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 office action is a response to application no. 18/693,093 filed on 03/18/2024.
Claims 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, 19, 22 and 45 – 46 are amended.
Claims 9 – 10, 20 – 21, 23 – 44 and 47 – 50 are cancelled.
Claims 1 – 8, 11 – 19, 22 and 45 – 46 are pending and ready for examination.
Priority
This application is a U.S. national phase application of International Application No. PCT/CN2021/119700, filed on September 22, 2021.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on 03/18/2024 and 08/13/2025 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 § 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 – 2, 12 – 13 and 45 – 46 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by GUO et al. (GUO hereinafter referred to GUO) (WO 2021/143652 A1) (Copy is attached).
Regarding claim 1, GUO teaches a method for beam measurement and reporting (Title, METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR GROUP-BASED BEAM MEASUREMENT AND REPORTING), performed by a terminal (Fig. 4 and Pg.8: line 16, a flowchart of the operation of a terminal device 100), comprising:
receiving configuration information, wherein the configuration information comprises at least two reference signal resources (Fig. 4, step S42 and Pg.8: lines 38-40, The terminal device 100 is configured with one or more NZP CSI-RS resource set configuration(s) as indicated by the higher layer parameters CSI-ResourceConfig, and NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet. Each NZP CSI-RS resource set consists of K≥1 NZP CSI-RS resource(s). Here, NZP CSI-RS resources are two reference signal resources), and the at least two reference signal resources correspond to different remote radio heads respectively (Fig. 4, step S44 and Pg.9: lines 4-6, the terminal device 100 receives a first beam comprising the first set of reference signal resources from the first network device 200a and receives a second beam comprising a second set of reference signal resources from the second network device 200b. Here, the network devices 200a and 200b are two different remote radio heads).
Regarding claim 12, GUO teaches a method for beam measurement and reporting (Title, METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR GROUP-BASED BEAM MEASUREMENT AND REPORTING), performed by a network device (Fig. 5 and Pg.10: line 5, a flowchart of the operation of operations of a network device 200), comprising:
sending configuration information (Fig. 5, and Pg.10: lines 28-29, the network device 200 configures the terminal device 100 to receive and report multiple beams simultaneously; line 31, transmit information to configure the terminal device 100), wherein the configuration information comprises at least two reference signal resources (Fig. 5, and Pg.10: lines 28-29, the network device 200 configures the terminal device 100 to receive and report multiple beams simultaneously), and the at least two reference signal resources correspond to different remote radio heads respectively (Fig. 5, step S53 and Pg.10: lines 50 – Pg.11: line 1, the first network device 200a transmits a first beam comprising a first set of reference signal resource and the second network device 200b transmits a second beam comprising a second set of reference signal resources to the terminal device 100. Here, the network devices 200a and 200b are two different remote radio heads and the first set and the second sets of reference signal resources are two reference signal resources).
Regarding claims 2 and 13, GUO teaches all the features with respect to claims 1 and 12, respectively as outlined above,
GUO further teaches
wherein the different remote radio heads correspond to at least one of (Due to alternative language “at least one of” in the claims, examiner addresses one limitation only):
different transmission and reception points (Fig.1 and Pg.5: lines 34-35, Each of the first and second network devices 200a, 200b comprises a transmission-reception point (TRP));
different control resource set pools; or
different antenna panels.
Regarding claim 45, GUO teaches (Title, METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR GROUP-BASED BEAM MEASUREMENT AND REPORTING), a communication device (Fig. 2 and Pg.6: line 8, a terminal device 100), comprising:
a processor (Fig. 2 and Pg.6: line 12, processing unit 120); and
a memory having a computer program stored thereon (Pg.15: lines 37-38, computer readable media includes any type of medium suitable for storing, encoding, or carrying a series of instructions);
wherein the processor is configured (Pg.6: lines 36-37, The processing unit 120 is configured to control the overall functionality of the terminal device 100) to:
receive configuration information, wherein the configuration information comprises at least two reference signal resources (Fig. 4, step S42 and Pg.8: lines 38-40, The terminal device 100 is configured with one or more NZP CSI-RS resource set configuration(s) as indicated by the higher layer parameters CSI-ResourceConfig, and NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet. Each NZP CSI-RS resource set consists of K≥1 NZP CSI-RS resource(s). Here, NZP CSI-RS resources are two reference signal resources), and the at least two reference signal resources correspond to different remote radio heads respectively (Fig. 4, step S44 and Pg.9: lines 4-6, the terminal device 100 receives a first beam comprising the first set of reference signal resources from the first network device 200a and receives a second beam comprising a second set of reference signal resources from the second network device 200b. Here, the network devices 200a and 200b are two different remote radio heads).
