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 .
Summary
This action is in reply to Applicant’s Amendments and Remarks filed on 06/15/2026.
Claims 1, 2, 5-11, 14-18, and 37-38 are pending.
Claims 3-4, 12-13, 19-36 and 39-42 are canceled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments and remarks, filed 06/15/2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1, 2, 5-11, 14-18, and 37-38 have been fully considered and are not persuasive.
With respect to claim 1, which also include now cancelled claims 3 and 4 being incorporated in independent claims 1 and similarly in claims 10 and 37, the Applicant presented argument that MURUGANATHAN fails to teach amended claim 1 features –
[Fl] the MAC CE is configured to activate M TCI states corresponding to each codepoint of L codepoints of a TCI field, and the L codepoints are all associated with one same control resource set pool index, where L and M are positive integers, respectively; or
[F2] the MAC CE is configured to activate K TCI states corresponding to each codepoint of N codepoints of a TCI field, the N codepoints are in one-to-one association with N control resource set pool indexes, and any two control resource set pool indexes of the N control resource set pool indexes are the same or different; or
[F3] the MAC CE is configured to activate K TCI states corresponding to each codepoint of N codepoints of a TCI field, the K TCI states corresponding to each codepoint of the N codepoints are in one-to-one association with K control resource set pool indexes, and any two control resource set pool indexes of N*K control resource set pool indexes are the same or different; N and K are positive integers, respectively.
(REMARKS, Page 7)
The Examiner respectfully disagrees. The Examiner notes that the amended claim 1 features F1, F2 and F3 are in alternate form, and teaching of MURUGANATHAN for any one of features F1, F2 and F3, would cause rejection of amended claim 1.
In this case, as noted by the Applicant MURUGANATHAN disclose-
[0153] … the MAC CE includes a CORESET pool ID that indicates that the TCI states activated by the MAC CE and the codepoint to TCI state mapping defined by the information included in the MAC CE are to be applied to a PDCCH(s) that is carried within any CORESET in the CORESET pool indicated by the CORESET pool ID.
In [0153], MURUGANATHAN discloses MAC CE defined codepoints or L codepoints mapped to TCI states activated by the MAC CE are all associated with one same control resource set (CORESET) pool ID or index" as required by feature F1 of amended claim 1.
Accordingly amended claim1, and similarly claims 10 and 37, are rejected.
Dependent claims 2, 5-9, 11, 14-18, and 38 being dependent on claims 1, 10 and 37 are also rejected for the same reason as above.
NOTICE for all US Patent Applications filed on or after March 16, 2013
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 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 Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of AIA 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 I-2, 5-7, 9-11, 14-16, 18 and 37-38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a)(1) as anticipated by Muruganathan et al. (WO 2021090204 A1, of IDS, hereinafter ‘MURUGANATHAN’).
Regarding claim 1, MURUGANATHAN teaches a method for determining a transmission configuration indication state, performed by a terminal device (
Fig. 22, UE 1112,
[0152] Figure 22 illustrates the operation of a network node and a UE 1112 in accordance with at least some aspects of at least some of the embodiments described above. Optional steps are indicated by dashed lines/boxes. Note that the network node may be a network node that provides joint scheduling for multiple TRPs for a multi-PDSCH transmission (see, e.g., Figure 6). The network node may, for example, be a base station 1102 that serves as one of the TRPs for a multi-PDSCH transmission (where the other TRP(s) for the multi-PDSCH transmission may be, e.g., another base station 1102 or a low power node 1106).), comprising:
receiving a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), wherein the MAC CE is configured to activate a transmission configuration indication (TCI) state corresponding to at least one remote radio head (RRH) (
[0152] Figure 22 illustrates …. the network node may be a network node that provides joint scheduling for multiple TRPs for a multi-PDSCH transmission (see, e.g., Figure 6). The network node may, for example, be a base station 1102 that serves as one of the TRPs for a multi-PDSCH transmission …..
