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 Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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 non-obviousness.
Claims 9-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Pub. 2023/0121938 to Zhou et al. (hereinafter Zhou) in view of US Pub. 2021/0320710 to Koskela et al. (hereinafter Koskela).
In regard amended claim 9, Zhou teaches or discloses a terminal comprising:
a transmitter that transmits capability information indicating support of terminal-initiated transmission configuration indication (TCI) state activation (see paragraphs [0030], and [0074], user equipment (UE) capability signaling for enhanced beam management features or operations. A UE may transmit a capability message indicating at least one of parameters associated with one or more enhanced beam management features or operations, or indicating whether the UE supports the one or more enhanced beam management features or operations. The one or more enhanced beam management features may include support for a unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for providing beam information for both uplink beams and downlink beams, an ability to receive inter-cell beam indications for indicating a beam using a reference signal associated with a non-serving cell, an ability to perform or report inter-cell beam measurements, an ability to transmit an enhanced power management maximum power reduction (P-MPR) report, an ability to support or transmit antenna-panel-specific uplink transmissions, an ability to support report-based beam updates for selecting or activating a beam based on a report transmitted by the UE (for example, without receiving additional signaling from a base station), an ability to transmit a group-based beam report (for example, that includes multiple groups of beams), an ability to perform multiple transmission reception point (TRP) beam failure recovery, or support for enhanced quasi co-location (QCL) rules for multiple physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmissions, among other examples);
a receiver that receives a configuration for enabling initiation of activation of at least one TCI state of TCI states for downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) by the terminal (see paragraphs [0103], and [0161], the UE 120 may receive a single DCI that schedules multiple PDSCH messages or multiple TBs and may be enabled to identify beam(s) for the multiple PDSCH messages or the multiple TBs),
wherein the transmitter transmits a report indicating that initiation of the TCI state activation by the terminal is enabled (see paragraph [0156], the one or more supported features may include beam activation that is based at least in part on the report transmitted by the UE 120. For example, the UE 120 may support a beam (for example, a reported beam) being activated (for example, may activate a TCI state or a spatial relation associated with the beam) by the UE 120 automatically without having received an activation command (for example, a DCI message or a MAC-CE message) from the base station 110);
the terminal further comprises a processor that applies a separate TCI state to each of DL and UL and initiates the TCI state activation (see paragraphs [0082], and [0083], in the unified TCI state framework, separate downlink and uplink TCI states may be defined (for example, separate DL and UL TCI states). For example, one or more downlink TCI state types may be defined that provide information for a beam that is to be used for downlink communications (for example, for downlink communications only). Similarly, one or more uplink TCI state types may be defined that provide information for a beam that is to be used for uplink communications (for example, for uplink communications only)).
Zhou may not explicitly teach or disclose the TCI state activation indicates an update of an active TCI state.
However, Koskela teaches or discloses the TCI state activation indicates an update of an active TCI state (see paragraph [0063], the CFRA update for q1.sub.uplink may be updated by the network when the PDCCH configuration/new PDCCH TCI states are activated. That is to say, if a UE has two active TCI states for PDCCH and two CFRA signals are listed in the set and different TCI states are activated, the CFRA signals are mapped to the new active TCI states).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify UE capability signaling for enhanced beam management features of Zhou by including the TCI state activation indicates an update of an active TCI state suggested by Koskela. This modification would provide the network, specifically a gNB, configures a contention-free/dedicated signal for indicating uplink beam failure recovery read in paragraph [0039].
In regard claim 10, Zhou teaches or discloses the terminal according to claim 9, wherein the transmitter transmits information indicating a recommended TCI state (see paragraphs [0030], [0031], [0055], and [0056]).