Regarding claim 46, GUO teaches all the features with respect to claim 12 as outlined above.
GUO further teaches
a communication device (Fig. 3 and Pg.7: line 28, network device 200), comprising:
a processor (Fig. 3 and Pg.7: line 30, processing unit 220); and
a memory having a computer program stored thereon (Pg.15: lines 37-38, computer readable media includes any type of medium suitable for storing, encoding, or carrying a series of instructions);
wherein the processor is configured to perform the method of claim 12 (Pg.7: lines 39-40, The processing unit 220 is configured to control the overall functionality of the network device 200).
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.
Claims 3 – 7, 11, 14 – 18 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over GUO in view of Matsumura et al. (Matsumura hereinafter referred to Matsumura) (US 2024/0306024 A1).
Regarding claims 3 and 14, GUO teaches all the features with respect to claims 1 and 12 as outlined above.
GUO further teaches
wherein the configuration information is configured as one of (Due to alternative language “as one of” in the claims, examiner addresses one limitation only):
the configuration information comprising one resource setting, wherein the resource setting is associated with a plurality of channel measurement resource (CMR) resource sets, the plurality of CMR resource sets are in a one-to-one correspondence with a plurality of remote radio heads, and the reference signal resources corresponding to different remote radio heads are comprised in different CMR resource sets in the plurality of CMR resource sets;
the configuration information comprising a plurality of resource settings (Pg.8: line 8, The terminal device 100 is configured with two resource settings), wherein each resource setting is associated with resource set (Pg.8: lines 8-11, The first resource setting has a set of NZP CSI-RS resources or SS/PBCH blocks for channel measurements and the second resource setting has a set of NZP CSI-RS resources or ZP CSI-RS resources for interference measurement. Here, each of the resource setting is associated with a resource set), the plurality of resource settings are in a one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of remote radio heads (Fig. 4, step S44 and Pg.9: lines 5-6, the first set of reference signal resources from the first network device 200a and a second set of reference signal resources from the second network device 200b); or
the configuration information comprising one resource setting, wherein the resource setting is associated with one CMR resource set, wherein the CMR resource set comprises a plurality of CMR resource subsets, the plurality of CMR resource subsets are in a one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of remote radio heads, and reference signal resources corresponding to different remote radio heads are comprised in different CMR resource subsets in the plurality of CMR resource subsets.
GUO does not specifically teach
wherein each resource setting is associated with one CMR resource set, and reference signal resources corresponding to different remote radio heads are comprised in CMR resource sets associated with different resource settings in the plurality of resource settings.
However, Matsumura teaches (Title, TERMINAL, RADIO COMMUNICATION METHOD, AND BASE STATION)
wherein each resource setting is associated with one CMR resource set ([0134], resource setting for channel measurement, a resource for channel measurement, …, a CMR, and a CMR resource are interchangeably interpreted as each other), and reference signal resources ([0100], CSI-RS resources for channel measurement (CMR). Here, CMR is reference signal resources) corresponding to different remote radio heads are comprised in CMR resource sets (Fig.20 and [0208], CMRs #0 to #3 correspond to TRP #1, and CMRs #4 to #7 correspond to TRP #2. Here, the CMRs #0 to #3 and the CMRs #4 to #7 are considered as two CMR resource sets correspond to two TRPs) associated with different resource settings in the plurality of resource settings ([0208], the CMRs corresponding to TRP #1 is configured first, and the CMRs corresponding to TRP #2 is configured subsequently. As mentioned above, the resource setting for channel measurement and the CMR resource are interchangeably interpreted; therefore, it is obvious that two CMR resource sets associated with different resource settings).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified GUO as mentioned in claims 1 and 12 and further incorporate the teaching of Matsumura. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide measurement and report of CSI for a multi panel/TRP that can be appropriately performed (Matsumura, Abstract and [0001]).
