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 .
Claim Objections
The claims are objected to because they contain informalities and non-idiomatic English wording apparently resulting from literal translation. Applicant is required to amend the claims to conform to idiomatic English and United States patent practice without introducing new matter. See MPEP 702.01.
For example, claims 2-7 and 12-15 recite phrases such as “in case that the type of the near field RIS corresponds to the active type” and “in case that the type of the near field RIS corresponds to the passive type” and "in case that a type of the near field RIS corresponds to the passive type”. Applicant should revise this wording into proper claim language, such as '”when the near field RIS is the active type” or '”when the near field RIS is the passive type”, as appropriate.
Claims 3 and 13 recite “at least one of at least one reflecting area information or information about a RIS beam corresponding to the target area”. This wording is grammatically unclear and should be revised. For example, Applicant may consider wording such as “information about at least one reflecting area or information about an RIS beam corresponding to the target area”, if such wording accurately reflects the intended scope.
Claim 7 recites phrases such as “a first section RIS beam” and “a second section RIS beam”. Applicant should revise these phrases to clarify whether the claims are referring to a beam corresponding to the first/second section, information identifying the first/second section, or some other information.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 8 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 8 recites “in response to the operation mode identified as the normal mode, transmit the coverage beam to the target area included in the beam coverage”. However, claim 8 depends from claim 1, and claim 1 does not previously recite “a coverage beam”. The first reference to the coverage beam in claim 8 uses the coverage beam, making it unclear whether the claim is referring to a previously recited beam or introducing a new beam. Applicant is required to amend claim 8 to provide proper antecedent basis, for example by changing “the coverage beam” to “a coverage beam”.
Claim 9 recites “identify the target area by using at least one of the RIS beam or the coverage beam” However, claim 9 depends from claim 1, and claim 1 does not previously recite “a coverage beam”. Therefore, the phrase “the coverage beam” lacks proper antecedent basis. It is unclear whether “the coverage beam” refers to the coverage beam introduced in claim 8, a beam associated with ordinary beam coverage, a direct beam transmitted by the base station, or some other beam. As a result, the claim 9 is unclear. Applicant is required to amend claim 9 to provide proper antecedent basis for “he coverage beam” or otherwise clarify the scope of the limitation.
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.
Claims 1-6 and 9-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kawasaki (US 20240171995, hereinafter “Kawasaki”) and further in view of Haija et al. (US 20220014935, hereinafter “Haija”).
Regarding claim 1, Kawasaki discloses,
A base station (BS) comprising a reflecting intelligent surface (RIS) (FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of the wireless communication system according to the embodiment. The wireless communication system illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a base station device 100, terminal devices 200a and 200b, and a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) 300), the BS comprising:
the RIS including at least one surface which reflects an RIS beam into a target area (The RIS 300 is a variable angle reflecting plate that is built by arranging a large number of RIS elements in a two-dimensional manner on a dielectric surface. The RIS 300 receives the wireless signals transmitted from the base station device 100, controls the voltage applied to the RIS elements according to the received wireless signals, and varies the angle of reflection for those wireless signals, [0025]; The RIS element array 340 represents a plurality of RIS elements arranged in a two-dimensional manner on the outer surface of the RIS 300. Thus, the RIS element array 340 includes a plurality of RIS elements each of which is configured using a variable-capacitance diode. Depending on the voltage applied to the RIS elements by the applied-voltage control unit 330, the RIS element array 340 varies the angle of reflection for the wireless signals in the RIS 300, [0030]);
a transceiver and a processor (FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the base station device 100 according to the embodiment. The base station device 100 illustrated in FIG. 3 includes a processor 110, a memory 120, a wireless transmitting unit 130, and a wireless receiving unit 140),
