ACKNOWLEDGMENT FOR PANEL INFORMATION REPORTING

Application No. 18/707,028

• Filed: May 02, 2024
• Priority: Jan 07, 2022 — nonprovisional of PCTCN2022070689
• Examiner: PATEL, PARTHKUMAR
• Art Unit: 2479
• Tech Center: 2400 — Computer Networks
• Assignee: Qualcomm Incorporated
• OA Round: 2 (Final)

Office Action

DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
In response to amendment filed on 6/23/2026, claims 1, 20, 31, 34 are amended, claims 36- 39 are added as new claims and claims 7- 8 and 26- 27 are cancelled. Claims 1- 6, 6- 25 and 28- 39 are pending for examinations.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) filed in the remarks on 6/23/2026 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. Applicant has amended independent claim; hence examiner believes that the scope has been changed, therefore new reference Xu (US Pat. No. 11962418 B2) has been incorporated. Xu teaches the limitations, “wherein the configured time window includes a first time interval for monitoring for a negative acknowledgment and a second time interval for monitoring for an acknowledgment, wherein the first time interval is shorter than the second time interval”; Xu teaches in lines 3- 11 of col. 6 about …. the uplink data retransmission can be triggered by a timer and a HARQ-ACK feedback, or by a timer and HARQ-ACK/NACK feedback, which will be detailed below separately. The HARQ-ACK feedback is indicative of successful data reception at the gNB. The HARQ-NACK feedback, on the other hand, is indicative of failed data reception …. ; now refer to lines 45- 51 of col. 6 about.. FIG. 6, if no HARQ-ACK feedback corresponding to the data is received before a Timer expires, the UE assumes that the data is not successfully received, the effect of which is equivalent to receiving a HARQ-NACK feedback. In this case, UE will retransmit the data..; further see Fig. 8 timer 1 for HARQ-ACK and timer 2 for retransmission (i.e. HARQ-NACK); see lines 56- 67 of col. 7 and lines 1- 3 of col. 8…Timer 1 and Timer 2 can be started at the same time as long as the duration of Timer 2 is longer than that of Timer 1, as illustrated in FIG. 9. As can be seen from FIG. 9, Timer 2 has duration longer than Timer 1, thus Timer 2 is still in process when Timer 1 expires, and if a grant for retransmission is received from gNB before or no later than Timer 2 expires, UE can retransmit the data according to the grant. In the foregoing solutions, data retransmission is triggered by timer and HARQ-ACK feedback, which provides high reliability by two-step feedback mechanism. When timer expires and no HARQ-ACK is received, HACK-NACK is assumed to have occurred to avoid NACK-TO-ACK error. Since HARQ-ACK is one bit information, such HARQ-ACK only feedback scheme reduces physical channel overhead…… Such HARQ-NACK/ACK feedback can trigger retransmission as soon as possible by early HARQ-NACK; see lines 40- 42 of col. 8.; further refer to lines 6- 10 of col. 8…In this solution, as illustrated in FIG. 10, UE sends data to gNB and meanwhile Timer 1 starts (101 of FIG. 10), but different from FIG. 4, the UE will only retransmit the data when HARR-NACK feedback is received before or no later than Timer 1 expires, as detailed below; further see claim 1 and claim 6 supporting HARQ-ACK feedback as well as HARQ-NACK feedback.

Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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.
Claim(s) 1- 2, 4- 6, 9- 11, 16, 19- 21, 23- 25, 28- 32, 34, 37- 39 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guan et al. (US Pub. No. 2025/0056285 A1) in view of Xu (US Pat. No. 11962418 B2).

Regarding claim 1, Guan teaches a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: a memory; and one or more processors, coupled to the memory (see Fig. 2- 3 terminal device (#220) as a UE here and network device(#210) as a base station), configured to:
transmit, to a base station, a capability value set list identifying one or more capability sets (see [0072].. the network device 210 and the terminal device 220 may exchange capability-related information and related configuration, and the terminal device 220 may report correspondence report(s) to the network device 210; now refer to [0073]… the terminal device 220 may perform a UE-initiated panel activation and selection via reporting a list of UE capability value sets; now refer to now refer to [0085].. some interactions are performed among the terminal device 220 and the network device 210 (such as, exchanging capability-related information, configuration and so on). It is to be understood that the interactions may be implemented either in one single signaling/message or multiple signaling/messages, including system information, RRC message, DCI message, uplink control information (UCI) message, media access control (MAC) control element (CE) and so on….; see [0093] …the capability-related information may indicate the capability-related information indicating a plurality of capability value sets supported by the terminal device 220 (such as, L sets of capability value sets, where the value of L may be a positive integer); further see [0094] …one capability value set may be associated with one or more RSs (such as, SSB resource indicator, SSBRI, CSI-RS resource indicator, CRI), while one RSs also may be associated with one or more capability value set. In other words, the correspondence between the capability value set and RS may be 1-to-1, 1-to-many, many-to-1, many-to-many; further see [0095] Further, many capability parameter may be comprised in the capability value set. One capability parameter comprised in the set is a maximum number of SRS ports (be represented as “Nx”). The maximum number of SRS ports Nx refers to Nx radio frequency (RF) chains for uplink transmission, and Nx layers for PUSCH.);
transmit, to the base station, a channel state information (CSI) report that includes a capability set identifier identifying a capability set of the one or more capability sets of the capability value set list (in above discussed context pls refer to [0182].. each capability value set may corresponded to a panel (a physical entity) deployed at a terminal device, a specific panel type and a state of the capability value set. When reporting the capability-related information, the capability value set may be indexes by the identity information, where the identity information may be an index of a capability value set, an index of a panel deployed at the terminal device 220 or a state of the capability value set. The indexing mechanism used for reporting the capability-related information ….; now refer to claim 58- 59 wherein a CSI report is being sent to network and the report includes an index of UE capability value set indicating the maximum number of the SRS antenna ports; further see [0301- 0302]); and
receive, based on monitoring of a configured time window, a feedback message indicating whether the base station successfully received the CSI report and whether to retransmit information identifying the capability set identifier (see abstract .. . The terminal device further communicates with the network device according to a feedback state of the correspondence report, where the feedback state is an ACK or a NACK. In this way, the misalignment between the network device and the terminal device is avoided….(i.e. ACK for successfully received and also indicates no need to retransmit information and NACK used for indicating not successful reception and also for triggering terminal for aperiodic/semi-persistent report….discussed in below paragraphs) ; in context with [0205] see [0206]… , the terminal device 220 and the network device 210 communicate 350 with each other according to a feedback state of the correspondence report, where, the feedback state may be ACK or NACK. Alternatively, the feedback state may be ACK, NACK, or “not transmitted/detected” (i.e., no ACK/NACK). It should be understood that, when the feedback mechanism for the correspondence report is introduced, no ACK/NACK should be interpreted as “NACK”; further see [0209]… the feedback message is a DCI message for scheduling PUSCH and comprising a SRS resource indicator (SRI). In some embodiments, in case that the SRI points to SRS resources with more ports than the maximum SRS ports associated with the capability value set(s) in the correspondence report, the feedback state of the correspondence report is NACK, otherwise, the feedback state is ACK. In some other embodiments, in case that the SRI points to SRS resources with the number of ports not matched with maximum SRS ports associated with the capability value set(s) in the correspondence report, the feedback state of the correspondence report is NACK, otherwise, the feedback state is ACK; further see [0213].. A further example of the feedback message is a message to trigger the terminal device 220 to report a correspondence report. In one specific example embodiment, message used for triggering activating an aperiodic or semi-persistent correspondence report is used to indicate that the state of the correspondence report is NACK. For example, a periodic correspondence reported is configured, while the network device 210 fails to receive the expected periodic correspondence report. Therefore, the network device 210 may transmit a message to trigger the terminal device 220 to report an aperiodic or semi-persistent correspondence report. Thus, the message implies a failure transmission of a periodic correspondence report which indicates a NACK state; further see [0214, 0227]).
Here Guan discloses a single monitoring duration (see [0206- 0227- 0028 and Fig. 6B #660); but fails to state about wherein the configured time window includes a first time interval for monitoring for a negative acknowledgment and a second time interval for monitoring for an acknowledgment, wherein the first time interval is shorter than the second time interval.
However Xu teaches in lines 3- 11 of col. 6 about …. the uplink data retransmission can be triggered by a timer and a HARQ-ACK feedback, or by a timer and HARQ-ACK/NACK feedback, which will be detailed below separately. The HARQ-ACK feedback is indicative of successful data reception at the gNB. The HARQ-NACK feedback, on the other hand, is indicative of failed data reception …. ; now refer to lines 45- 51 of col. 6 about.. FIG. 6, if no HARQ-ACK feedback corresponding to the data is received before a Timer expires, the UE assumes that the data is not successfully received, the effect of which is equivalent to receiving a HARQ-NACK feedback. In this case, UE will retransmit the data..; further see Fig. 8 timer 1 for HARQ-ACK and timer 2 for retransmission (i.e. HARQ-NACK); see lines 56- 67 of col. 7 and lines 1- 3 of col. 8…Timer 1 and Timer 2 can be started at the same time as long as the duration of Timer 2 is longer than that of Timer 1, as illustrated in FIG. 9. As can be seen from FIG. 9, Timer 2 has duration longer than Timer 1, thus Timer 2 is still in process when Timer 1 expires, and if a grant for retransmission is received from gNB before or no later than Timer 2 expires, UE can retransmit the data according to the grant. In the foregoing solutions, data retransmission is triggered by timer and HARQ-ACK feedback, which provides high reliability by two-step feedback mechanism. When timer expires and no HARQ-ACK is received, HACK-NACK is assumed to have occurred to avoid NACK-TO-ACK error. Since HARQ-ACK is one bit information, such HARQ-ACK only feedback scheme reduces physical channel overhead…… Such HARQ-NACK/ACK feedback can trigger retransmission as soon as possible by early HARQ-NACK; see lines 40- 42 of col. 8.; further refer to lines 6- 10 of col. 8…In this solution, as illustrated in FIG. 10, UE sends data to gNB and meanwhile Timer 1 starts (101 of FIG. 10), but different from FIG. 4, the UE will only retransmit the data when HARR-NACK feedback is received before or no later than Timer 1 expires, as detailed below; further see claim 1 and claim 6 supporting HARQ-ACK feedback as well as HARQ-NACK feedback.
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Xu with the teachings of Guan to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein the configured time window includes a first time interval for monitoring for a negative acknowledgment and a second time interval for monitoring for an acknowledgment, wherein the first time interval is shorter than the second time interval; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.