Regarding claims 4 and 15, combination of GUO and Matsumura teaches all the features with respect to claims 3 and 14, respectively as outlined above.
GUO does not specifically teach
receiving first indication information, wherein the first indication information is used to implement at least one of:
activating or deactivating M CMR resource sets;
activating or deactivating M CMR resource subsets;
activating or deactivating M resource settings;
indicating M CMR resource sets;
indicating M CMR resource subsets; or
indicating M resource settings; wherein, M is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.
However, Matsumura teaches
receiving first indication information ([0293], The UE is configured with one or a plurality of pieces of CMR group configuration information by RRC signaling. Here, RRC is a first indication information), wherein the first indication information is used to implement at least one of (Due to alternative language “at least one of” in the claims, examiner addresses one limitation only):
activating or deactivating M CMR resource sets;
activating or deactivating M CMR resource subsets;
activating or deactivating M resource settings;
indicating M CMR resource sets ([0293], One piece of CMR group configuration information includes information indicating the CMRs included in one CMR group or includes information indicating the CMRs respectively included in a plurality of CMR groups. Here, CMRs are considered as M CMR resource sets);
indicating M CMR resource subsets; or
indicating M resource settings; wherein, M is a positive integer greater than or equal to 1.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified combination of GUO and Matsumura as mentioned in claims 3 and 14 and further incorporate the teaching of Matsumura. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide measurement and report of CSI for a multi panel/TRP that can be appropriately performed (Matsumura, Abstract and [0001]).
Regarding claims 5 and 16, combination of GUO and Matsumura teaches all the features with respect to claims 4 and 15, respectively as outlined above.
GUO further teaches
sending/ receiving a first measurement result report (Fig. 4, step S47 and Pg.9: line 22, the terminal device 100 transmits the generated beam report; Pg.9: lines 17-18, terminal device 100 includes measurement results within the beam report. Here, the generated beam report is a first measurement result report);
wherein the first measurement result report comprises a plurality of groups (Pg.10: lines 1-4, the terminal device 100 is configured with the higher layer parameter groupBasedBeamReporting set to 'enabled', the terminal device 100 reports in a single reporting instance K pairs of two different CSI-RS resource indicators (CRis) or SS/PBCH resource block indicators (SSBRis) for each report setting; line 18, Exemplary values of K are 1, 2, 4, 6, or 8. Here, the reports comprises K pairs of two different resource indicators; therefore, the first measurement result report comprises a plurality of groups), N reference signals (RSs) in each group are able to be simultaneously received by the terminal, N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2 (Pg.10: lines 4-6, within each pair of CRis or SSBRis, the CSI-RS and/or synchronization signal block (SSB) resources are received simultaneously by the terminal device 100; Pg.3: line 13-16, The beam report comprises measurement results of each reference signal resource; The reference signal resources are channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS, resources. Here, the pair of CRis or SSBRis, the CSI-RS and/or SSB means N reference signals are received simultaneously and N is at least 2), and different reference signals in the N reference signals correspond to different remote radio heads (Pg.9: line 4-6, the first set of reference signal resources from the first network device 200a and the second set of reference signal resources from the second network device 200b. Here, the set of reference signal resources means at least one reference signal; therefore, different reference signals correspond to different remote radio heads); or the first measurement result report comprises a plurality of groups, and reference signals in different groups are able to be simultaneously received by the terminal (Due to alternative language “or” in the claims, examiner addresses one limitation only).
Regarding claims 6 and 17, GUO teaches all the features with respect to claims 1 and 12 as outlined above.