wherein the processor is configured to identify an operation mode among a normal mode or an RIS mode based on whether the target area is included in a reflecting beam coverage (The base station device 100 transmits a normal pilot signal and a pilot signal meant for deciding on the transmission method, and accordingly decides on the transmission methods with respect to the terminal devices 200a and 200b. Herein, for each angle of reflection in the RIS 300, the base station device 100 transmits a different pilot signal as the pilot signal meant for deciding on the transmission method. Then, the base station device 100 receives reports about the received power in the terminal devices 200a and 200b regarding the normal pilot signal and regarding the pilot signal corresponding to each angle of reflection in the RIS 300, and decides on whether or not to transmit the wireless signals via the RIS 300 to the terminal device 200a and the terminal device 200b. Moreover, in the case of transmitting the wireless signals via the RIS 300 [0023]; the transmission method deciding unit 115 decides on whether to transmit signals directly or via the RIS 300 to each of the terminal devices 200a and 200b. More particularly, regarding the terminal devices 200a and 200b in which the first-type pilot signal represents the pilot signal corresponding to the maximum received power, the transmission method deciding unit 115 decides to transmit signals directly. On the other hand, regarding the terminal devices 200a and 200b in which a second-type pilot signal represents the pilot signal corresponding to the maximum received power, the transmission method deciding unit 115 decides to transmit signals via the RIS 300, [0037]; when the first-type pilot signal corresponds to the maximum received power, it is decided that the signals are to be transmitted from the base station device 100 directly to the terminal device 200. On the other hand, when a second-type pilot signal corresponds to the maximum received power, it is decided that the signals transmitted from the base station device 100 are to be reflected from the RIS 300 toward the terminal device 200, [0070]), and
control the transceiver to transmit the RIS beam onto the surface based on at least one of a type of the near field RIS, configuration information of the near field RIS or information about the target area, in response to the operation mode being identified as the RIS mode (The pilot signal generating unit 111 generates, from a predetermined code sequence, pilot signals that are also known to the terminal devices 200a and 200b. At that time, the pilot signal generating unit 111 generates two types of pilot signals to be transmitted in different directions. More particularly, the pilot signal generating unit 111 generates a first-type pilot signal that is directly transmitted in the directions of the terminal devices 200a and 200b, and generates second-type pilot signals that are transmitted in the direction of the RIS 300, [0033]; After the first-type pilot signal and the second-type pilot signals are generated, a second-type pilot signal is transmitted to the RIS 300 (Step S102). Herein, the second-type pilot signal corresponding any one angle of reflection is transmitted and, once that second-type pilot signal is received by the RIS 300, the angle of reflection is set according to the amount of cyclic shift of that second-type pilot signal (Step S103), [0065]; In the terminal device 200, after measuring the received power of the first-type pilot signal and the received power of a plurality of second-type pilot signals corresponding to mutually different amounts of cyclic shift, the pilot signal corresponding to the maximum received power is identified and report information is generated about the received power of the pilot signals and about the pilot signal corresponding to the maximum received power (Step S107). Then, the report information is sent to the base station device 100, [0069]-[0070]).
However, Kawasaki does not explicitly discloses, a near field RIS including at least one meta surface, wherein a type of the near field RIS is identified as a passive type, an active type or a hybrid type based on a type of the meta surface included in the near field RIS, and wherein the configuration information of the near field RIS is generated based on the type of the meta surface. In the same field of endeavor, Haija discloses, a near field RIS including at least one meta surface (A Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS), also known as large intelligent surface (LIS), smart reflect-array, intelligent passive mirrors, artificial radio space, reconfigurable metasurface, holographic multiple input multiple output (MIMO) is an array of configurable elements. These configurable elements may be also known as metamaterial cells or unit cells, [0043], [0044]), wherein a type of the near field RIS is identified as a passive type, an active type or a hybrid type based on a type of the meta surface included in the near field RIS (the impedance is controlled through lumped elements like PIN diodes, varactors, transistors or microelectromechanical system (MEMS). At higher frequencies, the relative permittivity and/or permeability of the material element (like liquid crystal at high frequencies and graphene at even higher frequencies) changes its permittivity in accordance to changes in a bias voltage provided to the material [0043]; Depending on the type of material used in the RIS, a range of phase shift can be obtained within a particular bias voltage range for a first frequency, but a similar range of phase shift for a second frequency may need a different bias voltage range having different start and end voltages [0086]; The network may notify the base station 702 of the type of the RIS that is being used in the channel. For example, lumped