Regarding Claim 2, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 1, wherein Guan teaches the capability set identifier is associated with a parameter identifying at least:
a maximum quantity of supported uplink transmission layers,
a maximum quantity of supported sounding reference signal ports,
a set of supported coherence types corresponding to a subset of ports, or some combination thereof; see claims 58- 59... a maximum number of Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) antenna ports; further see [0096- 0106]….refer to [0098] maximum number of SRS ports, [0099] a maximum number of SRS resources, [0100] a maximum number of SRS resource sets, [0101] a coherent type (such as, full coherent, partial coherent, non-coherent, and their combinations), [0102] a maximum number of uplink layers, [0103] a maximum number of downlink layers, [0104] a maximum number of RS (such as, CSI-RS) ports, [0105] a maximum number of codewords, or [0106] a maximum number of MIMO layers.

Regarding Claim 4, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 1, wherein the feedback message is an acknowledgment message confirming successful reception of the CSI report; Guan already discussed above see [0206]… , the terminal device 220 and the network device 210 communicate 350 with each other according to a feedback state of the correspondence report, where, the feedback state may be ACK or NACK. Alternatively, the feedback state may be ACK, NACK, or “not transmitted/detected” (i.e., no ACK/NACK). It should be understood that, when the feedback mechanism for the correspondence report is introduced, no ACK/NACK should be interpreted as “NACK”; further see [0209]… the feedback message is a DCI message for scheduling PUSCH and comprising a SRS resource indicator (SRI). In some embodiments, in case that the SRI points to SRS resources with more ports than the maximum SRS ports associated with the capability value set(s) in the correspondence report, the feedback state of the correspondence report is NACK, otherwise, the feedback state is ACK. In some other embodiments, in case that the SRI points to SRS resources with the number of ports not matched with maximum SRS ports associated with the capability value set(s) in the correspondence report, the feedback state of the correspondence report is NACK, otherwise, the feedback state is ACK.

Regarding Claim 5, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 4, wherein the acknowledgment message is conveyed via at least:
a hybrid automatic repeat request identifier,
a dedicated acknowledgment message,
a transmission configuration indicator update message,
a sounding reference signal update message,
downlink control information scheduling a sounding reference signal or a physical uplink shared channel message,
an activation message for a sounding reference signal or a configured grant physical uplink shared channel message,
a transmission configuration indicator state update message associated with the CSI report,
a scheduling message,
a reference signal sequence, or
some combination thereof; see abstract ACK/NACK; Guan see [0209]..DCI, PUSCH.

Regarding Claim 6, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 5, wherein the feedback message is the dedicated acknowledgment message conveyed in downlink control information with at least:
a reserved sequence for the feedback message,
a set of reserved bits for the feedback message,
a reserved field for the feedback message,
a format configured for the feedback message,
a scrambled radio network temporary identifier for the feedback message, or some combination thereof; Guan see [0209]... the feedback message is a DCI message for scheduling PUSCH and comprising a SRS resource indicator (SRI). In some embodiments, in case that the SRI points to SRS resources with more ports than the maximum SRS ports associated with the capability value set(s) in the correspondence report, the feedback state of the correspondence report is NACK, otherwise, the feedback state is ACK. In some other embodiments, in case that the SRI points to SRS resources with the number of ports not matched with maximum SRS ports associated with the capability value set(s) in the correspondence report, the feedback state of the correspondence report is NACK, otherwise, the feedback state is ACK; now see [0212]... …the feedback message is a signaling for controlling the transmit power of the terminal device 220. Specifically, a signaling for controlling the transmit power may be used to indicate that the state of the correspondence report is ACK. In one specific example embodiment, the signaling for controlling the transmit power comprises a transmit power control (TPC) field for TPC for SRS/PUCCH/PUSCH trigger a power adjustments for the panel/capability value set associated with the correspondence report. Additionally, in some embodiments, the signaling for controlling the transmit power is a DCI message with format 2-2 or 2-3 for TPC without uplink grant. In addition, the signaling for controlling the transmit power is the first one received right after the transmission of correspondence report. Alternatively, the signaling for controlling the transmit power is the first one received a certain time period after the transmission of the correspondence report; further see [0124] reserved states using bits and sequence.

Regarding Claim 9, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 1, wherein the CSI report is an aperiodic CSI report and the feedback message is included in downlink control information that shares an aperiodic CSI trigger state identifier with the CSI report; Guan see [0215].. the feedback message is a message for activating a CSI report transmission. Specifically, an aperiodic or semi-persistent CSI report may be used for training the downlink receiving beam associated with capability value set. Additionally, the triggered/activated CSI report may be configured to disable reporting the identity information (i.e. means it has identity information) of the capability value set (i.e., the parameter of “report quantity” is configured to be “none”) and the parameter of repetition in the resource set is configured to be “on”. In some embodiments, the CSI report transmissions can be based on downlink RS resources associated (i.e. can be identifier) with the corresponding capability value set as indicated in Table 1.

Regarding Claim 10, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 1, wherein Guan teaches the CSI report is a semi-persistent scheduled CSI report or a periodic scheduled CSI report (in context with [0047, 0080 (report behavior can be aperiodic), 0092, claim 58- 59] pls refer to [0213] .. the feedback message is a message to trigger the terminal device 220 to report a correspondence report. In one specific example embodiment, message used for triggering activating an aperiodic or semi-persistent correspondence report is used to indicate that the state of the correspondence report is NACK…), and wherein the feedback message is conveyed in downlink control information and triggers an aperiodic CSI report to convey information of the CSI report; see [0210]... the feedback message is a DCI message for scheduling PUSCH and comprising a transmit precoding matrix indicator (TPMI) in DCI for scheduling PUSCH. In some embodiments, in case that the TPMI indicates a larger number of layers than the number of the maximum SRS ports associated with the capability value set(s) in the correspondence report, the feedback state of the correspondence report is NACK, otherwise, the feedback state is ACK. In addition, the DCI for scheduling PUSCH is the first one received right after the transmission of correspondence report. Alternatively, the DCI for scheduling PUSCH is the first one received within a certain time period after the transmission of the correspondence report; now refer to [0213]..for NACK triggering aperiodic reporting.

