DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
This action is in response to the request for continued examination filed on 9/8/2026.
Claims 1-40 have been examined and are rejected.
Priority
This application is a 371 of PCT/CN2022/074219 filed 1/27/2022.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 9/8/2026 has been entered.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 9/8/2026 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections – 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Karjalainen et al. (US 2024/0356695 A1), hereinafter referenced as Karja, in view of Rahman et al. (US 2023/0111064 A1).
With regard to Claim 1, Karja teaches:
An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: (a network 100 comprising a plurality of network nodes including terminal nodes 110, access nodes 120 and one or more core nodes 129 [Karja: 0066]);
at least two antenna panels; a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to: (the user equipment 110 comprises multiple antenna panels 10 [Karja: 0084]);
transmit a capability information message including a plurality of capability value sets associated with the at least two antenna panels; (the UE 110 shall report maximum supported xTyR antenna switching configuration for at least one antenna panel 10 and the number of antenna panels 10 in the capability report 60, where the maximum refers to the maximum number of TX and RX antenna ports supported per antenna panel 10 [Karja: 0158]);
wherein each capability value set in the plurality of capability value sets indicates at least a different maximum number of uplink reference signal ports for an antenna panel of the at least two antenna panels; (the UE 110 is equipped with four antenna panels 10 where different panels 10 support the following xTyR configurations, panel1: 2T2R, panel2: 1T2R, panel3: 1T1R [Karja: 0161; Fig. 8]);
and transmit a capability indication message associated with one or more of the plurality of capability value sets for a group of reference signal beams received from a plurality of transmission reception points (TRPs); (the UE 110 can provide a capability report 60 associated with a plurality of antenna panels 10 (i.e. each antenna panel is associated with a capability value set) [Karja: 0161; 0177], wherein the UE 110 reports 82 dynamically candidate spatial source DL RS resource(s) and corresponding UL RS resource IDs/set ID that provide dynamic association between the preconfigured UL SRS resource sets 20 for antenna switching and the pool of configured DL RS resource(s) (i.e. the DL reference signals are associated with SRS resource sets indicating port capabilities for each antenna panel) [Karja: 0170-72; 0102], and wherein the second SRS resource set 20_2 is preconfigured with candidate spatial DL RS resources (CRI #1, CRI #2, CRI #3,) and the UE 110 performs DL RS resources measurements (e.g. L1-RSRP) on downlink signals 40_2 (from one or more TRPs) and selects the strongest one DL RS resource that has a preconfigured association with the second SRS resource 20_2 (i.e. DL reference signal resources are received from a plurality of TRPs) [Karja: 0190; 0230-36]).
However, Karja does explicitly teach (where underlining indicates the portion of each limitation not taught):
and transmit a capability indication message indicating one or more of the plurality of capability value sets for a group of reference signal beams received from a plurality of transmission reception points (TRPs).
In a similar field of endeavor involving capability value beam reporting, Rahman discloses:
and transmit a capability indication message indicating one or more of the plurality of capability value sets for a group of reference signal beams; (the UE provides a beam report comprising index I that indicates a correspondence between a CSI-RS and/or SSB resource index (indicated via R) and a UE capability value from a list of UE capability values or value sets reported by the UE via UE capability signaling [Rahman: 0142-44], where the correspondence or the index I is multiplexed/reported together with the resource indicator R (e.g., CRI or SSBRI) and/or the associated beam metric (e.g., L1-RSRP or L1-SINR) via uplink control information (UCI) [Rahman: 0742; 0775-77; 0792]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Karja in view of Rahman in order to transmit a capability indication message indicating one or more of the plurality of capability value sets for a group of reference signal beams in the system of Karja.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine Karja with Rahman as doing so would allow the UE to communicate which value set corresponds to each reference-signal resource using a beam report comprising a simple (R, I) pairing [Rahman: 0143].
With regard to Claim 2, Karja-Rahman teaches:
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more of the plurality of capability value sets includes a capability value set that applies to two or more TRPs of the plurality of TRPs; (the beam report includes N≥1 pairs of (R, I) where R is a resource indicator, and I is an index corresponding to the reported R [Rahman: 0365-66]. Karja teaches the second SRS resource set 20_2 is preconfigured with candidate spatial DL RS resources (CRI #1, CRI #2, CRI #3,) and the UE 110 performs DL RS resources measurements (e.g. L1-RSRP) on downlink signals 40_2 (from one or more TRPs) and selects the strongest one DL RS resource that has a preconfigured association with the second SRS resource 20_2 (i.e. DL reference signal resources are associated with a plurality of TRPs) [Karja: 0190; 0223; 0230-36]).