elements like PIN diodes, varactors, transistors or MEMS at low frequency, liquid crystal at high frequencies and graphene at even higher frequencies. The type may refer to particular characteristics as well, such as a relation between the bias voltage, phase shift and frequency, [0146]-[0148]), and wherein the configuration information of the near field RIS is generated based on the type of the meta surface (the base station or network may provide the RIS controller with information pertaining to frequencies of reference signals that may be used for channel estimation, the AoA at the RIS from a base station transmitting the signal based on positional information between the base station and RIS, a desired AoD from the RIS or a difference between these two values, which would allow the RIS controller to determine how to configure some or all of the elements of the RIS [0099]-[0105]. The type may refer to particular characteristics as well, such as a relation between the bias voltage, phase shift and frequency. In some embodiments, this may be identified to the base station before the events shown in FIG. 7. In some embodiments, this information might be part of configuration information sent to the base station by the RIS in step 710, [0147]-0148]; the RIS 704 may be configured such that the RIS 704 reflects a wideband signal to the UE 706 with less deviation from the desired AoD. The RIS 704 generates a hologram that includes the bias control information based on the configuration information received from the base station 702 [0163]-[0166]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kawasaki by specifically providing a near field RIS including at least one meta surface, wherein a type of the near field RIS is identified as a passive type, an active type or a hybrid type based on a type of the meta surface included in the near field RIS, and wherein the configuration information of the near field RIS is generated based on the type of the meta surface, as taught by Haija for the purpose of taking advantage of a prism-like effect that occurs in a Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS), where the RIS reflects incident signals of different frequencies in different directions (abstract).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Kawasaki and Haija discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 1), in addition Haija discloses, in case that the type of the near field RIS corresponds to the active type (A metamaterial (which may also be referred to as a Beyond-Material) is a material that is engineered to change its properties in order to manipulate amplitude and/or phase of a wave incident on the metamaterial. Manipulation of the amplitude and/or phase can be achieved by changing an impedance or relative permittivity (and/or permeability) of the metamaterial. At low frequencies, the impedance is controlled through lumped elements like PIN diodes, varactors, transistors or microelectromechanical system (MEMS), [0043]), the near field RIS further includes at least one of a bias line, a control board or a control line (The control circuit that enables control of the linear or planar array may be connected to a communications network that base stations and UEs communicating with each other are part of. For example, the network that controls the base station may also provide configuration information to the linear or planar array, [0044]; The processing unit 280 implements various processing operations of the RIS 182, such as receiving the configuration signal via interface 290 and providing the signal to the controller 285, [0079]-[0081]) for controlling a switch device included on the meta surface The network may notify the base station 702 of the type of the RIS that is being used in the channel. For example, lumped elements like PIN diodes, varactors, transistors or MEMS at low frequency, liquid crystal at high frequencies and graphene at even higher frequencies. The type may refer to particular characteristics as well, such as a relation between the bias voltage, phase shift and frequency, [0146]-[0148]).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Kawasaki and Haija discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 1), in addition Haija discloses, wherein, in case that the type of the near field RIS corresponds to the passive type (the phase of the signal redirected by the material is changed in accordance with the change in permittivity. As the bias voltages involved for these materials are quite low, the materials are often referred to as passive phase shifters, [0043]-[0044]), the meta surface included on the near field RIS comprises at least one reflecting area (the RIS can be divided into multiple parts (e.g. 2) where each part is configured assuming different assumed AoD. For the sake of discussion, an assumed AoD of 25 degrees for a frequency of 120 GHz and an assumed AoD of 40 degrees for a frequency of 128 GHz. A representation of this is shown in FIG. 4A, where the AoA can be seen to be the same for the signals arriving at the RIS 404 from the base station 402. The RIS 404 is shown to be divided into two portions 404a and 404b. Portion 404a is configured with a bias voltage to redirect f1=120 GHz with an assumed AoD of 25 degrees and portion 404b is configured with a bias voltage to redirect f2=128 GHz with an assumed AoD of 40 degrees, [0087]-[0089]), the