Regarding Claim 11, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 10, wherein Guan teaches the downlink control information is associated with an aperiodic trigger state or a validation sequence (see [0215].. the feedback message is a message for activating a CSI report transmission. Specifically, an aperiodic or semi-persistent CSI report may be used for training the downlink receiving beam associated with capability value set. Additionally, the triggered/activated CSI report may be configured to disable reporting the identity information of the capability value set (i.e., the parameter of “report quantity” is configured to be “none”) and the parameter of repetition in the resource set is configured to be “on”. In some embodiments, the CSI report transmissions can be based on downlink RS resources associated with the corresponding capability value set as indicated in Table 1; now refer to [0208] regarding DCI can be used for TCI command which is a feedback message and comprises information about TCI state(s) which is at least partially associated with the at least one RS), and wherein the aperiodic trigger state or the validation sequence triggers the aperiodic CSI report to convey the information of the CSI report (already discussed above see claim 10’s explanations).

Regarding Claim 16, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 1, wherein an application time for using the capability set is based at least in part on a time of the CSI report or the feedback message; Guan see [0173]. With the information about the time restriction configured by the network device 210, the terminal device 220 may obtain the correspondence report accordingly. Specifically, if the terminal device 220 is not configured with time restriction, the terminal device 220 shall obtain/derive the correspondence report by measuring multiple RSs (such as, the CSI-RS or SSB). Correspondingly, if the terminal device 220 is configured with time restriction, the terminal device 220 shall obtain/derive the correspondence report by measuring merely the last RS (the most recent CSI-RS or SSB). Additionally, the RS(s) used to obtain/derive the correspondence report should be no later than a reference resource; further see [0273]... T1 refers to the time point for transmitting the correspondence report, while T2 refers to the expected time point for receiving the feedback message for the correspondence report.

Regarding Claim 19, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 1, wherein the UE is configured to receive a transmission from the base station in accordance with the capability set based at least in part on a type of the transmission and reactivation signaling from the base station; Guan see Fig. 9 and in context with step #910 refer to #920… the network device 210 transmits a message to the terminal device 220. The message indicates the feedback state of the correspondence report and is at least one of the following: a TCI activation command at least partially associated with the at least one RS indicated by the report, a PDCCH order to trigger a RA procedure, a signaling for controlling the transmit power of the terminal device 220, a message to trigger the terminal device 220 to report a correspondence report, a message for activating a SRS transmission, a message for activating a CSI report transmission; see [0331]; now refer to [0339] the network device 210 is communicating with the terminal device 220 by applying the at least one second capability value set associated with a second correspondence and continues to apply the at least one second capability value set associated with the second correspondence after receiving the first correspondence report for a certain period.

Regarding claim 20, Guan teaches a base station for wireless communication, comprising:
a memory; and
one or more processors, coupled to the memory, configured to (see Fig. 2- 3 terminal device (#220) as a UE here and network device(#210) as a base station):
receive, from a user equipment (UE), a capability value set list identifying one or more capability sets (see [0072].. the network device 210 and the terminal device 220 may exchange capability-related information and related configuration, and the terminal device 220 may report correspondence report(s) to the network device 210; now refer to [0073]… the terminal device 220 may perform a UE-initiated panel activation and selection via reporting a list of UE capability value sets; now refer to now refer to [0085].. some interactions are performed among the terminal device 220 and the network device 210 (such as, exchanging capability-related information, configuration and so on). It is to be understood that the interactions may be implemented either in one single signaling/message or multiple signaling/messages, including system information, RRC message, DCI message, uplink control information (UCI) message, media access control (MAC) control element (CE) and so on….; see [0093] …the capability-related information may indicate the capability-related information indicating a plurality of capability value sets supported by the terminal device 220 (such as, L sets of capability value sets, where the value of L may be a positive integer); further see [0094] …one capability value set may be associated with one or more RSs (such as, SSB resource indicator, SSBRI, CSI-RS resource indicator, CRI), while one RSs also may be associated with one or more capability value set. In other words, the correspondence between the capability value set and RS may be 1-to-1, 1-to-many, many-to-1, many-to-many; further see [0095] Further, many capability parameter may be comprised in the capability value set. One capability parameter comprised in the set is a maximum number of SRS ports (be represented as “Nx”). The maximum number of SRS ports Nx refers to Nx radio frequency (RF) chains for uplink transmission, and Nx layers for PUSCH.);
monitor for a channel state information (CSI) report, from the UE, that includes a capability set identifier identifying a capability set of the one or more capability sets of the capability value set list (in above discussed context pls refer to [0182].. each capability value set may corresponded to a panel (a physical entity) deployed at a terminal device, a specific panel type and a state of the capability value set. When reporting the capability-related information, the capability value set may be indexes by the identity information, where the identity information may be an index of a capability value set, an index of a panel deployed at the terminal device 220 or a state of the capability value set. The indexing mechanism used for reporting the capability-related information ….; now refer to claim 58- 59 wherein a CSI report is being sent to network and the report includes an index of UE capability value set indicating the maximum number of the SRS antenna ports; further see [0301- 0302]); and
transmit during a configured time window, a feedback message indicating whether the CSI report is successfully received and whether to retransmit information identifying the capability set identifier (see abstract .. . The terminal device further communicates with the network device according to a feedback state of the correspondence report, where the feedback state is an ACK or a NACK. In this way, the misalignment between the network device and the terminal device is avoided….(i.e. ACK for successfully received and also indicates no need to retransmit information and NACK used for indicating not successful reception and also for triggering terminal for aperiodic/semi-persistent report….discussed in below paragraphs) ; see [0206]… , the terminal device 220 and the network device 210 communicate 350 with each other according to a feedback state of the correspondence report, where, the feedback state may be ACK or NACK. Alternatively, the feedback state may be ACK, NACK, or “not transmitted/detected” (i.e., no ACK/NACK). It should be understood that, when the feedback mechanism for the correspondence report is introduced, no ACK/NACK should be interpreted as “NACK”; further see [0209]… the feedback message is a DCI message for scheduling PUSCH and comprising a SRS resource indicator (SRI). In some embodiments, in case that the SRI points to SRS resources with more ports than the maximum SRS ports associated with the capability value set(s) in the correspondence report, the feedback state of the correspondence report is NACK, otherwise, the feedback state is ACK. In some other embodiments, in case that the SRI points to SRS resources with the number of ports not matched with maximum SRS ports associated with the capability value set(s) in the correspondence report, the feedback state of the correspondence report is NACK, otherwise, the feedback state is ACK; further see [0213].. A further example of the feedback message is a message to trigger the terminal device 220 to report a correspondence report. In one specific example embodiment, message used for triggering activating an aperiodic or semi-persistent correspondence report is used to indicate that the state of the correspondence report is NACK. For example, a periodic correspondence reported is configured, while the network device 210 fails to receive the expected periodic correspondence report. Therefore, the network device 210 may transmit a message to trigger the terminal device 220 to report an aperiodic or semi-persistent correspondence report. Thus, the message implies a failure transmission of a periodic correspondence report which indicates a NACK state; further see [0214, 0227]).
Here Guan discloses a single monitoring duration (see [0206- 0227- 0028 and Fig. 6B #660); but fails to state about wherein the configured time window includes a first time interval for monitoring for a negative acknowledgment and a second time interval for monitoring for an acknowledgment, wherein the first time interval is shorter than the second time interval.
However Xu teaches in lines 3- 11 of col. 6 about …. the uplink data retransmission can be triggered by a timer and a HARQ-ACK feedback, or by a timer and HARQ-ACK/NACK feedback, which will be detailed below separately. The HARQ-ACK feedback is indicative of successful data reception at the gNB. The HARQ-NACK feedback, on the other hand, is indicative of failed data reception …. ; now refer to lines 45- 51 of col. 6 about.. FIG. 6, if no HARQ-ACK feedback corresponding to the data is received before a Timer expires, the UE assumes that the data is not successfully received, the effect of which is equivalent to receiving a HARQ-NACK feedback. In this case, UE will retransmit the data..; further see Fig. 8 timer 1 for HARQ-ACK and timer 2 for retransmission (i.e. HARQ-NACK); see lines 56- 67 of col. 7 and lines 1- 3 of col. 8…Timer 1 and Timer 2 can be started at the same time as long as the duration of Timer 2 is longer than that of Timer 1, as illustrated in FIG. 9. As can be seen from FIG. 9, Timer 2 has duration longer than Timer 1, thus Timer 2 is still in process when Timer 1 expires, and if a grant for retransmission is received from gNB before or no later than Timer 2 expires, UE can retransmit the data according to the grant. In the foregoing solutions, data retransmission is triggered by timer and HARQ-ACK feedback, which provides high reliability by two-step feedback mechanism. When timer expires and no HARQ-ACK is received, HACK-NACK is assumed to have occurred to avoid NACK-TO-ACK error. Since HARQ-ACK is one bit information, such HARQ-ACK only feedback scheme reduces physical channel overhead…… Such HARQ-NACK/ACK feedback can trigger retransmission as soon as possible by early HARQ-NACK; see lines 40- 42 of col. 8.; further refer to lines 6- 10 of col. 8…In this solution, as illustrated in FIG. 10, UE sends data to gNB and meanwhile Timer 1 starts (101 of FIG. 10), but different from FIG. 4, the UE will only retransmit the data when HARR-NACK feedback is received before or no later than Timer 1 expires, as detailed below; further see claim 1 and claim 6 supporting HARQ-ACK feedback as well as HARQ-NACK feedback.
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Xu with the teachings of Guan to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein the configured time window includes a first time interval for monitoring for a negative acknowledgment and a second time interval for monitoring for an acknowledgment, wherein the first time interval is shorter than the second time interval; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.