[0153] As illustrated, the network node transmits or initiates transmission of a MAC CE for TCI state activation or deactivation to the UE 1112, and the UE 1112 receives the MAC CE (step 2200). As discussed above, the MAC CE includes information that activates one or more TCI states and defines a codepoint to TCI state mapping that maps each of the codepoints of the DCI Transmission Configuration Indication field to at most X (e.g., X=2) of the TCI states activated by the MAC CE. In addition, as described above, in one embodiment the MAC CE includes a CORESET pool ID that indicates that the TCI states activated by the MAC CE and the codepoint to TCI state mapping defined by the information included in the MAC CE are to be applied to a PDCCH(s) that is carried within any CORESET in the CORESET pool indicated by the CORESET pool ID.
[0154] The network node may transmit or initiate transmission of a PDCCH carried within a CORSET in the CORESET pool indicated by the CORESET pool ID (step 2202). The PDCCH includes a DCI in which the DCI Transmission Configuration Indication field is set to a particular codepoint that is mapped to the TCI state(s) to be used for at least one PDSCH scheduled by the DCI, and the UE 1112 receives the PDCCH. The UE 1112 determines the activated TCI state(s) that are mapped to the particular codepoint for the DCI Transmission Configuration Indication field included in the received DCI (step 2204). The determined TCI state(s) are then used for transmission of the scheduled PDSCH(s) and used by the UE 1112 for reception of the scheduled PDSCH(s) (step 2206);
wherein:
the MAC CE is configured to activate M TCI states corresponding to each codepoint of L codepoints of a TCI field, and the L codepoints are all associated with one same control resource set pool index, where L and M are positive integers, respectively (
Fig. 5, [0027] As shown in Figure 5, the MAC CE contains the following fields:
• A variable number of fields Ti): If the UE is configured with a TCI state with TCI State ID then the field Ti indicates the activation/deactivation status of the TCI state with TCI State ID i. …… It should be noted that the codepoint to which the TCI State is mapped is determined by the ordinal position among all the TCI States with Ti field set to "1". That is the first TCI State with Ti field set to "1" shall be mapped to the codepoint value 0 of DCI Transmission Configuration Indication field, the second TCI State with Ti field set to "1" shall be mapped to the codepoint value 1 of DCI Transmission Configuration Indication field, and so on. In NR Rel-15, the maximum number of activated TCI states is 8;…….
[0153] in one embodiment the MAC CE includes a CORESET pool ID that indicates that the TCI states activated by the MAC CE and the codepoint to TCI state mapping defined by the information included in the MAC CE are to be applied to a PDCCH(s) that is carried within any CORESET in the CORESET pool indicated by the CORESET pool ID.); or
the MAC CE is configured to activate K TCI states corresponding to each codepoint of N codepoints of a TCI field, the N codepoints are in one-to-one association with N control resource set pool indexes, and any two control resource set pool indexes of the N control resource set pool indexes are the same or different; where N and K are positive integers, respectively (
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[0134] In some cases, the maximum number of activated TCI states can be limited to a certain number T.sub.mgxso that the UE 1112 is only limited to receive transmissions corresponding to this limited number of TCI states. Hence, in some variants of Embodiment 1, the maximum number of unique TCI state IDs indicated by the MAC CE is limited to T.sub.max. In NR Rel-16, T.sub.mgx \s agreed to be eight (8). Figure 17 shows an example MAC CE where 10 TCI state IDs are indicated with the following mappings to codepoints in the DCI Transmission configuration indication field:
• TCI States A and B mapped to codepoint 0
• TCI State A mapped to codepoint 1
• TCI States C and D mapped to codepoint 2
• TCI State C mapped to codepoint 3
• TCI State E mapped to codepoint 4
• TCI State F mapped to codepoint 5
• TCI State G mapped to codepoint 6 • TCI State H mapped to codepoint 7
Even though 10 TCI states are indicated, the maximum number of unique TCI states indicated (i.e., TCI states A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H) by the MAC CE is limited to 8 according to this embodiment.
[0148] The maximum number of unique TCI state IDs indicated by the MAC CE is limited to Tmax. In NR Rel-16, Tmax is agreed to be eight (8). Figure 17 shows an example MAC CE where 10 TCI state IDs are indicated with the following mappings to codepoints in the DCI Transmission configuration indication field.