RIS beam corresponds to the at least one reflecting area (Portion 404a is configured with a bias voltage to redirect f1=120 GHz with an assumed AoD of 25 degrees and portion 404b is configured with a bias voltage to redirect f2=128 GHz with an assumed AoD of 40 degrees, [0087]), and the configuration information of the near field RIS comprises at least one of at least one reflecting area information or information about a RIS beam corresponding to the target area (The base station 702 sends 710 configuration information to the RIS 704. The configuration information notifies the RIS 704 that the base station 702 will be transmitting a reference signal, in this example CSI-RS, in the direction of the RIS 704 that the RIS 704 will redirect to the UE 706. This configuration information helps the RIS 704 generate a hologram, which is the control information that drives the configurable elements of the RIS 704 [0148]).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Kawasaki and Haija discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 1), in addition Haija discloses, in case that the type of the near field RIS corresponds to the active type (the phase of the signal redirected by the material is changed in accordance with the change in permittivity. As the bias voltages involved for these materials are quite low, the materials are often referred to as passive phase shifters, [0043]-[0044]), the meta surface included on the near field RIS comprises at least one active element (lumped elements like PIN diodes, varactors, transistors or MEMS at low frequency, liquid crystal at high frequencies and graphene at even higher frequencies. The type may refer to particular characteristics as well, such as a relation between the bias voltage, phase shift and frequency, Fig. 7 and [0146]-[0148]), and the configuration information of the near field RIS comprises information about the at least one active element (The base station 702 sends 710 configuration information to the RIS 704. The configuration information notifies the RIS 704 that the base station 702 will be transmitting a reference signal, in this example CSI-RS, in the direction of the RIS 704 that the RIS 704 will redirect to the UE 706. This configuration information helps the RIS 704 generate a hologram, which is the control information that drives the configurable elements of the RIS 704 [0148]).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Kawasaki and Haija discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 1), further Kawasaki discloses, wherein, in case that a type of the near field RIS corresponds to the passive type (the phase of the signal redirected by the material is changed in accordance with the change in permittivity. As the bias voltages involved for these materials are quite low, the materials are often referred to as passive phase shifters, [0043]-[0044]), the processor is configured to identify the RIS beam corresponding to the target area based on the configuration information of the near field RIS and the information about the target area (A basic example for RIS utilization in beamforming is shown in FIG. 1 where each RIS configurable element (unit cell) can change the phase of the incident wave from source such that the reflected waves from all of the RIS elements are aligned to the direction of the destination to increase or maximize its received signal strength (e.g. maximize the SNR). Such a reflection via the RIS may be referred to as reflect-array beamforming, [0044]-[0046]).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Kawasaki and Haija discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 1), further Kawasaki discloses, wherein the processor is configured to generate control information for adjusting a reflection direction of the meta surface, based on the configuration information of the near field RIS and the information about the target area (while there has been some research performed using RIS in the channel path between a transmitter and receiver, this research has not considered a prism-like effect that occurs in practical implementation of the RIS. The prism-like effect occurs because of the RIS's characteristics defining a relation between phase shift, frequency and the controlling method, for example bias voltage and results in the RIS's redirecting incident signals at different frequencies in different directions, [0044]-[0048]), in case that a type of the near field RIS corresponds to the active type (the phase of the signal redirected by the material is changed in accordance with the change in permittivity. As the bias voltages involved for these materials are quite low, the materials are often referred to as passive phase shifters, [0043]-[0044]), and transmit the control information to the near field RIS through a control line (The control circuit that enables control of the linear or planar array may be connected to a communications network that base stations and UEs communicating with each other are part of. For example, the network that controls the base station may also provide configuration information to the linear or planar array, [0044]; The processing unit 280 implements various processing operations of the RIS 182, such as receiving the configuration signal via interface 290 and providing the signal to the controller 285, [0079]-[0081]), wherein the RIS beam is reflected