In regard claim 11, Zhou teaches or discloses the terminal according to claim 9, wherein the processor simultaneously applies activated UL and DL TCI states after a lapse of a specific period from a timing at which TCI state indication is received from a base station (see paragraphs [0337], and [0445])
In regard amended claim 12, Zhou teaches or discloses a radio communication method for a terminal, comprising:
transmitting capability information indicating support of terminal-initiated transmission configuration indication (TCI) state activation (see paragraphs [0030], and [0074], UE capability signaling for enhanced beam management features or operations. A UE may transmit a capability message indicating at least one of parameters associated with one or more enhanced beam management features or operations, or indicating whether the UE supports the one or more enhanced beam management features or operations. The one or more enhanced beam management features may include support for a unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for providing beam information for both uplink beams and downlink beams, an ability to receive inter-cell beam indications for indicating a beam using a reference signal associated with a non-serving cell, an ability to perform or report inter-cell beam measurements, an ability to transmit an enhanced power management maximum power reduction (P-MPR) report, an ability to support or transmit antenna-panel-specific uplink transmissions, an ability to support report-based beam updates for selecting or activating a beam based on a report transmitted by the UE (for example, without receiving additional signaling from a base station), an ability to transmit a group-based beam report (for example, that includes multiple groups of beams), an ability to perform multiple transmission reception point (TRP) beam failure recovery, or support for enhanced quasi co-location (QCL) rules for multiple physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmissions, among other examples);
receiving a configuration for enabling initiation of activation of at least one TCI state of TCI states for downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) by the terminal (see paragraphs [0103], and [0161], the UE 120 may receive a single DCI that schedules multiple PDSCH messages or multiple TBs and may be enabled to identify beam(s) for the multiple PDSCH messages or the multiple TBs);
transmitting a report indicating that initiation of the TCI state activation by the terminal is enabled (see paragraph [0156], the one or more supported features may include beam activation that is based at least in part on the report transmitted by the UE 120. For example, the UE 120 may support a beam (for example, a reported beam) being activated (for example, may activate a TCI state or a spatial relation associated with the beam) by the UE 120 automatically without having received an activation command (for example, a DCI message or a MAC-CE message) from the base station 110); and
applying a separate TCI state to each of DL and UL and initiating the TCI state activation, (see paragraphs [0082], and [0083], in the unified TCI state framework, separate downlink and uplink TCI states may be defined (for example, separate DL and UL TCI states). For example, one or more downlink TCI state types may be defined that provide information for a beam that is to be used for downlink communications (for example, for downlink communications only). Similarly, one or more uplink TCI state types may be defined that provide information for a beam that is to be used for uplink communications (for example, for uplink communications only)).
Zhou may not explicitly teach or disclose the TCI state activation indicates an update of an active TCI state.
However, Koskela teaches or discloses the TCI state activation indicates an update of an active TCI state (see paragraph [0063], the CFRA update for q1.sub.uplink may be updated by the network when the PDCCH configuration/new PDCCH TCI states are activated. That is to say, if a UE has two active TCI states for PDCCH and two CFRA signals are listed in the set and different TCI states are activated, the CFRA signals are mapped to the new active TCI states).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify UE capability signaling for enhanced beam management features of Zhou by including the TCI state activation indicates an update of an active TCI state suggested by Koskela. This modification would provide the network, specifically a gNB, configures a contention-free/dedicated signal for indicating uplink beam failure recovery read in paragraph [0039].
In regard amended claim 13, Zhou teaches or discloses a base station comprising:
a receiver that receives capability information indicating support of terminal-initiated transmission configuration indication (TCI) state activation (see paragraph [0103], the base station 110 may receive, an indication of whether the UE 120 supports an indicated TCI state (for example, a unified TCI state) being applied to multiple BWPs or multiple CCs. If the UE 120 supports a TCI state being applied to multiple BWPs or multiple CCs, then the base station 110 may activate or update a TCI state for multiple BWPs or multiple CCs using a single beam indication); and
a transmitter that transmits a configuration for enabling initiation of activation of at least one TCI state of TCI states for downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) by a terminal (see paragraphs [0161], and [0353], the UE 120 and the base station 110 may communicate (for example, transmit or receive signals) to perform at least one enhanced beam management feature or operation of the one or more enhanced beam management features or operations described herein. The UE 120 may measure a signal transmitted by a non-serving cell in accordance with an inter-cell beam management configuration transmitted by the base station 110. The method of Aspect 15, wherein the quantity of configured or activated unified TCI states is associated with at least one of: a unified TCI state type, all unified TCI state types, a subset of unified TCI state types, activated joint downlink and uplink TCI state types and uplink only TCI state types, activated joint downlink and uplink TCI state types and downlink only TCI state types, a bandwidth part, a component carrier, multiple bandwidth parts, multiple component carriers, a frequency band, or multiple frequency bands);
wherein the receiver receives a report indicating that initiation of the TCI state activation by the terminal is enabled (see paragraph [0085], the base station 110 may configure multiple TCI states in an RRC configuration and may activate or reactive one or more of the RRC configured TCI states using an indication mechanism); and
the base station further comprises a processor that controls transmission and reception based on a separate TCI state for each of DL and UL, activation of the TCI state being initiated by the terminal (see paragraph [0056], the means for the base station 110 to perform operations described herein may include, for example, one or more of communication manager 150, transmit processor 220, TX MIMO processor 230, modem 232, antenna 234, MIMO detector 236, receive processor 238, controller/processor 240).
Zhou may not explicitly teach or disclose the TCI state activation indicates an update of an active TCI state.