[0149] Since each CORESET pool consisting of one or more CORESETs corresponds to one TRP transmitting a PDCCH, then in one embodiment, the CORESET pool index may be indicated as part of the MAC CE. From the CORESET pool index, the UE 1112 knows that the activated TCI States and the associated codepoint to TCI state mapping should be applied to a PDCCH that is carried within one of the CORESETs in the CORESET pool. The benefit of this embodiment is that the TCI state activation and codepoint to TCI state mapping for two TRPs that sends two PDCCHs to the UE 1112 can be provided to the UE 1112 via independent MAC CEs.
[0150] In an alternative embodiment, TCI state activation and codepoint to TCI state mapping for two TRPs can be simultaneously provided within the same MAC CE. This is done by indicating a set of TCI state IDs to be activated and, for each of the TCI state IDs, indicating an associated CORESET pool index for the TCI state ID.
(Construed from Figure 17, [0134, 0148-0149] that MAC CE is configured to activate K=4 TCI states corresponding to each codepoint of N=2 codepoints, see TCI starts 1,B , C, D of a TCI field, and [0149, 0150] indicates the 2 codepoints are in one-to-one association with 2 control resource set pool indexes corresponding to 2 TRPs indicated by same MAC CE, control resource set pool indexes being different for respective TRP)); or
the MAC CE is configured to activate K TCI states corresponding to each codepoint of N codepoints of a TCI field, the K TCI states corresponding to each codepoint of the N codepoints are in one-to-one association with K control resource set pool indexes, and any two control resource set pool indexes of N*K control resource set pool indexes are the same or different;
where N and K are positive integers, respectively.
Regarding claim 2, MURUGANATHAN teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the RRH corresponds to any one of: an RRH identifier (ID), a control resource set pool index, a transmission and reception point (TRP) ID, a reference signal resource set ID, and a reference signal resource ID (
[0017] the UE can be configured through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling with M TCI states, where M is up to 128 in frequency range 2 (FR2) for the purpose of PDSCH reception and up to 8 in frequency range 1 (FR1), depending on UE capability.
[0018] Each TCI state contains QCL information, i.e. one or two source downlink (DL) RSs, each source RS associated with a QCL type. For example, a TCI state contains a pair of reference signals, each associated with a QCL type, e-g- two different CSI-RSs {CSI-RS1, CSI-RS2} is configured in the TCI state as {qcl-Typel,qcl-Type2} = {Type A, Type D}.
[0019] Each of the M states in the list of TCI states can be interpreted as a list of M possible beams transmitted from the network or a list of M possible TRPs used by the network to communicate with the UE. The M TCI states can also be interpreted as a combination of one or multiple beams transmitted from one or multiple TRPs.
[0020] A first list of available TCI states is configured for PDSCH, and a second list of TCI states is configured for PDCCH. Each TCI state contains a pointer, known as TCI State ID, which points to the TCI state. The network then activates, via Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), one TCI state for PDCCH (i.e. provides a TCI for PDCCH) and up to eight TCI states for PDSCH.
[0027] As shown in Figure 5, the MAC CE contains the following fields:
• Serving Cell ID: This field indicates the identity of the Serving Cell for which the MAC CE applies. The length of the field is 5 bits;
Fig. 6, Fig. 22, [0152] the network node may be a network node that provides joint scheduling for multiple TRPs for a multi-PDSCH transmission (see, e.g., Figure 6). The network node may, for example, be a base station 1102 that serves as one of the TRPs for a multi-PDSCH transmission (where the other TRP(s) for the multi-PDSCH transmission may be, e.g., another base station 1102 or a low power node 1106)…..