by the meta surface into the target area based on the control information (the base station or network may provide the RIS controller with information pertaining to frequencies of reference signals that may be used for channel estimation, the AoA at the RIS from a base station transmitting the signal based on positional information between the base station and RIS, a desired AoD from the RIS or a difference between these two values, which would allow the RIS controller to determine how to configure some or all of the elements of the RIS [0099]-[0105]. The type may refer to particular characteristics as well, such as a relation between the bias voltage, phase shift and frequency. In some embodiments, this may be identified to the base station before the events shown in FIG. 7. In some embodiments, this information might be part of configuration information sent to the base station by the RIS in step 710, [0147]-0148]; the RIS 704 may be configured such that the RIS 704 reflects a wideband signal to the UE 706 with less deviation from the desired AoD. The RIS 704 generates a hologram that includes the bias control information based on the configuration information received from the base station 702 [0163]-[0166]).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Kawasaki and Haija discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 1), further Kawasaki discloses, wherein the processor is configured to, identify the target area by using at least one of the RIS beam or the coverage beam (The base station device 100 transmits a normal pilot signal and a pilot signal meant for deciding on the transmission method, and accordingly decides on the transmission methods with respect to the terminal devices 200a and 200b. Herein, for each angle of reflection in the RIS 300, the base station device 100 transmits a different pilot signal as the pilot signal meant for deciding on the transmission method, [0023] and [0058]-[0060]), and identify the operation mode as the RIS mode, in case that the target area is identified as being included in the reflecting beam coverage (the transmission method deciding unit 115 decides on whether to transmit signals directly or via the RIS 300 to each of the terminal devices 200a and 200b. More particularly, regarding the terminal devices 200a and 200b in which the first-type pilot signal represents the pilot signal corresponding to the maximum received power, the transmission method deciding unit 115 decides to transmit signals directly. On the other hand, regarding the terminal devices 200a and 200b in which a second-type pilot signal represents the pilot signal corresponding to the maximum received power, the transmission method deciding unit 115 decides to transmit signals via the RIS 300, [0037]).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Kawasaki and Haija discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 1), further Kawasaki discloses, wherein the near field RIS is located in a near field area of the BS (FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of the wireless communication system according to the embodiment. The wireless communication system illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a base station device 100, terminal devices 200a and 200b, and a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) 300).
Regarding claim 11, Kawasaki discloses,
A method operating a base station (BS) including a reflecting intelligent surface (RIS) in a wireless communication sytem (FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of the wireless communication system according to the embodiment. The wireless communication system illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a base station device 100, terminal devices 200a and 200b, and a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) 300), the method comprising:
identifying an operation mode among a normal mode or an RIS mode based on whether the target area is included in a reflecting beam coverage (The base station device 100 transmits a normal pilot signal and a pilot signal meant for deciding on the transmission method, and accordingly decides on the transmission methods with respect to the terminal devices 200a and 200b. Herein, for each angle of reflection in the RIS 300, the base station device 100 transmits a different pilot signal as the pilot signal meant for deciding on the transmission method. Then, the base station device 100 receives reports about the received power in the terminal devices 200a and 200b regarding the normal pilot signal and regarding the pilot signal corresponding to each angle of reflection in the RIS 300, and decides on whether or not to transmit the wireless signals via the RIS 300 to the terminal device 200a and the terminal device 200b. Moreover, in the case of transmitting the wireless signals via the RIS 300 [0023]; the transmission method deciding unit 115 decides on whether to transmit signals directly or via the RIS 300 to each of the terminal devices 200a and 200b. More particularly, regarding the terminal devices 200a and 200b in which the first-type pilot signal represents the pilot signal corresponding to the maximum received power, the transmission method deciding unit 115 decides to transmit signals directly. On the other hand, regarding the terminal devices 200a and 200b in which a second-type pilot signal represents the pilot signal corresponding to the maximum received power, the transmission method deciding unit 115 decides to transmit signals via the RIS 300, [0037]; when the first-type pilot signal corresponds to the maximum received power, it is decided that the signals are to be transmitted from the base station device 100 directly to the terminal device 200. On the other hand, when a second-type pilot signal corresponds to the maximum received power, it is decided that the signals transmitted from the base station device 100 are to be reflected from the RIS 300 toward the terminal device 200, [0070]), and