Regarding Claim 21, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 20, wherein Guan teaches the capability set identifier is associated with a parameter identifying at least:
a maximum quantity of supported uplink transmission layers,
a maximum quantity of supported sounding reference signal ports,
a set of supported coherence types corresponding to a subset of ports, or some combination thereof; see claims 58- 59... a maximum number of Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) antenna ports; further see [0096- 0106]….refer to [0098] maximum number of SRS ports, [0099] a maximum number of SRS resources, [0100] a maximum number of SRS resource sets, [0101] a coherent type (such as, full coherent, partial coherent, non-coherent, and their combinations), [0102] a maximum number of uplink layers, [0103] a maximum number of downlink layers, [0104] a maximum number of RS (such as, CSI-RS) ports, [0105] a maximum number of codewords, or [0106] a maximum number of MIMO layers.

Regarding Claim 23, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 20, wherein Guan teaches the feedback message is an acknowledgment message confirming successful reception of the CSI report; already discussed above see [0206]… , the terminal device 220 and the network device 210 communicate 350 with each other according to a feedback state of the correspondence report, where, the feedback state may be ACK or NACK. Alternatively, the feedback state may be ACK, NACK, or “not transmitted/detected” (i.e., no ACK/NACK). It should be understood that, when the feedback mechanism for the correspondence report is introduced, no ACK/NACK should be interpreted as “NACK”; further see [0209]… the feedback message is a DCI message for scheduling PUSCH and comprising a SRS resource indicator (SRI). In some embodiments, in case that the SRI points to SRS resources with more ports than the maximum SRS ports associated with the capability value set(s) in the correspondence report, the feedback state of the correspondence report is NACK, otherwise, the feedback state is ACK. In some other embodiments, in case that the SRI points to SRS resources with the number of ports not matched with maximum SRS ports associated with the capability value set(s) in the correspondence report, the feedback state of the correspondence report is NACK, otherwise, the feedback state is ACK.

Regarding Claim 24, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 23, wherein the acknowledgment message is conveyed via at least:
a hybrid automatic repeat request identifier,
a dedicated acknowledgment message,
a transmission configuration indicator update message,
a sounding reference signal update message,
downlink control information scheduling a sounding reference signal or a physical uplink shared channel message,
an activation message for a sounding reference signal or a configured grant physical uplink shared channel message,
a transmission configuration indicator state update message associated with the CSI report,
a scheduling message,
a reference signal sequence, or
some combination thereof; see abstract ACK/NACK; Guan see [0209]..DCI, PUSCH.

Regarding Claim 25, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 24, wherein the feedback message is the dedicated acknowledgment message conveyed in downlink control information with at least:
a reserved sequence for the feedback message,
a set of reserved bits for the feedback message,
a reserved field for the feedback message,
a format configured for the feedback message,
a scrambled radio network temporary identifier for the feedback message, or some combination thereof; Guan see [0209]... the feedback message is a DCI message for scheduling PUSCH and comprising a SRS resource indicator (SRI). In some embodiments, in case that the SRI points to SRS resources with more ports than the maximum SRS ports associated with the capability value set(s) in the correspondence report, the feedback state of the correspondence report is NACK, otherwise, the feedback state is ACK. In some other embodiments, in case that the SRI points to SRS resources with the number of ports not matched with maximum SRS ports associated with the capability value set(s) in the correspondence report, the feedback state of the correspondence report is NACK, otherwise, the feedback state is ACK; now see [0212]... …the feedback message is a signaling for controlling the transmit power of the terminal device 220. Specifically, a signaling for controlling the transmit power may be used to indicate that the state of the correspondence report is ACK. In one specific example embodiment, the signaling for controlling the transmit power comprises a transmit power control (TPC) field for TPC for SRS/PUCCH/PUSCH trigger a power adjustments for the panel/capability value set associated with the correspondence report. Additionally, in some embodiments, the signaling for controlling the transmit power is a DCI message with format 2-2 or 2-3 for TPC without uplink grant. In addition, the signaling for controlling the transmit power is the first one received right after the transmission of correspondence report. Alternatively, the signaling for controlling the transmit power is the first one received a certain time period after the transmission of the correspondence report; further see [0124] reserved states using bits and sequence.

Regarding Claim 28, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 20, wherein the CSI report is an aperiodic CSI report and the feedback message is included in downlink control information that shares an aperiodic CSI trigger state identifier with the CSI report; Guan see [0215].. the feedback message is a message for activating a CSI report transmission. Specifically, an aperiodic or semi-persistent CSI report may be used for training the downlink receiving beam associated with capability value set. Additionally, the triggered/activated CSI report may be configured to disable reporting the identity information (i.e. means it has identity information) of the capability value set (i.e., the parameter of “report quantity” is configured to be “none”) and the parameter of repetition in the resource set is configured to be “on”. In some embodiments, the CSI report transmissions can be based on downlink RS resources associated (i.e. can be identifier) with the corresponding capability value set as indicated in Table 1.

Regarding Claim 29, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 20, wherein Guan teaches the CSI report is a semi-persistent scheduled CSI report or a periodic scheduled CSI report (in context with [0047, 0080 (report behavior can be aperiodic), 0092, claim 58- 59] pls refer to [0213] .. the feedback message is a message to trigger the terminal device 220 to report a correspondence report. In one specific example embodiment, message used for triggering activating an aperiodic or semi-persistent correspondence report is used to indicate that the state of the correspondence report is NACK…), and wherein the feedback message is conveyed in downlink control information and triggers an aperiodic CSI report to convey information of the CSI report; see [0210]... the feedback message is a DCI message for scheduling PUSCH and comprising a transmit precoding matrix indicator (TPMI) in DCI for scheduling PUSCH. In some embodiments, in case that the TPMI indicates a larger number of layers than the number of the maximum SRS ports associated with the capability value set(s) in the correspondence report, the feedback state of the correspondence report is NACK, otherwise, the feedback state is ACK. In addition, the DCI for scheduling PUSCH is the first one received right after the transmission of correspondence report. Alternatively, the DCI for scheduling PUSCH is the first one received within a certain time period after the transmission of the correspondence report; now refer to [0213]..for NACK triggering aperiodic reporting.

