronizes with the first TRP, performing, at the terminal device, at least one of: downlink reception with the second TRP based on the time offset or uplink transmission with the second TRP based on the time offset.
However, Zhang in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches (a) wherein the terminal device is able to support asynchronous multi-TRP (MTRP) transmissions from the first and second TRPs ( see Zhang, ¶[0087], UE reports that it can support multi-TRP operation for some cells as well as the mode of multi-TRP, e.g. synchronized or unsynchronized. For example, the UE may report whether the UE can support multi-TRP operation for some cells, as well as the mode of the multi-TRP. For example, the UE can indicate whether it can support synchronized multi-TRP or unsynchronized multi-TRP for the cells).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify He's teachings with Zhang's above teaching, such as supporting unsynchronized multi-trp transmission, to enhance reliability and increase coverage.
The combination, however, fails to explicitly teach information related to (b) in accordance with determination that the terminal device synchronizes with the first TRP, performing, at the terminal device, at least one of: downlink reception with the second TRP based on the time offset or uplink transmission with the second TRP based on the time offset.
However, Zhou, in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches: (b) n accordance with determination that the terminal device synchronizes with the first TRP ( see Zhou, ¶[0079], The UE may use different antenna ports to perform uplink transmissions with multiple TRPs, and the UE may configure one TA value for each port, so that the multiple antenna ports may implement the configuration of multiple TA values. FIG. 9 shows a schematic diagram of a UE applying TAs on antenna ports. As shown in FIG. 9 , the UE transmits data to TRP 1 through Antenna Port 1 and transmits data to TRP 2 through Antenna Port 2. The UE may apply a TA value associated with TRP 1 (i.e., TA1) on Antenna Port 1 to compensate for the propagation delay Delay_1 between the UE and TRP 1; ¶[0080], the UE may associate a certain TA value with one or more antenna ports in advance, for example, TA1 with Antenna Port 1 (and possibly other ports), and TA2 with Antenna Port 2 (and possibly other ports), and then choose to use the antenna port associated with TA1, such as Antenna Port 1, in the uplink transmission with TRP 1 ), performing, at the terminal device, at least one of: downlink reception with the second TRP based on the time offset or uplink transmission with the second TRP based on the time offset (see Zhou, ¶[0079], The UE may use different antenna ports to perform uplink transmissions with multiple TRPs, and the UE may configure one TA value for each port, so that the multiple antenna ports may implement the configuration of multiple TA values. FIG. 9 shows a schematic diagram of a UE applying TAs on antenna ports. As shown in FIG. 9 , the UE transmits data to TRP 1 through Antenna Port 1 and transmits data to TRP 2 through Antenna Port 2. The UE may apply a TA value associated with TRP 1 (i.e., TA1) on Antenna Port 1 to compensate for the propagation delay Delay_1 between the UE and TRP 1. Further, the UE may apply a TA value associated with TRP 2 (i.e., TA2) on Antenna Port 2 to compensate for the propagation delay Delay_2 between the UE and TRP 2. Thereby, the uplink synchronization of the UE with both TRP 1 and TRP 2 is achieved; ¶[0080], the UE may associate a certain TA value with one or more antenna ports in advance, for example, TA1 with Antenna Port 1 (and possibly other ports), and TA2 with Antenna Port 2 (and possibly other ports)… choose to use the antenna port associated with TA2, such as Antenna Port 2, in the uplink transmission with TRP 2).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Zhou's above teachings in order to communicate with multiple TRPs simultaneously, which is helpful to improve the reliability and effectiveness of the uplink transmission ( see Zhou, ¶[0006]). Known work in one field of endeavor (Zhou prior art) may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or different one (He prior art) based on design incentives ( improve the reliability and effectiveness of the uplink transmission ) or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one or ordinary skill in the art.