[0153] As discussed above, the MAC CE includes information that activates one or more TCI states and defines a codepoint to TCI state mapping that maps each of the codepoints of the DCI Transmission Configuration Indication field to at most X (e.g., X=2) of the TCI states activated by the MAC CE. In addition, as described above, in one embodiment the MAC CE includes a CORESET pool ID that indicates that the TCI states activated by the MAC CE and the codepoint to TCI state mapping defined by the information included in the MAC CE are to be applied to a PDCCH(s) that is carried within any CORESET in the CORESET pool indicated by the CORESET pool ID.).
Regarding claim 5, MURUGANATHAN teaches the method of claim 3, further comprising:
receiving downlink control information (DCI), wherein the DCI is configured to indicate one codepoint of the N codepoints or the L codepoints (
See [0153-0154] cited above for claim 1).
Regarding claim 6, MURUGANATHAN teaches the method of claim 3, wherein the one control resource set pool index corresponds to one RRH or multiple RRHs (
[0149] Since each CORESET pool consisting of one or more CORESETs corresponds to one TRP transmitting a PDCCH, then in one embodiment, the CORESET pool index may be indicated as part of the MAC CE. From the CORESET pool index, the UE 1112 knows that the activated TCI States and the associated codepoint to TCI state mapping should be applied to a PDCCH that is carried within one of the CORESETs in the CORESET pool. The benefit of this embodiment is that the TCI state activation and codepoint to TCI state mapping for two TRPs that sends two PDCCHs to the UE 1112 can be provided to the UE 1112 via independent MAC CEs.
[0150] In an alternative embodiment, TCI state activation and codepoint to TCI state mapping for two TRPs can be simultaneously provided within the same MAC CE. This is done by indicating a set of TCI state IDs to be activated and, for each of the TCI state IDs, indicating an associated CORESET pool index for the TCI state ID.
See also [0153-0154] cited above for claim 1).
Regarding claim 7, MURUGANATHAN teaches the method of claim 3, further comprising:
determining at least one of a control resource set pool index and/or an RRH identifier corresponding to each TCI state, according to the MAC CE (
See also [0149, 0151] cited above for claim 4).
Regarding claim 9, MURUGANATHAN teaches the method of claim 6, wherein the multiple RRHs correspond to a same physical cell identifier (PCI), or the multiple RRHs correspond to different PCIs (
[0027] As shown in Figure 5, the MAC CE contains the following fields:
• Serving Cell ID: This field indicates the identity of the Serving Cell for which the MAC CE applies. The length of the field is 5 bits;
Fig. 6, Fig. 22, [0152] the network node may be a network node that provides joint scheduling for multiple TRPs for a multi-PDSCH transmission (see, e.g., Figure 6). The network node may, for example, be a base station 1102 that serves as one of the TRPs for a multi-PDSCH transmission (where the other TRP(s) for the multi-PDSCH transmission may be, e.g., another base station 1102 or a low power node 1106)…..).
Regarding claim 10, MURUGANATHAN teaches a method for determining a transmission configuration indication state, performed by a network device (
Fig. 22, Network Node,
[0152] Figure 22 illustrates the operation of a network node and a UE 1112 in accordance with at least some aspects of at least some of the embodiments described above. Optional steps are indicated by dashed lines/boxes. Note that the network node may be a network node that provides joint scheduling for multiple TRPs for a multi-PDSCH transmission (see, e.g., Figure 6). The network node may, for example, be a base station 1102 that serves as one of the TRPs for a multi-PDSCH transmission (where the other TRP(s) for the multi-PDSCH transmission may be, e.g., another base station 1102 or a low power node 1106).), comprising:
Further, claim 10 is interpreted mutatis mutandis of claim 1 and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 1.
Regarding claim 11, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 2.
Regarding claim 14, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 5.
Regarding claim 15, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 6.
Regarding claim 16, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 7.
Regarding claim 18, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 9.