Regarding Claim 30, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 29, wherein Guan teaches the downlink control information is associated with an aperiodic trigger state or a validation sequence (see [0215].. the feedback message is a message for activating a CSI report transmission. Specifically, an aperiodic or semi-persistent CSI report may be used for training the downlink receiving beam associated with capability value set. Additionally, the triggered/activated CSI report may be configured to disable reporting the identity information of the capability value set (i.e., the parameter of “report quantity” is configured to be “none”) and the parameter of repetition in the resource set is configured to be “on”. In some embodiments, the CSI report transmissions can be based on downlink RS resources associated with the corresponding capability value set as indicated in Table 1; now refer to [0208] regarding DCI can be used for TCI command which is a feedback message and comprises information about TCI state(s) which is at least partially associated with the at least one RS), and wherein the aperiodic trigger state or the validation sequence triggers the aperiodic CSI report to convey the information of the CSI report (already discussed above see claim 10’s explanations).

Regarding claim 31, Guan teaches a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising (see Fig. 2- 3 terminal device (#220) as a UE here and network device(#210) as a base station):
transmitting, to a base station, a capability value set list identifying one or more capability sets (see [0072].. the network device 210 and the terminal device 220 may exchange capability-related information and related configuration, and the terminal device 220 may report correspondence report(s) to the network device 210; now refer to [0073]… the terminal device 220 may perform a UE-initiated panel activation and selection via reporting a list of UE capability value sets; now refer to now refer to [0085].. some interactions are performed among the terminal device 220 and the network device 210 (such as, exchanging capability-related information, configuration and so on). It is to be understood that the interactions may be implemented either in one single signaling/message or multiple signaling/messages, including system information, RRC message, DCI message, uplink control information (UCI) message, media access control (MAC) control element (CE) and so on….; see [0093] …the capability-related information may indicate the capability-related information indicating a plurality of capability value sets supported by the terminal device 220 (such as, L sets of capability value sets, where the value of L may be a positive integer); further see [0094] …one capability value set may be associated with one or more RSs (such as, SSB resource indicator, SSBRI, CSI-RS resource indicator, CRI), while one RSs also may be associated with one or more capability value set. In other words, the correspondence between the capability value set and RS may be 1-to-1, 1-to-many, many-to-1, many-to-many; further see [0095] Further, many capability parameter may be comprised in the capability value set. One capability parameter comprised in the set is a maximum number of SRS ports (be represented as “Nx”). The maximum number of SRS ports Nx refers to Nx radio frequency (RF) chains for uplink transmission, and Nx layers for PUSCH.);
transmitting, to the base station, a channel state information (CSI) report that includes a capability set identifier identifying a capability set of the one or more capability sets of the capability value set list (in above discussed context pls refer to [0182].. each capability value set may corresponded to a panel (a physical entity) deployed at a terminal device, a specific panel type and a state of the capability value set. When reporting the capability-related information, the capability value set may be indexes by the identity information, where the identity information may be an index of a capability value set, an index of a panel deployed at the terminal device 220 or a state of the capability value set. The indexing mechanism used for reporting the capability-related information ….; now refer to claim 58- 59 wherein a CSI report is being sent to network and the report includes an index of UE capability value set indicating the maximum number of the SRS antenna ports; further see [0301- 0302]); and
receiving, based on monitoring of a configured time window, a feedback message indicating whether the base station successfully received the CSI report and whether to retransmit information identifying the capability set identifier (see abstract .. . The terminal device further communicates with the network device according to a feedback state of the correspondence report, where the feedback state is an ACK or a NACK. In this way, the misalignment between the network device and the terminal device is avoided….(i.e. ACK for successfully received and also indicates no need to retransmit information and NACK used for indicating not successful reception and also for triggering terminal for aperiodic/semi-persistent report….discussed in below paragraphs) ; in context with [0205] see [0206]… , the terminal device 220 and the network device 210 communicate 350 with each other according to a feedback state of the correspondence report, where, the feedback state may be ACK or NACK. Alternatively, the feedback state may be ACK, NACK, or “not transmitted/detected” (i.e., no ACK/NACK). It should be understood that, when the feedback mechanism for the correspondence report is introduced, no ACK/NACK should be interpreted as “NACK”; further see [0209]… the feedback message is a DCI message for scheduling PUSCH and comprising a SRS resource indicator (SRI). In some embodiments, in case that the SRI points to SRS resources with more ports than the maximum SRS ports associated with the capability value set(s) in the correspondence report, the feedback state of the correspondence report is NACK, otherwise, the feedback state is ACK. In some other embodiments, in case that the SRI points to SRS resources with the number of ports not matched with maximum SRS ports associated with the capability value set(s) in the correspondence report, the feedback state of the correspondence report is NACK, otherwise, the feedback state is ACK; further see [0213].. A further example of the feedback message is a message to trigger the terminal device 220 to report a correspondence report. In one specific example embodiment, message used for triggering activating an aperiodic or semi-persistent correspondence report is used to indicate that the state of the correspondence report is NACK. For example, a periodic correspondence reported is configured, while the network device 210 fails to receive the expected periodic correspondence report. Therefore, the network device 210 may transmit a message to trigger the terminal device 220 to report an aperiodic or semi-persistent correspondence report. Thus, the message implies a failure transmission of a periodic correspondence report which indicates a NACK state; further see [0214, 0227]).
Here Guan discloses a single monitoring duration (see [0206- 0227- 0028 and Fig. 6B #660); but fails to state about wherein the configured time window includes a first time interval for monitoring for a negative acknowledgment and a second time interval for monitoring for an acknowledgment, wherein the first time interval is shorter than the second time interval.
However Xu teaches in lines 3- 11 of col. 6 about …. the uplink data retransmission can be triggered by a timer and a HARQ-ACK feedback, or by a timer and HARQ-ACK/NACK feedback, which will be detailed below separately. The HARQ-ACK feedback is indicative of successful data reception at the gNB. The HARQ-NACK feedback, on the other hand, is indicative of failed data reception …. ; now refer to lines 45- 51 of col. 6 about.. FIG. 6, if no HARQ-ACK feedback corresponding to the data is received before a Timer expires, the UE assumes that the data is not successfully received, the effect of which is equivalent to receiving a HARQ-NACK feedback. In this case, UE will retransmit the data..; further see Fig. 8 timer 1 for HARQ-ACK and timer 2 for retransmission (i.e. HARQ-NACK); see lines 56- 67 of col. 7 and lines 1- 3 of col. 8…Timer 1 and Timer 2 can be started at the same time as long as the duration of Timer 2 is longer than that of Timer 1, as illustrated in FIG. 9. As can be seen from FIG. 9, Timer 2 has duration longer than Timer 1, thus Timer 2 is still in process when Timer 1 expires, and if a grant for retransmission is received from gNB before or no later than Timer 2 expires, UE can retransmit the data according to the grant. In the foregoing solutions, data retransmission is triggered by timer and HARQ-ACK feedback, which provides high reliability by two-step feedback mechanism. When timer expires and no HARQ-ACK is received, HACK-NACK is assumed to have occurred to avoid NACK-TO-ACK error. Since HARQ-ACK is one bit information, such HARQ-ACK only feedback scheme reduces physical channel overhead…… Such HARQ-NACK/ACK feedback can trigger retransmission as soon as possible by early HARQ-NACK; see lines 40- 42 of col. 8.; further refer to lines 6- 10 of col. 8…In this solution, as illustrated in FIG. 10, UE sends data to gNB and meanwhile Timer 1 starts (101 of FIG. 10), but different from FIG. 4, the UE will only retransmit the data when HARR-NACK feedback is received before or no later than Timer 1 expires, as detailed below; further see claim 1 and claim 6 supporting HARQ-ACK feedback as well as HARQ-NACK feedback.
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Xu with the teachings of Guan to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein the configured time window includes a first time interval for monitoring for a negative acknowledgment and a second time interval for monitoring for an acknowledgment, wherein the first time interval is shorter than the second time interval; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.

Regarding Claim 32, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 31, wherein the capability set identifier is associated with a parameter identifying at least:
a maximum quantity of supported uplink transmission layers,
a maximum quantity of supported sounding reference signal ports,
a set of supported coherence types corresponding to a subset of ports, or some combination thereof; Guan see claims 58- 59... a maximum number of Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) antenna ports; further see [0096- 0106]….refer to [0098] maximum number of SRS ports, [0099] a maximum number of SRS resources, [0100] a maximum number of SRS resource sets, [0101] a coherent type (such as, full coherent, partial coherent, non-coherent, and their combinations), [0102] a maximum number of uplink layers, [0103] a maximum number of downlink layers, [0104] a maximum number of RS (such as, CSI-RS) ports, [0105] a maximum number of codewords, or [0106] a maximum number of MIMO layers.