transmitting an RIS beam onto a surface based on at least one of a type of the near field RIS, configuration information of the near field RIS or information about the target area, in response to the operation mode being identified as the RIS mode (The pilot signal generating unit 111 generates, from a predetermined code sequence, pilot signals that are also known to the terminal devices 200a and 200b. At that time, the pilot signal generating unit 111 generates two types of pilot signals to be transmitted in different directions. More particularly, the pilot signal generating unit 111 generates a first-type pilot signal that is directly transmitted in the directions of the terminal devices 200a and 200b, and generates second-type pilot signals that are transmitted in the direction of the RIS 300, [0033]; After the first-type pilot signal and the second-type pilot signals are generated, a second-type pilot signal is transmitted to the RIS 300 (Step S102). Herein, the second-type pilot signal corresponding any one angle of reflection is transmitted and, once that second-type pilot signal is received by the RIS 300, the angle of reflection is set according to the amount of cyclic shift of that second-type pilot signal (Step S103), [0065]; In the terminal device 200, after measuring the received power of the first-type pilot signal and the received power of a plurality of second-type pilot signals corresponding to mutually different amounts of cyclic shift, the pilot signal corresponding to the maximum received power is identified and report information is generated about the received power of the pilot signals and about the pilot signal corresponding to the maximum received power (Step S107). Then, the report information is sent to the base station device 100, [0069]-[0070]).
However, Kawasaki does not explicitly discloses, wherein the near field RIS includes at least one meta surface which reflects the RIS beam to the target area, wherein a type of the near field RIS is identified as a passive type, an active type or a hybrid type based on a type of the meta surface included in the near field RIS, and wherein the configuration information of the near field RIS is generated based on the type of the meta surface. In the same field of endeavor, Haija discloses, wherein the near field RIS includes at least one meta surface which reflects the RIS beam to the target area (A Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS), also known as large intelligent surface (LIS), smart reflect-array, intelligent passive mirrors, artificial radio space, reconfigurable metasurface, holographic multiple input multiple output (MIMO) is an array of configurable elements. These configurable elements may be also known as metamaterial cells or unit cells, [0043], [0044]), wherein a type of the near field RIS is identified as a passive type, an active type or a hybrid type based on a type of the meta surface included in the near field RIS (the impedance is controlled through lumped elements like PIN diodes, varactors, transistors or microelectromechanical system (MEMS). At higher frequencies, the relative permittivity and/or permeability of the material element (like liquid crystal at high frequencies and graphene at even higher frequencies) changes its permittivity in accordance to changes in a bias voltage provided to the material [0043]; Depending on the type of material used in the RIS, a range of phase shift can be obtained within a particular bias voltage range for a first frequency, but a similar range of phase shift for a second frequency may need a different bias voltage range having different start and end voltages [0086]; The network may notify the base station 702 of the type of the RIS that is being used in the channel. For example, lumped elements like PIN diodes, varactors, transistors or MEMS at low frequency, liquid crystal at high frequencies and graphene at even higher frequencies. The type may refer to particular characteristics as well, such as a relation between the bias voltage, phase shift and frequency, [0146]-[0148]), and wherein the configuration information of the near field RIS is generated based on the type of the meta surface (the base station or network may provide the RIS controller with information pertaining to frequencies of reference signals that may be used for channel estimation, the AoA at the RIS from a base station transmitting the signal based on positional information between the base station and RIS, a desired AoD from the RIS or a difference between these two values, which would allow the RIS controller to determine how to configure some or all of the elements of the RIS [0099]-[0105]. The type may refer to particular characteristics as well, such as a relation between the bias voltage, phase