Regarding claim 37, MURUGANATHAN teaches a communication device (
Fig. 22, UE 1112,
[0152] Figure 22 illustrates the operation of a network node and a UE 1112 in accordance with at least some aspects of at least some of the embodiments described above. Optional steps are indicated by dashed lines/boxes. Note that the network node may be a network node that provides joint scheduling for multiple TRPs for a multi-PDSCH transmission (see, e.g., Figure 6). The network node may, for example, be a base station 1102 that serves as one of the TRPs for a multi-PDSCH transmission (where the other TRP(s) for the multi-PDSCH transmission may be, e.g., another base station 1102 or a low power node 1106).
comprising:
a processor, and a memory having stored therein computer programs, wherein the processor is configured to (
Fig. 22, UE 1112,
Fig. 26 Wireless Communication Device 2600,
[0160] Figure 26 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication device 2600 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The wireless communication device 2600 may be, e.g., the UE 1112 ….. includes one or more processors 2602 (e.g., CPUs, ASICs, FPGAs, and/or the like), memory 2604…….. the functionality of the wireless communication device 2600 described above (e.g., one or more functions of the UE 1112 described above ….. may be fully or partially implemented in software that is, e.g., stored in the memory 2604 and executed by the processor(s) 2602.).
Further, claim 37 is interpreted mutatis mutandis of claim 1 and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 1.
Regarding claim 38, MURUGANATHAN teaches a method for determining a transmission configuration indication state, performed by a network device (
Fig. 22, Network Node,
[0152] Figure 22 illustrates the operation of a network node and a UE 1112 in accordance with at least some aspects of at least some of the embodiments described above. Optional steps are indicated by dashed lines/boxes. Note that the network node may be a network node that provides joint scheduling for multiple TRPs for a multi-PDSCH transmission (see, e.g., Figure 6). The network node may, for example, be a base station 1102 that serves as one of the TRPs for a multi-PDSCH transmission (where the other TRP(s) for the multi-PDSCH transmission may be, e.g., another base station 1102 or a low power node 1106).), comprising:
a processor, and a memory having stored therein computer programs, wherein the processor is configured to execute the computer programs stored in the memory to cause the communication device to perform (
Fig. 23, Network node 2300,
[0155] Figure 23 is a schematic block diagram of a network node 2300 ……. The network node 2300 may be, for example, the network node of Figure 18 (which may be, e.g., a radio network node such as, e.g., a base station 1102 or 1106) …… includes a control system 2302 that includes one or more processors 2304 ….. memory 2306, and a network interface 2308. ……. The one or more processors 2304 operate to provide one or more functions of a network node 2300 as described herein ……. the function(s) are implemented in software that is stored, e.g., in the memory 2306 and executed by the one or more processors 2304.).
Further, claim 38 is interpreted mutatis mutandis of claim 10 and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 10.
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 of this title, 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.
Claims 8 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Muruganathan et al. (WO 2021090204 A1, of IDS, hereinafter ‘MURUGANATHAN’) in view of Zhou et al. (US 20230291525 A1, of record, hereinafter ‘ZHOU’).
Regarding claim 8, MURUGANATHAN teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the TCI state is at least one of: a joint TCI state, an independent downlink TCI state, and an independent uplink TCI state (
See [0152-0154] cited for claim 1).
MURUGANATHAN does not explicitly disclose wherein the joint TCI state is configured for both uplink and downlink transmissions.
In an analogous art, ZHOU teaches wherein the joint TCI state is configured for both uplink and downlink transmissions (
Fig. 4 messages 412…416,
[0069] a MAC-CE 412 activating at least one set of joint DL/UL TCI states for a plurality of TRPs (e.g., two or more of 406, 408, 410).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to take the technique of MAC-CE activated joint DL/UL TCI states of ZHOU to system of activation and deactivation of transmission configuration indication states in a cellular communications system of MURIGANATHAN in order to take the advantage of providing a method for providing enhancement on signaling mechanisms to improve latency and efficiency with more usage of dynamic control signaling (ZHOU: [0067]).
Regarding claim 17, the claim is interpreted and rejected for the same reason as set forth for claim 8.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
ZHOU et al. (US 20230254097 A1), describing TRANSMISSION CONFIGURATION INDICATOR STATES IN DOWNLINK CONTROL INFORMATION FORMAT 1_2
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHAH M RAHMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-8951. The examiner can normally be reached 9:30AM-5:30PM PST.
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/SHAH M RAHMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2413
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