Regarding claim 34, Guan teaches method of wireless communication performed by a base station, comprising (see Fig. 2- 3 terminal device (#220) as a UE here and network device(#210) as a base station):
receiving, from a user equipment (UE), a capability value set list identifying one or more capability sets (see [0072].. the network device 210 and the terminal device 220 may exchange capability-related information and related configuration, and the terminal device 220 may report correspondence report(s) to the network device 210; now refer to [0073]… the terminal device 220 may perform a UE-initiated panel activation and selection via reporting a list of UE capability value sets; now refer to now refer to [0085].. some interactions are performed among the terminal device 220 and the network device 210 (such as, exchanging capability-related information, configuration and so on). It is to be understood that the interactions may be implemented either in one single signaling/message or multiple signaling/messages, including system information, RRC message, DCI message, uplink control information (UCI) message, media access control (MAC) control element (CE) and so on….; see [0093] …the capability-related information may indicate the capability-related information indicating a plurality of capability value sets supported by the terminal device 220 (such as, L sets of capability value sets, where the value of L may be a positive integer); further see [0094] …one capability value set may be associated with one or more RSs (such as, SSB resource indicator, SSBRI, CSI-RS resource indicator, CRI), while one RSs also may be associated with one or more capability value set. In other words, the correspondence between the capability value set and RS may be 1-to-1, 1-to-many, many-to-1, many-to-many; further see [0095] Further, many capability parameter may be comprised in the capability value set. One capability parameter comprised in the set is a maximum number of SRS ports (be represented as “Nx”). The maximum number of SRS ports Nx refers to Nx radio frequency (RF) chains for uplink transmission, and Nx layers for PUSCH.);
monitoring for a channel state information (CSI) report, from the UE, that includes a capability set identifier identifying a capability set of the one or more capability sets of the capability value set list (in above discussed context pls refer to [0182].. each capability value set may corresponded to a panel (a physical entity) deployed at a terminal device, a specific panel type and a state of the capability value set. When reporting the capability-related information, the capability value set may be indexes by the identity information, where the identity information may be an index of a capability value set, an index of a panel deployed at the terminal device 220 or a state of the capability value set. The indexing mechanism used for reporting the capability-related information ….; now refer to claim 58- 59 wherein a CSI report is being sent to network and the report includes an index of UE capability value set indicating the maximum number of the SRS antenna ports; further see [0301- 0302]); and
transmitting during a configured time window, a feedback message indicating whether the CSI report is successfully received and whether to retransmit information identifying the capability set identifier (see abstract .. . The terminal device further communicates with the network device according to a feedback state of the correspondence report, where the feedback state is an ACK or a NACK. In this way, the misalignment between the network device and the terminal device is avoided….(i.e. ACK for successfully received and also indicates no need to retransmit information and NACK used for indicating not successful reception and also for triggering terminal for aperiodic/semi-persistent report….discussed in below paragraphs) ; see [0206]… , the terminal device 220 and the network device 210 communicate 350 with each other according to a feedback state of the correspondence report, where, the feedback state may be ACK or NACK. Alternatively, the feedback state may be ACK, NACK, or “not transmitted/detected” (i.e., no ACK/NACK). It should be understood that, when the feedback mechanism for the correspondence report is introduced, no ACK/NACK should be interpreted as “NACK”; further see [0209]… the feedback message is a DCI message for scheduling PUSCH and comprising a SRS resource indicator (SRI). In some embodiments, in case that the SRI points to SRS resources with more ports than the maximum SRS ports associated with the capability value set(s) in the correspondence report, the feedback state of the correspondence report is NACK, otherwise, the feedback state is ACK. In some other embodiments, in case that the SRI points to SRS resources with the number of ports not matched with maximum SRS ports associated with the capability value set(s) in the correspondence report, the feedback state of the correspondence report is NACK, otherwise, the feedback state is ACK; further see [0213].. A further example of the feedback message is a message to trigger the terminal device 220 to report a correspondence report. In one specific example embodiment, message used for triggering activating an aperiodic or semi-persistent correspondence report is used to indicate that the state of the correspondence report is NACK. For example, a periodic correspondence reported is configured, while the network device 210 fails to receive the expected periodic correspondence report. Therefore, the network device 210 may transmit a message to trigger the terminal device 220 to report an aperiodic or semi-persistent correspondence report. Thus, the message implies a failure transmission of a periodic correspondence report which indicates a NACK state; further see [0214, 0227]).
Here Guan discloses a single monitoring duration (see [0206- 0227- 0028 and Fig. 6B #660); but fails to state about wherein the configured time window includes a first time interval for monitoring for a negative acknowledgment and a second time interval for monitoring for an acknowledgment, wherein the first time interval is shorter than the second time interval.
However Xu teaches in lines 3- 11 of col. 6 about …. the uplink data retransmission can be triggered by a timer and a HARQ-ACK feedback, or by a timer and HARQ-ACK/NACK feedback, which will be detailed below separately. The HARQ-ACK feedback is indicative of successful data reception at the gNB. The HARQ-NACK feedback, on the other hand, is indicative of failed data reception …. ; now refer to lines 45- 51 of col. 6 about.. FIG. 6, if no HARQ-ACK feedback corresponding to the data is received before a Timer expires, the UE assumes that the data is not successfully received, the effect of which is equivalent to receiving a HARQ-NACK feedback. In this case, UE will retransmit the data..; further see Fig. 8 timer 1 for HARQ-ACK and timer 2 for retransmission (i.e. HARQ-NACK); see lines 56- 67 of col. 7 and lines 1- 3 of col. 8…Timer 1 and Timer 2 can be started at the same time as long as the duration of Timer 2 is longer than that of Timer 1, as illustrated in FIG. 9. As can be seen from FIG. 9, Timer 2 has duration longer than Timer 1, thus Timer 2 is still in process when Timer 1 expires, and if a grant for retransmission is received from gNB before or no later than Timer 2 expires, UE can retransmit the data according to the grant. In the foregoing solutions, data retransmission is triggered by timer and HARQ-ACK feedback, which provides high reliability by two-step feedback mechanism. When timer expires and no HARQ-ACK is received, HACK-NACK is assumed to have occurred to avoid NACK-TO-ACK error. Since HARQ-ACK is one bit information, such HARQ-ACK only feedback scheme reduces physical channel overhead…… Such HARQ-NACK/ACK feedback can trigger retransmission as soon as possible by early HARQ-NACK; see lines 40- 42 of col. 8.; further refer to lines 6- 10 of col. 8…In this solution, as illustrated in FIG. 10, UE sends data to gNB and meanwhile Timer 1 starts (101 of FIG. 10), but different from FIG. 4, the UE will only retransmit the data when HARR-NACK feedback is received before or no later than Timer 1 expires, as detailed below; further see claim 1 and claim 6 supporting HARQ-ACK feedback as well as HARQ-NACK feedback.
It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Xu with the teachings of Guan to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein the configured time window includes a first time interval for monitoring for a negative acknowledgment and a second time interval for monitoring for an acknowledgment, wherein the first time interval is shorter than the second time interval; greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.

Regarding Claim 35, Guan in view if Xu teaches as per claim 34, further comprising: scheduling a transmission in accordance with the capability set based at least in part on successfully receiving the CSI report; Guan already discussed above see [0206]… , the terminal device 220 and the network device 210 communicate 350 with each other according to a feedback state of the correspondence report, where, the feedback state may be ACK or NACK. Alternatively, the feedback state may be ACK, NACK, or “not transmitted/detected” (i.e., no ACK/NACK). It should be understood that, when the feedback mechanism for the correspondence report is introduced, no ACK/NACK should be interpreted as “NACK”; further see [0209]… the feedback message is a DCI message for scheduling PUSCH and comprising a SRS resource indicator (SRI). In some embodiments, in case that the SRI points to SRS resources with more ports than the maximum SRS ports associated with the capability value set(s) in the correspondence report, the feedback state of the correspondence report is NACK, otherwise, the feedback state is ACK. In some other embodiments, in case that the SRI points to SRS resources with the number of ports not matched with maximum SRS ports associated with the capability value set(s) in the correspondence report, the feedback state of the correspondence report is NACK, otherwise, the feedback state is ACK; further see [0213].