shift and frequency. In some embodiments, this may be identified to the base station before the events shown in FIG. 7. In some embodiments, this information might be part of configuration information sent to the base station by the RIS in step 710, [0147]-0148]; the RIS 704 may be configured such that the RIS 704 reflects a wideband signal to the UE 706 with less deviation from the desired AoD. The RIS 704 generates a hologram that includes the bias control information based on the configuration information received from the base station 702 [0163]-[0166]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Kawasaki by specifically providing wherein the near field RIS includes at least one meta surface which reflects the RIS beam to the target area, wherein a type of the near field RIS is identified as a passive type, an active type or a hybrid type based on a type of the meta surface included in the near field RIS, and wherein the configuration information of the near field RIS is generated based on the type of the meta surface, as taught by Haija for the purpose of taking advantage of a prism-like effect that occurs in a Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface (RIS), where the RIS reflects incident signals of different frequencies in different directions (abstract).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Kawasaki and Haija discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 11), in addition Haija discloses, in case that the type of the near field RIS corresponds to the active type (A metamaterial (which may also be referred to as a Beyond-Material) is a material that is engineered to change its properties in order to manipulate amplitude and/or phase of a wave incident on the metamaterial. Manipulation of the amplitude and/or phase can be achieved by changing an impedance or relative permittivity (and/or permeability) of the metamaterial. At low frequencies, the impedance is controlled through lumped elements like PIN diodes, varactors, transistors or microelectromechanical system (MEMS), [0043]), the near field RIS further includes at least one of a bias line, a control board or a control line (The control circuit that enables control of the linear or planar array may be connected to a communications network that base stations and UEs communicating with each other are part of. For example, the network that controls the base station may also provide configuration information to the linear or planar array, [0044]; The processing unit 280 implements various processing operations of the RIS 182, such as receiving the configuration signal via interface 290 and providing the signal to the controller 285, [0079]-[0081]) for controlling a switch device included on the meta surface The network may notify the base station 702 of the type of the RIS that is being used in the channel. For example, lumped elements like PIN diodes, varactors, transistors or MEMS at low frequency, liquid crystal at high frequencies and graphene at even higher frequencies. The type may refer to particular characteristics as well, such as a relation between the bias voltage, phase shift and frequency, [0146]-[0148]).
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Kawasaki and Haija discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 11), in addition Haija discloses, wherein, in case that the type of the near field RIS corresponds to the passive type (the phase of the signal redirected by the material is changed in accordance with the change in permittivity. As the bias voltages involved for these materials are quite low, the materials are often referred to as passive phase shifters, [0043]-[0044]), the meta surface included on the near field RIS comprises at least one reflecting area (the RIS can be divided into multiple parts (e.g. 2) where each part is configured assuming different assumed AoD. For the sake of discussion, an assumed AoD of 25 degrees for a frequency of 120 GHz and an assumed AoD of 40 degrees for a frequency of 128 GHz. A representation of this is shown in FIG. 4A, where the AoA can be seen to be the same for the signals arriving at the RIS 404 from the base station 402. The RIS 404 is shown to be divided into two portions 404a and 404b. Portion 404a is configured with a bias voltage to redirect f1=120 GHz with an assumed AoD of 25 degrees and portion 404b is configured with a bias voltage to redirect f2=128 GHz with an assumed AoD of 40 degrees, [0087]-[0089]), the RIS beam corresponds to the at least one reflecting area (Portion 404a is configured with a bias voltage to redirect f1=120 GHz with an assumed AoD of 25 degrees and portion 404b is configured with a bias voltage to redirect f2=128 GHz with an assumed AoD of 40 degrees, [0087]), and the configuration information of the near field RIS comprises at least one of at least one reflecting area information or information about a RIS beam corresponding to the target area (The base station 702 sends 710 configuration information to the RIS 704. The configuration information notifies the RIS 704 that the base station 702 will be transmitting a reference signal, in this example CSI-RS, in the direction of the RIS 704 that the RIS 704 will redirect to the UE 706. This configuration information helps the RIS 704 generate a hologram, which is the control information that drives the configurable elements of the RIS 704 [0148]).