However, Koskela teaches or discloses the TCI state activation indicates an update of an active TCI state (see paragraph [0063], the CFRA update for q1.sub.uplink may be updated by the network when the PDCCH configuration/new PDCCH TCI states are activated. That is to say, if a UE has two active TCI states for PDCCH and two CFRA signals are listed in the set and different TCI states are activated, the CFRA signals are mapped to the new active TCI states).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify UE capability signaling for enhanced beam management features of Zhou by including the TCI state activation indicates an update of an active TCI state suggested by Koskela. This modification would provide the network, specifically a gNB, configures a contention-free/dedicated signal for indicating uplink beam failure recovery read in paragraph [0039].
In regard amended claim 14, Zhou teaches or discloses a system comprising a terminal and a base station,
wherein the terminal comprises:
a transmitter that transmits capability information indicating support of terminal- initiated transmission configuration indication (TCI) state activation (see paragraphs [0030], [0074], user equipment (UE) capability signaling for enhanced beam management features or operations. A UE may transmit a capability message indicating at least one of parameters associated with one or more enhanced beam management features or operations, or indicating whether the UE supports the one or more enhanced beam management features or operations. The one or more enhanced beam management features may include support for a unified transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state for providing beam information for both uplink beams and downlink beams, an ability to receive inter-cell beam indications for indicating a beam using a reference signal associated with a non-serving cell, an ability to perform or report inter-cell beam measurements, an ability to transmit an enhanced power management maximum power reduction (P-MPR) report, an ability to support or transmit antenna-panel-specific uplink transmissions, an ability to support report-based beam updates for selecting or activating a beam based on a report transmitted by the UE (for example, without receiving additional signaling from a base station), an ability to transmit a group-based beam report (for example, that includes multiple groups of beams), an ability to perform multiple transmission reception point (TRP) beam failure recovery, or support for enhanced quasi co-location (QCL) rules for multiple physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) transmissions, among other examples); and
a receiver that receives a configuration for enabling initiation of activation of at least one TCI state of TCI states for downlink (DL) and uplink (UL) by the terminal (see paragraphs [0103], and [0161], the UE 120 may receive a single DCI that schedules multiple PDSCH messages or multiple TBs and may be enabled to identify beam(s) for the multiple PDSCH messages or the multiple TBs),
wherein the transmitter transmits a report indicating that the initiation of the activation of the TCI state by the terminal is enabled (see paragraph [0156], the one or more supported features may include beam activation that is based at least in part on the report transmitted by the UE 120. For example, the UE 120 may support a beam (for example, a reported beam) being activated (for example, may activate a TCI state or a spatial relation associated with the beam) by the UE 120 automatically without having received an activation command (for example, a DCI message or a MAC-CE message) from the base station 110), and
the terminal further comprises a processor that applies a separate TCI state to each of DL and UL and initiates the activation of the TCI state (see paragraphs [0082], and [0083], in the unified TCI state framework, separate downlink and uplink TCI states may be defined (for example, separate DL and UL TCI states). For example, one or more downlink TCI state types may be defined that provide information for a beam that is to be used for downlink communications (for example, for downlink communications only). Similarly, one or more uplink TCI state types may be defined that provide information for a beam that is to be used for uplink communications (for example, for uplink communications only)), and
the base station comprises:
a processor that controls transmission and reception based on the separate TCI state for each of DL and UL, activation of the TCI state being initiated by the terminal (see paragraph [0056], the means for the base station 110 to perform operations described herein may include, for example, one or more of communication manager 150, transmit processor 220, TX MIMO processor 230, modem 232, antenna 234, MIMO detector 236, receive processor 238, controller/processor 240).
Zhou may not explicitly teach or disclose the TCI state activation indicates an update of an active TCI state.
However, Koskela teaches or discloses the TCI state activation indicates an update of an active TCI state (see paragraph [0063], the CFRA update for q1.sub.uplink may be updated by the network when the PDCCH configuration/new PDCCH TCI states are activated. That is to say, if a UE has two active TCI states for PDCCH and two CFRA signals are listed in the set and different TCI states are activated, the CFRA signals are mapped to the new active TCI states).
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify UE capability signaling for enhanced beam management features of Zhou by including the TCI state activation indicates an update of an active TCI state suggested by Koskela. This modification would provide the network, specifically a gNB, configures a contention-free/dedicated signal for indicating uplink beam failure recovery read in paragraph [0039].
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 06/17/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive as following:
As to amended claims 9 and 12-14, on page 6, the applicant assets Bai fails to disclose the limitations as arranged. The examiner respectfully with the applicant. However, the new discovered references, Zhu and Koskela disclose these limitations as can see the above rejections.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHIRIN SAM whose telephone number is (571)272-3082. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri, 10:30am - 5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ayaz R. Sheikh can be reached at (571) 272 - 3795. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Date: 08/11/2026
/PHIRIN SAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476
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