Regarding Claim 37, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 36, wherein the acknowledgment message is conveyed via at least:
a hybrid automatic repeat request identifier,
a dedicated acknowledgment message,
a transmission configuration indicator update message,
a sounding reference signal update message,
downlink control information scheduling a sounding reference signal or a physical uplink shared channel message,
an activation message for a sounding reference signal or a configured grant physical uplink shared channel message,
a transmission configuration indicator state update message associated with the CSI report,
a scheduling message,
a reference signal sequence, or
some combination thereof; see abstract ACK/NACK; Guan see [0209]..DCI, PUSCH.

Regarding Claim 38, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 37, wherein the feedback message is the dedicated acknowledgment message conveyed in downlink control information with at least:
a reserved sequence for the feedback message,
a set of reserved bits for the feedback message,
a reserved field for the feedback message,
a format configured for the feedback message,
a scrambled radio network temporary identifier for the feedback message, or some combination thereof; Guan see [0209]... the feedback message is a DCI message for scheduling PUSCH and comprising a SRS resource indicator (SRI). In some embodiments, in case that the SRI points to SRS resources with more ports than the maximum SRS ports associated with the capability value set(s) in the correspondence report, the feedback state of the correspondence report is NACK, otherwise, the feedback state is ACK. In some other embodiments, in case that the SRI points to SRS resources with the number of ports not matched with maximum SRS ports associated with the capability value set(s) in the correspondence report, the feedback state of the correspondence report is NACK, otherwise, the feedback state is ACK; now see [0212]... …the feedback message is a signaling for controlling the transmit power of the terminal device 220. Specifically, a signaling for controlling the transmit power may be used to indicate that the state of the correspondence report is ACK. In one specific example embodiment, the signaling for controlling the transmit power comprises a transmit power control (TPC) field for TPC for SRS/PUCCH/PUSCH trigger a power adjustments for the panel/capability value set associated with the correspondence report. Additionally, in some embodiments, the signaling for controlling the transmit power is a DCI message with format 2-2 or 2-3 for TPC without uplink grant. In addition, the signaling for controlling the transmit power is the first one received right after the transmission of correspondence report. Alternatively, the signaling for controlling the transmit power is the first one received a certain time period after the transmission of the correspondence report; further see [0124] reserved states using bits and sequence.

Regarding Claim 39, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 31, wherein the CSI report is an aperiodic CSI report and the feedback message is included in downlink control information that shares an aperiodic CSI trigger state identifier with the CSI report; Guan see [0215].. the feedback message is a message for activating a CSI report transmission. Specifically, an aperiodic or semi-persistent CSI report may be used for training the downlink receiving beam associated with capability value set. Additionally, the triggered/activated CSI report may be configured to disable reporting the identity information (i.e. means it has identity information) of the capability value set (i.e., the parameter of “report quantity” is configured to be “none”) and the parameter of repetition in the resource set is configured to be “on”. In some embodiments, the CSI report transmissions can be based on downlink RS resources associated (i.e. can be identifier) with the corresponding capability value set as indicated in Table 1.

Claim(s) 3, 22 and 33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guan et al. (US Pub. No. 2025/0056285 A1) in view of Xu (US Pat. No. 11962418 B2) and further in view of He et al. (US Pub. No. 2022/0311491 A1).

Regarding Claim 3, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 1, wherein the feedback message is a negative acknowledgment message indicating a failure to receive or decode the CSI report and requesting a retransmission of the CSI report; already discussed see [0213].. A further example of the feedback message is a message to trigger the terminal device 220 to report a correspondence report. In one specific example embodiment, message used for triggering activating an aperiodic or semi-persistent correspondence report is used to indicate that the state of the correspondence report is NACK. For example, a periodic correspondence reported is configured, while the network device 210 fails to receive the expected periodic correspondence report…Thus, the message implies a failure transmission of a periodic correspondence report which indicates a NACK state; further see [0206]; but Guan fails to clearly state about requesting a retransmission of the CSI report; however He states in [0049] regarding .. DCI Format 0_1 to allow the simultaneous triggering of a new CSI report associated with one CSI request state and a retransmission of a different CSI report associated with a different CSI request state…It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of He with the teachings of Guan in view of Xu to make system more standardized. Having a mechanism wherein requesting a retransmission of the CSI report, greater way standardized approach can be carried out in the communication system.

Regarding Claim 22, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 20, wherein the feedback message is a negative acknowledgment message indicating a failure to receive or decode the CSI report and requesting a retransmission of the CSI report; already discussed see [0213].. A further example of the feedback message is a message to trigger the terminal device 220 to report a correspondence report. In one specific example embodiment, message used for triggering activating an aperiodic or semi-persistent correspondence report is used to indicate that the state of the correspondence report is NACK. For example, a periodic correspondence reported is configured, while the network device 210 fails to receive the expected periodic correspondence report…Thus, the message implies a failure transmission of a periodic correspondence report which indicates a NACK state; further see [0206]; but Guan fails to clearly state about requesting a retransmission of the CSI report; however He states in [0049] regarding .. DCI Format 0_1 to allow the simultaneous triggering of a new CSI report associated with one CSI request state and a retransmission of a different CSI report associated with a different CSI request state…It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of He with the teachings of Guan in view of Xu to make system more standardized. Having a mechanism wherein requesting a retransmission of the CSI report, greater way standardized approach can be carried out in the communication system.

Regarding Claim 33, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 31, wherein the feedback message is a negative acknowledgment message indicating a failure to receive or decode the CSI report and requesting a retransmission of the CSI report; already discussed see [0213].. A further example of the feedback message is a message to trigger the terminal device 220 to report a correspondence report. In one specific example embodiment, message used for triggering activating an aperiodic or semi-persistent correspondence report is used to indicate that the state of the correspondence report is NACK. For example, a periodic correspondence reported is configured, while the network device 210 fails to receive the expected periodic correspondence report…Thus, the message implies a failure transmission of a periodic correspondence report which indicates a NACK state; further see [0206]; but Guan fails to clearly state about requesting a retransmission of the CSI report; however He states in [0049] regarding .. DCI Format 0_1 to allow the simultaneous triggering of a new CSI report associated with one CSI request state and a retransmission of a different CSI report associated with a different CSI request state…It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of He with the teachings of Guan in view of Xu to make system more standardized. Having a mechanism wherein requesting a retransmission of the CSI report, greater way standardized approach can be carried out in the communication system.

Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guan et al. (US Pub. No. 2025/0056285 A1) in view of Xu (US Pat. No. 11962418 B2) and further in view of Yang et al. (US Pub. No. 2017/0019236 A1).

Regarding Claim 12, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 10, but Guan fails to state about where the downlink control information includes an identifier of the CSI report for which the aperiodic CSI report is to convey information of the CSI report; however Yang states in [0194] regarding… an aperiodic CSI request field within the UG DCI format i) may be configured to always report CSI to both DL CC and UL CC in a state that 1-bit is maintained or ii) may be comprised of 2-bit to be configured to allow a UE to report CSI to DL CC and/or UL CC (for example, each bit may be used to indicate independent CSI request for each of DL/UL CC). For example, in the CSI request field, the first bit may request CSI for DL CC, and the second bit may request CSI for UL CC (or DL/UL CC); further see [0195]. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Yang with the teachings of Guan in view of Xu to make system more effective. Having a mechanism where the downlink control information includes an identifier of the CSI report for which the aperiodic CSI report is to convey information of the CSI report, greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.

Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guan et al. (US Pub. No. 2025/0056285 A1) in view of Xu (US Pat. No. 11962418 B2) and further in view of Tsai et al. (US Pub. No. 2020/0350968 A1).