GUO further teaches
wherein, the configuration information comprises a plurality of resource settings, wherein each resource setting comprises two CMR resource sets, and the two CMR resource sets are in a one-to-one correspondence with two remote radio heads, wherein at least one reference signal resource corresponding to a first remote radio head of the two remote radio heads is contained in a first CMR resource set of the two CMR resource sets, and at least one reference signal resource corresponding to a second remote radio head of the two remote radio heads is contained in a second CMR resource set of the two CMR resource sets;
or (Due to alternative language “or” in the claims, examiner addresses one limitation only)
the configuration information comprises a plurality of resource settings (Pg.8: line 8, The terminal device 100 is configured with two resource settings), wherein each resource setting comprises one resource set (Pg.8: lines 8-11, The first resource setting has a set of NZP CSI-RS resources and the second resource setting has a set of NZP CSI-RS resources. Here, each of the resource setting comprises one resource set).
GUO does not specifically teach
wherein each resource setting comprises one CMR resource set, and the one CMR resource set comprises two CMR resource subsets, the two CMR resource subsets are in a one-to-one correspondence with two remote radio heads, wherein at least one reference signal resource corresponding to a first remote radio head of the two remote radio heads is contained in a first CMR resource subset of the two CMR resource subsets, and at least one reference signal resource corresponding to a second remote radio head of the two remote radio heads is contained in a second CMR resource subset of the two CMR resource subsets.
However, Matsumura teaches (Title, TERMINAL, RADIO COMMUNICATION METHOD, AND BASE STATION)
wherein each resource setting comprises one CMR resource set ([0134], resource setting for channel measurement, a resource for channel measurement, …, a CMR, and a CMR resource are interchangeably interpreted as each other), and the one CMR resource set comprises two CMR resource subsets, the two CMR resource subsets are in a one-to-one correspondence with two remote radio heads (Fig.20 and [0208], CMRs #0 to #3 correspond to TRP #1, and CMRs #4 to #7 correspond to TRP #2. Here, the CMRs #0 to #3 and the CMRs #4 to #7 are considered as two CMR resource subsets correspond to two TRPs) wherein at least one reference signal resource ([0100], CSI-RS resources for channel measurement (CMR). Here, CMR is reference signal resource) corresponding to a first remote radio head (Fig.20, CMRs #0 to #3 correspond to TRP #1) of the two remote radio heads is contained in a first CMR resource subset of the two CMR resource subsets, and at least one reference signal resource (As mentioned above, CMR is reference signal resource) corresponding to a second remote radio head (Fig.20, CMRs #4 to #7 correspond to TRP #2) of the two remote radio heads is contained in a second CMR resource subset of the two CMR resource subsets ([0208], the CMRs corresponding to TRP #1 is configured first, and the CMRs corresponding to TRP #2 is configured subsequently).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified GUO as mentioned in claims 1 and 12 and further incorporate the teaching of Matsumura. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide measurement and report of CSI for a multi panel/TRP that can be appropriately performed (Matsumura, Abstract and [0001]).
Regarding claims 7 and 18, combination of GUO and Matsumura teaches all the features with respect to claims 6 and 17, respectively as outlined above.
GUO further teaches
receiving/ sending second indication information, wherein the second indication information is used to implement at least one of (Due to alternative language “at least one of” in the claims, examiner addresses one limitation only):
activating or deactivating a resource associated with any resource setting; or
indicating a resource associated with any resource setting (Pg.8: lines 8-11, The first resource setting has a set of NZP CSI-RS resources or SS/PBCH blocks for channel measurements and the second resource setting has a set of NZP CSI-RS resources or ZP CSI-RS resources for interference measurement; lines 38-40, The terminal device 100 is configured with one or more NZP CSI-RS resource set configuration(s) as indicated by the higher layer parameters CSI-ResourceConfig, and NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet).
Regarding claims 11 and 22, GUO teaches all the features with respect to claims 1 and 12 as outlined above.
GUO does not specifically teach
wherein different remote radio heads correspond to a same physical cell identifier (PCI), or different remote radio heads correspond to different PCIs.