Regarding claim 14, He, Zhang, and Zhou combination teaches: the method of claim 1, further comprising at least one of:
transmitting, to the network device, first capability information of the terminal device, wherein the first capability information indicates at least one of: the terminal device being able to support the asynchronous MTRP transmissions, or
a maximum time offset that the terminal device is able to support for the asynchronous MTRP transmissions ( see Zhang, ¶[0087], UE reports that it can support multi-TRP operation for some cells as well as the mode of multi-TRP, e.g. synchronized or unsynchronized. For example, the UE may report whether the UE can support multi-TRP operation for some cells, as well as the mode of the multi-TRP. For example, the UE can indicate whether it can support synchronized multi-TRP or unsynchronized multi-TRP for the cells); or
transmitting, to the network device, second capability information of the terminal device, wherein the second capability information indicates at least one of:
a first number of maximum supported fast Fourier transform (FFT) windows, or
a second number of maximum simultaneously supported FFT windows; or
transmitting, to the network device, third capability information of the terminal device, wherein the third capability information indicates at least one of:
whether the terminal device is able to support asynchronous MTRP non-coherent joint transmission (NCJT),
whether the terminal device is able to support asynchronous MTRP CJT, or
whether the terminal device is able to support fallback to a reliability transmission in accordance with a determination that a time of arrival (TOA) difference between the first TRP and the second TRP exceeds a threshold.
Regarding claim 16, He, Zhang, and Zhou combination teaches: The method of claim 1, further comprising:
transmitting, to the network device, third information indicating a time of arrival (TOA) difference between the first TRP and the second TRP (see He, ¶[0031], time difference (TD) measurement; ¶[0032], the UE 110 performs the TD measurements for the P-TRP and S-TRP radio frames. At 420, the UE 110 reports the measured TD(s) to the gNB 120 a.).
Regarding claim 30, He teaches: A terminal device comprising (see Fig 2, UE, ¶[0022]- ¶[0024]):
a processor (Processor 205; ¶[0022]- ¶[0024]); and
a memory (memory arrangement 210) coupled to the processor and storing instructions thereon, the instructions, when executed by the processor, causing the terminal device to ( see ¶[0022]- ¶[0024] ) :
receive, from a network device, a first configuration indicating a time offset between a first transmission reception point (TRP) and a second TRP ( see ¶[0031], the UE 110 receives a TRP configuration from the gNB 120 a. In some embodiments, the TRP configuration includes a P-TRP and a S-TRP. At 410, the UE 110 receives a time difference (TD) measurement configuration from the gNB 120 a. Based on the TD measurement configuration, the UE 110 determines the radio frame TD between the P-TRP and the S-TRP (e.g., in Tcunits) ), wherein the terminal device is able to support asynchronous multi-TRP (MTRP) transmissions from the first and second TRPs; and
in accordance with determination that the terminal device synchronizes with the first TRP, perform at least one of: downlink reception with the second TRP based on the time offset or uplink transmission with the second TRP based on the time offset.
He, however, fails to explicitly teach information related to (a) the terminal device is able to support asynchronous multi-TRP (MTRP) transmissions from the first and second TRPs and (b) in accordance with determination that the terminal device synchronizes with the first TRP, perform at least one of: downlink reception with the second TRP based on the time offset or uplink transmission with the second TRP based on the time offset.
However, Zhang in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches (a) wherein the terminal device is able to support asynchronous multi-TRP (MTRP) transmissions from the first and second TRPs ( see Zhang, ¶[0087], UE reports that it can support multi-TRP operation for some cells as well as the mode of multi-TRP, e.g. synchronized or unsynchronized. For example, the UE may report whether the UE can support multi-TRP operation for some cells, as well as the mode of the multi-TRP. For example, the UE can indicate whether it can support synchronized multi-TRP or unsynchronized multi-TRP for the cells).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify He's teachings with Zhang's above teaching, such as supporting unsynchronized multi-trp transmission, to enhance reliability and increase coverage.
The combination, however, fails to explicitly teach information related to (b) in accordance with determination that the terminal device synchronizes with the first TRP, perform at least one of: downlink reception with the second TRP based on the time offset or uplink transmission with the second TRP based on the time offset.