With regard to Claim 3, Karja-Rahman teaches:
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more of the plurality of capability value sets includes: a first capability value set that applies to a first TRP of the plurality of TRPs; and a second capability value set that applies to a second TRP of the plurality of TRPs; (the beam report includes N≥1 pairs of (R, I) where R is a resource indicator, and I is an index corresponding to the reported R [Rahman: 0365-66]. Karja teaches the second SRS resource set 20_2 is preconfigured with candidate spatial DL RS resources (CRI #1, CRI #2, CRI #3,) and the UE 110 performs DL RS resources measurements (e.g. L1-RSRP) on downlink signals 40_2 (from one or more TRPs) and selects the strongest one DL RS resource that has a preconfigured association with the second SRS resource 20_2 (i.e. DL reference signal resources are associated with a plurality of TRPs) [Karja: 0190; 0223; 0230-36]).
With regard to Claim 4, Karja-Rahman teaches:
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the capability indication message includes one or more capability value set identifiers, and wherein each capability value set in the plurality of capability value sets further indicates at least one of a maximum uplink rank or a coherence type associated with the group of reference signal beams received from the plurality of TRPs; (a UE reports via its capability reporting a list of UE capability values (or value set/sets) including an information based on the coherence type [Rahman: 0140], and the NW configures an association between the index I and rank values (for selection of SRS antenna ports or for the selection of panel) [Rahman: 0435]).
With regard to Claim 5, Karja-Rahman teaches:
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the capability information message indicates support for symmetric antenna panels or asymmetric antenna panels for a beam reporting operation; (UE 110 reports maximum supported xTyR antenna switching configuration for one or more antenna panel 10 and the number of antenna panels 10 in the capability report 60, and supports a symmetric or asymmetric number of antenna ports for the antenna panels [Karja: 0158; 0219]. Rahman teaches a UE is configured with multiple SRS resource sets (e.g., two SRS resource sets) wherein each SRS resource set includes SRS resource(s) with the same number of SRS ports, but the number of SRS ports is different across SRS resources sets [Rahman: 0792]).
With regard to Claim 6, Karja-Rahman teaches:
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive a configuration message that configures the apparatus to transmit a single capability value set that applies to two or more TRPs of the plurality of TRPs, or to transmit a first capability value set that applies to a first TRP of the plurality of TRPs and a second capability value set that applies to a second TRP of the plurality of TRPs; (the beam report includes N≥1 pairs of (R, I) where R is a resource indicator, and I is an index corresponding to the reported R [Rahman: 0365-66]. Karja teaches the second SRS resource set 20_2 is preconfigured with candidate spatial DL RS resources (CRI #1, CRI #2, CRI #3,) and the UE 110 performs DL RS resources measurements (e.g. L1-RSRP) on downlink signals 40_2 (from one or more TRPs) and selects the strongest one DL RS resource that has a preconfigured association with the second SRS resource 20_2 (i.e. DL reference signal resources are associated with a plurality of TRPs) [Karja: 0190; 0223; 0230-36]).
With regard to Claim 7, Karja-Rahman teaches:
The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive, for each bandwidth part allocated to the apparatus, a plurality of reference signal resource sets for the plurality of TRPs in response to the capability indication message; (based on the UE antenna panel specific capability reports associated with UL SRS xTyR configurations for antenna switching, the network 100 indicates with new MAC CE 90 which of UL SRS resource sets 20 and resource IDs form “virtual” UL SRS antenna switching resource set(s) 300 [Karja: 0201-205], wherein the different supported antenna-switching SRS resource configurations are associated with different TRPs [Karja: 0031]).