However, Matsumura teaches
wherein different remote radio heads correspond to a same physical cell identifier (PCI), or different remote radio heads correspond to different PCIs ([0077], plurality of TRPs correspond to the same cell identifier (ID), or correspond to different cell IDs. The cell ID is a physical cell ID).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified GUO as mentioned in claims 1 and 12 and further incorporate the teaching of Matsumura. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide measurement and report of CSI for a multi panel/TRP that can be appropriately performed (Matsumura, Abstract and [0001]).
Claims 8 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over GUO in view of Matsumura and further in view of Nagata et al. (Nagata hereinafter referred to Nagata) (US 2023/0276287 A1).
Regarding claims 8 and 19, combination of GUO and Matsumura teaches all the features with respect to claims 6 and 17, respectively as outlined above.
GUO further teaches
two reference signals in each group are able to be simultaneously received by the terminal (Pg.10: lines 4-6, within each pair of CRis or SSBRis, the CSI-RS and/or synchronization signal block (SSB) resources are received simultaneously by the terminal device 100; Pg.3: line 13-16, The beam report comprises measurement results of each reference signal resource; The reference signal resources are channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS, resources), wherein different reference signals in the two reference signals correspond to different remote radio heads (Pg.9: line 4-6, the first set of reference signal resources from the first network device 200a and the second set of reference signal resources from the second network device 200b. Here, the set of reference signal resources means at least one reference signal; therefore, different reference signals correspond to different remote radio heads); or
the measurement result corresponding to each resource setting comprises a plurality of groups, and reference signals in different groups are able to be simultaneously received by the terminal
GUO does not specifically teach
sending a second measurement result report, wherein the second measurement result report comprises an identifier of at least one resource setting and a measurement result corresponding to each resource setting;
wherein,
the measurement result corresponding to each resource setting comprises a plurality of groups.
However Nagata teaches (Title, TERMINAL, RADIO COMMUNICATION METHOD, AND BASE STATION)
sending a second measurement result report (Fig.5 and [0071], CSI report; [0072], The CSI report includes one or more pairs of the CRI/SSBRI and the RSRP. Here, CSI report is a second measurement result report), wherein the second measurement result report comprises an identifier of at least one resource setting and a measurement result corresponding to each resource setting ([0065], a different number of resource IDs (for example, SSBRIs or CRIs) for beam measurement of a higher layer parameter included in the CSI report configuration information and measurement results corresponding to respective IDs in the beam report; [0066], regarding each report configuration, two different resource IDs for beam measurement and two measurement results corresponding to respective IDs in the beam report);
wherein,
the measurement result corresponding to each resource setting comprises a plurality of groups ([0066], The UE for which groupBasedBeamReporting is configured), and two reference signals in each group are able to be simultaneously received by the terminal ([0066], the two resources (CSI-RS resources, SSB resources) for beam measurement are simultaneously received by the UE; [0085] Mode 2: The UE simultaneously receives a plurality of beams belonging to the same group ).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified combination of GUO and Matsumura as mentioned in claims 6 and 17 and further incorporate the teaching of Nagata. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide a terminal, a radio communication method, and a base station in next-generation mobile communication systems in which a CSI report related to a group based beam report can be suitably used (Nagata, [0001] and [0009]).
Conclusion
The prior arts made of record and not relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Zhu et al. (Pub. No. US 2022/0095254 A1) – “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BEAM MEASUREMENT, REPORTING AND INDICATION” discloses a method for a user equipment includes receiving first configuration information for joint reporting, in a same reporting instance, of both one or more synchronization signal block resource indicators (SSBRIs) and channel state information reference signal resource indicators (CRIs); and receiving second configuration information for differential reference signal received power (RSRP) reporting of RSRP values for the one or more SSBRIs and CRIs, respectively. The method further includes determining, based on the first configuration information, the one or more SSBRIs and CRIs and determining, based on the second configuration information, the RSRP values for the one or more SSBRIs and CRIs, respectively. The method further includes transmitting position information associated with the RSRP values included in the joint reporting and transmitting, in the reporting instance, the joint reporting including the one or more SSBRIs and CRIs and the RSRP values.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROWNAK ISLAM whose telephone number is (571)272-8009. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday 8:30 am - 6 pm (EST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael Thier can be reached on 571-272-2832. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ROWNAK ISLAM/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474