However, Zhou, in the same or similar field of endeavor teaches: (b) in accordance with determination that the terminal device synchronizes with the first TRP ( see Zhou, ¶[0079], The UE may use different antenna ports to perform uplink transmissions with multiple TRPs, and the UE may configure one TA value for each port, so that the multiple antenna ports may implement the configuration of multiple TA values. FIG. 9 shows a schematic diagram of a UE applying TAs on antenna ports. As shown in FIG. 9 , the UE transmits data to TRP 1 through Antenna Port 1 and transmits data to TRP 2 through Antenna Port 2. The UE may apply a TA value associated with TRP 1 (i.e., TA1) on Antenna Port 1 to compensate for the propagation delay Delay_1 between the UE and TRP 1; ¶[0080], the UE may associate a certain TA value with one or more antenna ports in advance, for example, TA1 with Antenna Port 1 (and possibly other ports), and TA2 with Antenna Port 2 (and possibly other ports), and then choose to use the antenna port associated with TA1, such as Antenna Port 1, in the uplink transmission with TRP 1 ), perform at least one of: downlink reception with the second TRP based on the time offset or uplink transmission with the second TRP based on the time offset (see Zhou, ¶[0079], The UE may use different antenna ports to perform uplink transmissions with multiple TRPs, and the UE may configure one TA value for each port, so that the multiple antenna ports may implement the configuration of multiple TA values. FIG. 9 shows a schematic diagram of a UE applying TAs on antenna ports. As shown in FIG. 9 , the UE transmits data to TRP 1 through Antenna Port 1 and transmits data to TRP 2 through Antenna Port 2. The UE may apply a TA value associated with TRP 1 (i.e., TA1) on Antenna Port 1 to compensate for the propagation delay Delay_1 between the UE and TRP 1. Further, the UE may apply a TA value associated with TRP 2 (i.e., TA2) on Antenna Port 2 to compensate for the propagation delay Delay_2 between the UE and TRP 2. Thereby, the uplink synchronization of the UE with both TRP 1 and TRP 2 is achieved; ¶[0080], the UE may associate a certain TA value with one or more antenna ports in advance, for example, TA1 with Antenna Port 1 (and possibly other ports), and TA2 with Antenna Port 2 (and possibly other ports)… choose to use the antenna port associated with TA2, such as Antenna Port 2, in the uplink transmission with TRP 2).
It would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the combination with Zhou's above teachings in order to communicate with multiple TRPs simultaneously, which is helpful to improve the reliability and effectiveness of the uplink transmission ( see Zhou, ¶[0006]). Known work in one field of endeavor (Zhou prior art) may prompt variations of it for use in either the same field or different one (He prior art) based on design incentives ( improve the reliability and effectiveness of the uplink transmission ) or other market forces if the variations are predictable to one or ordinary skill in the art.
Regarding claim 33, He, Zhang, and Zhou combination teaches: The terminal device of claim 30, wherein the terminal device is further caused to at least one of: transmit, to the network device, first capability information of the terminal device, wherein the first capability information indicates at least one of: the terminal device being able to support the asynchronous MTRP transmissions ( see Zhang, ¶[0087], UE reports that it can support multi-TRP operation for some cells as well as the mode of multi-TRP, e.g. synchronized or unsynchronized. For example, the UE may report whether the UE can support multi-TRP operation for some cells, as well as the mode of the multi-TRP. For example, the UE can indicate whether it can support synchronized multi-TRP or unsynchronized multi-TRP for the cells), or
a maximum time offset that the terminal device is able to support for the asynchronous MTRP transmissions; or
transmit, to the network device, second capability information of the terminal device, wherein the second capability information indicates at least one of:
a first number of maximum supported fast Fourier transform (FFT) windows, or
a second number of maximum simultaneously supported FFT windows; or
transmit, to the network device, third capability information of the terminal device, wherein the third capability information indicates at least one of:
whether the terminal device is able to support asynchronous MTRP non-coherent joint transmission (NCJT),
whether the terminal device is able to support asynchronous MTRP CJT, or
whether the terminal device is able to support fallback to a reliability transmission in accordance with a determination that a time of arrival (TOA) difference between the first TRP and the second TRP exceeds a threshold.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim(s) 2-15 is/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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Palanki et al. ( US 2011/0176483 A1), Synchronization of devices in a wireless communication network
Yerramalli et al. ( US 2021/0337479 A1), Asynchronous carrier aggregation
Comsa et al. ( US 2024/0188015 A1), Methods and apparatus for inter-cell multi trp operation in wireless communication systems
Kung et al. ( US 2025/0016846 A1), Method and apparatus for obtaining time alignment regarding multiple trps in a wireless communication system
Laddu ( US 2022/0248358 A1), Multi-transmit-receive point transmission for ultra reliable low latency communication
Boroujeni et al. ( US 2021/0185670 A1), Timing advance signaling for multi-transmit receive point operation
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MANG BOI THAWNG whose telephone number is (703)756-4751. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30 am - 5:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ayaz Sheikh can be reached at (571)272-3795. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MANG BOI THAWNG/Examiner, Art Unit 2476 /AYAZ R SHEIKH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2476