With regard to Claim 8, Karja-Rahman teaches:
The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the plurality of reference signal resource sets includes: a first plurality of reference signal resource sets associated with a first TRP of the plurality of TRPs, and a second plurality of reference signal resource sets associated with a second TRP of the plurality of TRPs; (based on the UE antenna panel specific capability reports associated with UL SRS xTyR configurations for antenna switching, the network 100 indicates with new MAC CE 90 which of UL SRS resource sets 20 and resource IDs form “virtual” UL SRS antenna switching resource set(s) 300 [Karja: 0201-205], wherein the different supported antenna-switching SRS resource configurations are associated with different TRPs [Karja: 0031]).
With regard to Claim 9, Karja-Rahman teaches:
The apparatus of claim 8, wherein each of the first plurality of reference signal resource sets includes a different maximum number of uplink reference signal ports for an antenna panel of the at least two antenna panels, and wherein one of the first plurality of reference signal resource sets is active at a time; (UE 110 reports maximum supported xTyR antenna switching configuration for one or more antenna panel 10 and the number of antenna panels 10 in the capability report 60, and supports a symmetric or asymmetric number of antenna ports for the antenna panels [Karja: 0158; 0219]. Rahman teaches a UE is configured with multiple SRS resource sets (e.g., two SRS resource sets) wherein each SRS resource set includes SRS resource(s) with the same number of SRS ports, but the number of SRS ports is different across SRS resources sets, and the UE reports (e.g., via UE capability reporting) is capable of supporting panel selection/activation or capable of supporting/reporting different values for the max supported number of SRS ports [Rahman: 0792]).
With regard to Claim 10, Karja-Rahman teaches:
The apparatus of claim 8, wherein each of the second plurality of reference signal resource sets includes a different maximum number of uplink reference signal ports for an antenna panel of the at least two antenna panels, and wherein one of the second plurality of reference signal resource sets is active at a time; (UE 110 reports maximum supported xTyR antenna switching configuration for one or more antenna panel 10 and the number of antenna panels 10 in the capability report 60, and supports a symmetric or asymmetric number of antenna ports for the antenna panels [Karja: 0158; 0219]. Rahman teaches a UE is configured with multiple SRS resource sets (e.g., two SRS resource sets) wherein each SRS resource set includes SRS resource(s) with the same number of SRS ports, but the number of SRS ports is different across SRS resources sets, and the UE reports (e.g., via UE capability reporting) is capable of supporting panel selection/activation or capable of supporting/reporting different values for the max supported number of SRS ports [Rahman: 0792]).
With regard to Claim 11, Karja-Rahman teaches:
The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the plurality of reference signal resource sets includes: a first reference signal resource set associated with a first TRP of the plurality of TRPs, wherein the first reference signal resource set includes a first plurality of reference signal resource lists, and a second reference signal resource set associated with a second TRP of the plurality of TRPs, wherein the second reference signal resource set includes a second plurality of reference signal resource lists; (UE 110 reports maximum supported xTyR antenna switching configuration for one or more antenna panel 10 and the number of antenna panels 10 in the capability report 60, and supports a symmetric or asymmetric number of antenna ports for the antenna panels [Karja: 0158; 0219]. Rahman teaches a UE is configured with multiple SRS resource sets (e.g., two SRS resource sets) wherein each SRS resource set includes SRS resource(s) with the same number of SRS ports, but the number of SRS ports is different across SRS resources sets, and the UE reports (e.g., via UE capability reporting) is capable of supporting panel selection/activation or capable of supporting/reporting different values for the max supported number of SRS ports [Rahman: 0792]).
With regard to Claim 12, Karja-Rahman teaches:
The apparatus of claim 11, wherein each of the first plurality of reference signal resource lists includes a different maximum number of uplink reference signal ports for an antenna panel of the at least two antenna panels, and wherein one of the first plurality of reference signal resource lists is active at a time; (UE 110 reports maximum supported xTyR antenna switching configuration for one or more antenna panel 10 and the number of antenna panels 10 in the capability report 60, and supports a symmetric or asymmetric number of antenna ports for the antenna panels [Karja: 0158; 0219]. Rahman teaches a UE is configured with multiple SRS resource sets (e.g., two SRS resource sets) wherein each SRS resource set includes SRS resource(s) with the same number of SRS ports, but the number of SRS ports is different across SRS resources sets, and the UE reports (e.g., via UE capability reporting) is capable of supporting panel selection/activation or capable of supporting/reporting different values for the max supported number of SRS ports [Rahman: 0792]).