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Kawasaki and Haija discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 11), in addition Haija discloses, in case that the type of the near field RIS corresponds to the active type (the phase of the signal redirected by the material is changed in accordance with the change in permittivity. As the bias voltages involved for these materials are quite low, the materials are often referred to as passive phase shifters, [0043]-[0044]), the meta surface included on the near field RIS comprises at least one active element (lumped elements like PIN diodes, varactors, transistors or MEMS at low frequency, liquid crystal at high frequencies and graphene at even higher frequencies. The type may refer to particular characteristics as well, such as a relation between the bias voltage, phase shift and frequency, Fig. 7 and [0146]-[0148]), and the configuration information of the near field RIS comprises information about the at least one active element (The base station 702 sends 710 configuration information to the RIS 704. The configuration information notifies the RIS 704 that the base station 702 will be transmitting a reference signal, in this example CSI-RS, in the direction of the RIS 704 that the RIS 704 will redirect to the UE 706. This configuration information helps the RIS 704 generate a hologram, which is the control information that drives the configurable elements of the RIS 704 [0148]).
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Kawasaki and Haija discloses everything claimed as applied above (see claim 11), further Kawasaki discloses, wherein the transmitting of the RIS beam onto the meta surface comprises identifying the RIS beam corresponding to the target area based on the configuration information of the near field RIS (A basic example for RIS utilization in beamforming is shown in FIG. 1 where each RIS configurable element (unit cell) can change the phase of the incident wave from source such that the reflected waves from all of the RIS elements are aligned to the direction of the destination to increase or maximize its received signal strength (e.g. maximize the SNR). Such a reflection via the RIS may be referred to as reflect-array beamforming, [0044]-[0046]) and the information about the target area in case that a type of the near field RIS corresponds to the passive type (the phase of the signal redirected by the material is changed in accordance with the change in permittivity. As the bias voltages involved for these materials are quite low, the materials are often referred to as passive phase shifters, [0043]-[0044]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 7 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.
Regarding claim 7, The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the closest prior arts, Kawasaki and Haija, does not teach nor fairly suggest, “wherein, in case that the type of the near field RIS corresponds to the hybrid type, the near field RIS comprises a first section including at least one reflecting area and a second section including at least one active element, and the configuration information of the near field RIS comprises at least one of information about a first section RIS beam corresponding to the first section, information about the at least one reflecting area included in the first section, information about a second section RIS beam corresponding to the second section or information about the at least one active element included in the second section”, in combination with the other limitations in claim 1.
Claim 8 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Regarding claim 8, The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: the closest prior arts, Kawasaki and Haija, does not teach nor fairly suggest, “ wherein the processor is configured to, identify the operation mode as the normal mode, in case that the target area is identified as being in beam coverage, and in response to the operation mode identified as the normal mode, transmit the coverage beam to the target area included in the beam coverage, wherein the beam coverage corresponds to an area except for the reflecting beam coverage, and the reflecting beam coverage corresponds to a shadow area, wherein an antenna gain of the coverage beam corresponds to a value equal to or larger than a reference antenna gain, and wherein the coverage beam corresponds to a beam directed toward the beam coverage”, in combination with the other limitations in claim 1.
Prior Art of the Record:
The prior art made of record not relied upon and considered pertinent to
Applicant’s disclosure:
US 11728571: Large intelligent surfaces (LISs) with sparse channel sensors are provided. Embodiments described herein provide efficient solutions for these problems by leveraging tools from compressive sensing and deep learning. Consequently, an LIS architecture based on sparse channel sensors is provided where all LIS elements are passive reconfigurable elements except for a few elements that are active (e.g., connected to baseband).
WO 2023279232: The equipment has a processor coupled to a memory to identify whether an equipment is in a single-transmit receive point (TRP) mode or multiple-TRP modes based on configuration information received from a base station. The processor receives a beam indication to be one of a non-unified beam indication or a unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state indication.
US 20210013619: The LIS has an array of passive reconfigurable reflecting elements (22). An LIS controller (30) is coupled to active channel sensing elements and configured to resolve a reflection matrix to facilitate wireless communication over a wireless channel. The LIS controller is coupled to the passive reconfigurable reflecting elements and configured to adjust the array of passive reconfigurable reflecting elements using the reflection matrix.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GOLAM SOROWAR whose telephone number is (571)270-3761. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri: 8:30AM-5PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Charles Appiah can be reached at (571) 272-7904. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/GOLAM SOROWAR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2641
Prosecution Insights