Regarding Claim 13, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 1, but Guan fails to state about wherein whether the feedback message indicates successful receipt of the CSI report is based at least in part on detecting a sequence of a CSI reference signal associated with the CSI report; however Tsai states in [0036].. Channel estimates derived by a channel estimator 258 from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 210 may be used by the TX processor 268 to select the appropriate coding and modulation schemes, and to facilitate spatial processing. …now refer to [0072] regarding… the uncalculated CSI reports 762-(N2+1) to 762-M may contain predefined sequence for Uplink Control Information (UCI) bits representing CSI such as “000 . . . 000”, “111 . . . 1111”, or some patterns corresponding to illegal combinations of CSI components. Upon detecting one or more of those patterns, the network can determine that the uncalculated CSI reports 762-(N2+1) to 762-M are not updated reports. For example, a CSI report with UCI bits corresponding to RI=2 (or RI>2) and CQI=0 is unlikely to happen. In this way, the network is also capable to determine that a report is uncalculated by checking the validity of the reported UCI bits. For the multiple TRP scenarios with non-ideal backhaul, special patterns can be used in CSI reports so that each TRP can identify which CSI reports are really updated without knowing whether remaining processing units are enough for updating triggered CSI reports. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Tsai with the teachings of Guan in view of Xu to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein whether the feedback message indicates successful receipt of the CSI report is based at least in part on detecting a sequence of a CSI reference signal associated with the CSI report, greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.

Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guan et al. (US Pub. No. 2025/0056285 A1) in view of Xu (US Pat. No. 11962418 B2) and further in view of Yi et al. (US Pub. No. 2023/0337313 A1).

Regarding Claim 14, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 1, but Guan fails to state about wherein the feedback message is a dedicated acknowledgment message, and
wherein the CSI report is conveyed in uplink control information of a first physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) identifier and the feedback message is conveyed in downlink control information scheduling a second PUSCH corresponding to a new data transport block with the HARQ identifier; however Yi in context with [0201] states in [0372].. the wireless device may receive an UL grant scheduling a PUSCH (e.g., with a first HARQ ID) in response to the transmission of the dedicated SR for BFR of the secondary cell. The wireless device may transmit a MAC CE via the PUSCH, where the MAC CE comprises a candidate beam for the secondary cell. The wireless device may determine the BFR of the secondary cell being completed after K symbols since a last OFDM symbol of a DCI/PDCCH reception. The DCI/PDCCH comprise/indicate a second UL grant scheduling a PUSCH with a same HARQ ID (e.g., the first HARQ ID) to the PUSCH and NDI field being toggled.. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Yi with the teachings of Guan in view of Xu to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein the CSI report is conveyed in uplink control information of a first physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) with a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) identifier and the feedback message is conveyed in downlink control information scheduling a second PUSCH corresponding to a new data transport block with the HARQ identifier, greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.

Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guan et al. (US Pub. No. 2025/0056285 A1) in view of Xu (US Pat. No. 11962418 B2) and further in view of Lin et al. (US Pub. No. 2020/0029315 A1).

Regarding Claim 15, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 1, but Guan fails to state about wherein the UE is configured to identify that the feedback message is an acknowledgment message conveyed in downlink control information based at least in part on a change to a CSI-RS sequence associated with the CSI report; however Lin states in [0275].. an ACK or NACK response to a UE can be provided through a DCI format in a PDCCH, such as a DCI format for scheduling a PDSCH reception or a PUSCH transmission..; now refer to [0277].. an ACK or NACK response can be provided through a DL RS transmission to the UE. In one example, a modified CSI-RS can be used to provide ACK or NACK response where, for example, an initial condition of CSI-RS sequence can indicate an ACK or NACK response (‘0’ or ‘1’). In another example, a modified DMRS of PDCCH or a PDSCH can be used to provide an ACK or NACK response where, for example, an initial condition of the DMRS sequence can indicate an ACK or NACK response (‘0’ or ‘1’).. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Lin with the teachings of Guan in view of Xu to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein the UE is configured to identify that the feedback message is an acknowledgment message conveyed in downlink control information based at least in part on a change to a CSI-RS sequence associated with the CSI report, greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.

Claim(s) 17- 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guan et al. (US Pub. No. 2025/0056285 A1) in view of Xu (US Pat. No. 11962418 B2) and further in view of Go et al. (US Pub. No. 2023/0147639 A1).

Regarding Claim 17, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 1, but Guan fails to state about wherein the feedback message indicates whether a panel activation is to occur, and wherein an application time for using the capability set is based at least in part on whether the panel activation is to occur; however Go in context with [0225] states in [0226].. A time required for switching each panel of a UE (e.g., panel switching delay) may exist as a UE capability (e.g., a guard period for panel switching). A UE reports this capability to a base station and may not expect SRS resource sets from each panel to be configured/indicated at a time interval smaller than the corresponding delay. In addition, a base station may also configure/indicate an SRS resource setting (for panel switching) to have/set (secure) a ‘guard section for panel switching’ between SRS resource sets from each panel in consideration of the reported delay. If an SRS transmission indication to another panel is received from a base station within a ‘guard period for panel switching’, which is a capability of a UE, the UE may either discard the corresponding SRS transmission indication or transmit the indicated SRS by maintaining a previously transmitted panel.. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Go with the teachings of Guan in view of Xu to make system more effective Having a mechanism wherein the feedback message indicates whether a panel activation is to occur, and wherein an application time for using the capability set is based at least in part on whether the panel activation is to occur, greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.

Regarding Claim 18, Guan in view of Xu teaches as per claim 1, but Guan fails to state about wherein the UE is configured to receive a transmission from the base station in accordance with the capability set based at least in part on a type of the transmission and an application time for using the capability set elapsing; however Go in context with [0225] states in [0226].. A time required for switching each panel of a UE (e.g., panel switching delay) may exist as a UE capability (e.g., a guard period for panel switching). A UE reports this capability to a base station and may not expect SRS resource sets from each panel to be configured/indicated at a time interval smaller than the corresponding delay. In addition, a base station may also configure/indicate an SRS resource setting (for panel switching) to have/set (secure) a ‘guard section for panel switching’ between SRS resource sets from each panel (i.e. type of transmission) in consideration of the reported delay. If an SRS transmission indication to another panel is received from a base station within a ‘guard period for panel switching’, which is a capability of a UE, the UE may either discard the corresponding SRS transmission indication or transmit the indicated SRS by maintaining a previously transmitted panel.. It would have been obvious to one with ordinary skill, in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to consider the teachings of Go with the teachings of Guan in view of Xu to make system more effective. Having a mechanism wherein the UE is configured to receive a transmission from the base station in accordance with the capability set based at least in part on a type of the transmission and an application time for using the capability set elapsing, greater way resources can be managed/utilized in the communication system.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please see PTO-892 form for considered prior arts for record.

Reference Lee et al. (US Pat. No. 11949518 B2) teaches in col. 30 lines 10- 30 about .. According to an embodiment (for example, in NR-U condition), configuredGrantRetransmissionTimer (hereinafter, CG retransmission timer) as well as the CG timer may be supported for a HARQ process. While the CG retransmission timer operates, performing retransmission of the UL data based on the HARQ process is prohibited. Specifically, the UE shall not use a configured UL grant for not only new transmission but also retransmission while the CG retransmission timer is running. When the CG re-transmission timer for the HARQ process expires, the UE sets the HARQ feedback for the MAC PDU currently in the buffer to a NACK. In order to provide retransmission opportunity to the UE, a value of a CG retransmission timer related to UL data may be configured shorter than a value of a CG timer related to the same UL data. In this regard, the value of the CG timer relates to a time duration between a starting time point and an expiration time point of the CG timer and the value of the CG retransmission timer relates to a time duration between a starting time point and an expected expiration time point of the CG retransmission timer.

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.

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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jae Y. Lee can be reached at 5712703936. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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PARTH PATEL
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2479

/PARTH PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2479

Prosecution Timeline

• May 02, 2024: Application Filed
• Mar 31, 2026: Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
• May 20, 2026: Interview Requested
• Jun 04, 2026: Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
• Jun 04, 2026: Examiner Interview Summary
• Jun 23, 2026: Response Filed
• Aug 06, 2026: Final Rejection mailed — §103
• Sep 02, 2026: Interview Requested
• Sep 22, 2026: Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
• Sep 22, 2026: Examiner Interview Summary