With regard to Claim 13, Karja-Rahman teaches:
The apparatus of claim 11, wherein each of the second plurality of reference signal resource lists includes a different maximum number of uplink reference signal ports for an antenna panel of the at least two antenna panels, and wherein one of the second plurality of reference signal resource lists is active at a time; (UE 110 reports maximum supported xTyR antenna switching configuration for one or more antenna panel 10 and the number of antenna panels 10 in the capability report 60, and supports a symmetric or asymmetric number of antenna ports for the antenna panels [Karja: 0158; 0219]. Rahman teaches a UE is configured with multiple SRS resource sets (e.g., two SRS resource sets) wherein each SRS resource set includes SRS resource(s) with the same number of SRS ports, but the number of SRS ports is different across SRS resources sets, and the UE reports (e.g., via UE capability reporting) is capable of supporting panel selection/activation or capable of supporting/reporting different values for the max supported number of SRS ports [Rahman: 0792]).
With regard to Claim 14, Karja-Rahman teaches:
The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive a message for updating an uplink reference signal resource configuration associated with at least two TRPs of the plurality of TRPs; and determine an updated uplink reference signal resource configuration that applies to the at least two TRPs of the plurality of TRPs in the message based on an active reference signal resource configuration associated with the at least two TRPs of the plurality of TRPs; (the user equipment 110 is configured to modify SRS resources 22, in response to receiving a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) 90 that specifies time shifts to control timing of SRS resources 22 used by different antenna panels 10 for different TRP [Karja: 0136-38]).
With regard to Claim 15, Karja-Rahman teaches:
The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the updated uplink reference signal resource configuration includes at least one of a capability value set identifier, a sounding reference signal (SRS) set identifier, or an SRS resource list identifier; (the user equipment 110 is configured to modify SRS resources 22, in response to receiving a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) 90 that specifies time shifts to control timing of SRS resources 22 used by different antenna panels 10 for different TRP [Karja: 0136-38]. Examiner notes that in order to accurately update SRS resources, the resources need to be sufficiently identified).
With regard to Claim 16, Karja-Rahman teaches:
The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive a message for updating at least a first uplink reference signal resource configuration associated with a first TRP of the plurality of TRPs and a second uplink reference signal resource configuration associated with a second TRP of the plurality of TRPs; determine a first updated uplink reference signal resource configuration that applies to the first TRP in the message based on a first active uplink reference signal resource configuration associated with the first TRP; and determine a second updated uplink reference signal resource configuration that applies to the second TRP in the message based on a second active uplink reference signal resource configuration associated with the second TRP; (the user equipment 110 is configured to modify SRS resources 22, in response to receiving a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) 90 that specifies time shifts to control timing of SRS resources 22 used by different antenna panels 10 for different TRP [Karja: 0136-38]).
With regard to Claim 17, Karja-Rahman teaches:
The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the first updated uplink reference signal resource configuration includes at least one of a first capability value set identifier, a first sounding reference signal (SRS) set identifier, or a first SRS resource list identifier, and wherein the second updated uplink reference signal resource configuration includes at least one of a second capability value set identifier, a second sounding reference signal (SRS) set identifier, or a second SRS resource list identifier; (the user equipment 110 is configured to modify SRS resources 22, in response to receiving a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) 90 that specifies time shifts to control timing of SRS resources 22 used by different antenna panels 10 for different TRP [Karja: 0136-38]. Examiner notes that in order to accurately update SRS resources, the resources need to be sufficiently identified).
With regard to Claims 18-40, they appear substantially similar to the limitations recited by claims 1-17 and consequently do not appear to teach or further define over the citations provided for said claims. Accordingly, claims 18-40 are rejected for the same reasons as set forth in claims 1-17.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Hakola et al. (US 2024/0137099 A1) which teaches a UE may report multiple sets of DL RSs, each set corresponding to the certain SRS resource/associated to the capability index in the SRS resource set [0163].
In the case of amendments, Applicant is respectfully requested to indicate the portion(s) of the specification which dictate(s) the structure relied on for proper interpretation and support, for ascertaining the metes and bounds of the claimed invention.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AUSTIN J MOREAU whose telephone number is (571) 272-5179. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00 - 6:00 ET.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rebecca Song can be reached on 571-270-3667. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/AUSTIN J MOREAU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2417
