CTNF 18/715,690 CTNF 86131 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-20-aia AIA 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 20claimed 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1-6 and 11-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Khoshnevisan et al. (US 2020/0267734, hereinafter Khoshnevisan) in view of You et al. (US 2022/0124861, hereinafter You) . Regarding claims 1 and 29, Khoshnevisan discloses an apparatus for communication at a user equipment (UE) (para 0009; UE), comprising: memory (para 0009; a memory); and at least one processor (para 0009; a processor) coupled to the memory and, based at least in part on information stored in the memory (para 0009), the at least one processor is configured to: receive, from a network entity, downlink control information (DCI) (1004 of fig. 10 ; UE receives downlink control information from base station) comprising at least one transmission configuration indicator (TCI) codepoint (1006 of fig. 10; para 0009-0010; and 0113; UE receives downlink data channel based on at least one or more TCI states of the first set of TCI states assigned to a codepoint of a plurality of codepoints associated with the DCI), the at least one TCI codepoint indicating one or more TCI states (para 0118; two or more activated TCI IDs may be assigned to one codepoint. In certain implementations, there may be 8 codepoints, each have 1, 2, or more associated TCI IDs/states) , the one or more TCI states being associated with at least one activated TCI state (para 0084; 0085 and 0088; activation of one or more TCI states with TCI state IDs The TCI state IDs in the TCI fields may indicate the activation of corresponding TCI states); and communicate, with the network entity, based on the one or more TCI states (para 0096; UE communicates base on the TCI state indicated). Khoshnevisan does not explicitly disclose that the one or more TCI states are mapped to a first transmission reception point (TRP) associated with the network entity or a second TRP associated with the network entity. In an analogous art, You discloses that the one or more TCI states are mapped to a first transmission reception point (TRP) associated with the network entity or a second TRP associated with the network entity (para 0061; 0070; 0075; and 0085; determining the TRP corresponding to the TCI state; TCI states corresponding to TRP = 1 or TRP =0). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Khoshnevisan’s method/system by having You’s disclosure in order to improve resource allocation by activating or deactivating the transmission based on the dynamic situation of a communication system. Regarding claims 15 and 30, Khoshnevisan discloses an apparatus for communication at a network entity (para 0013; a BS), comprising: memory (para 0013; a memory); and at least one processor (para 0013; a processor) coupled to the memory and, based at least in part on information stored in the memory (para 0013), the at least one processor is configured to: transmit downlink control information (DCI) for a user equipment (UE) (1004 of fig. 10 ; UE receives downlink control information from base station) comprising at least one transmission configuration indicator (TCI) codepoint (1006 of fig. 10; para 0009-0010; and 0113; UE receives downlink data channel based on at least one or more TCI states of the first set of TCI states assigned to a codepoint of a plurality of codepoints associated with the DCI), the at least one TCI codepoint indicating one or more TCI states (para 0118; two or more activated TCI IDs may be assigned to one codepoint. In certain implementations, there may be 8 codepoints, each have 1, 2, or more associated TCI IDs/states) the one or more TCI states being associated with at least one activated TCI state (para 0084; 0085 and 0088; activation of one or more TCI states with TCI state IDs The TCI state IDs in the TCI fields may indicate the activation of corresponding TCI states); and communicate, with the network entity, based on the one or more TCI states (para 0096; UE communicates base on the TCI state indicated). Khoshnevisan does not explicitly disclose that the one or more TCI states are mapped to a first transmission reception point (TRP) associated with the network entity or a second TRP associated with the network entity. In an analogous art, You discloses that the one or more TCI states are mapped to a first transmission reception point (TRP) associated with the network entity or a second TRP associated with the network entity (para 0061; 0070; 0075; and 0085; determining the TRP corresponding to the TCI state; TCI states corresponding to TRP = 1 or TRP =0). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Khoshnevisan’s method/system by having You’s disclosure in order to improve resource allocation by activating or deactivating the transmission based on the dynamic situation of a communication system. Regarding claims 2 and 16, Khoshnevisan discloses wherein the at least one activated TCI state is based on an activation medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) (para 0008; MAC CE includes a set of activated TCI IDS associated with a set of TCI states). Regarding claims 3 and 17, Khoshnevisan discloses wherein the activation MAC-CE comprises one or more fields representing an association between the at least one activated TCI state and the at least one TCI codepoint (para 0036; and 0084-0085; a codepoint may be a value of the TCI field in the downlink DCI). Regarding claims 4 and 18, Khoshnevisan discloses wherein each TCI state of the one or more TCI states is one of: a downlink (DL) TCI state, an uplink (UL) TCI state, or a joint TCI state (para 0098; joint TCI state). Regarding claims 5 and 19, Khoshnevisan discloses wherein the one or more TCI states indicated by the at least one TCI codepoint comprise one or more paired DL and UL TCI states (para 0095; pair of TCI fields associated with codepoint). Regarding claims 6, and 20, Khoshnevisan does not explicitly disclose wherein each TCI state of the one or more TCI states is associated with a first TRP identifier (ID) of the first TRP or a second TRP ID of the second TRP based on a TCI mapping. In an analogous art, You discloses wherein each TCI state of the one or more TCI states is associated with a first TRP identifier (ID) of the first TRP or a second TRP ID of the second TRP based on a TCI mapping (para 0061; 0070; 0075; and 0085; determining the TRP corresponding to the TCI state). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Khoshnevisan’s method/system by having You’s disclosure in order to improve resource allocation by activating or deactivating the transmission based on the dynamic situation of a communication system. Regarding claims 11 and 25, Khoshnevisan discloses wherein the TCI mapping is signaled for the each TCI state of the one or more TCI states based on radio resource control (RRC) configured TCI state information element (IE) or an activation medium access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE) (para 0006; MAC -CE). Regarding claims 12 and 26, Khoshnevisan discloses wherein the TCI mapping is signaled for each TCI state of the one or more TCI states based on the DCI (para 0036; The bits in the downlink control information (DCI) may dynamically indicate the TCI state for the PDSCH transmission via the mapping to the codepoints. A codepoint may be a value of the TCI field in the downlink DCI). Regarding claims 13 and 27, Khoshnevisan does not explicitly disclose wherein the TCI mapping is based on a table including a plurality of fields for at least one of: the at least one TCI codepoint, the one or more TCI states mapped to the first TRP, or the one or more TCI states mapped to the second TRP. In an analogous art, You discloses wherein the TCI mapping is based on a table including a plurality of fields for at least one of: the at least one TCI codepoint, the one or more TCI states mapped to the first TRP, or the one or more TCI states mapped to the second TRP (para 0074-0075; 0077-0078; 0089-0090; table - If the first information is the LCID value corresponding to index 46, the terminal device activates or deactivates the TCI state of TRP #1 according to the UE-specific PDSCH MAC CE; if the first information is the LCID value corresponding to index 53, the terminal device activates or deactivates the TCI state of TRP #0 according to the UE-specific PDSCH MAC CE; if the first information is the LCID value corresponding to the index 46 and the index 53, the terminal device activates or deactivates the TCI states of TRP #1 and TRP #0 according to the UE-specific PDSCH MAC CE. TRP #0 and TRP #1 are two examples of TRPs corresponding to the first TCI state). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Khoshnevisan’s method/system by having You’s disclosure in order to improve resource allocation by activating or deactivating the transmission based on the dynamic situation of a communication system. Regarding claims 14 and 28, Khoshnevisan discloses at least one of a transceiver (para 0049; a transceiver) or an antenna coupled to the at least one processor (para 0049; antennas) . 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 7-10 and 21-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Khoshnevisan /You in view of Rahman et al. (US 2022/0022180, hereinafter Rahman) . Regarding claims 7 and 21, Khoshnevisan /You does not explicitly disclose wherein the TCI mapping is implicit and based on one or more types of the one or more TCI states and an order of the one or more TCI states. In an analogous art, Rahman discloses wherein the TCI mapping is implicit and based on one or more types of the one or more TCI states and an order of the one or more TCI states (para 0408-0412, 0433; implicit mapping of TCI states). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Khoshnevisan/You’s method/system by having Rahman’s disclosure in order to improve beam management by aligning spatial beams at both UE and base station. Regardign claims 8 and 22, Khoshnevisan /You does not explicitly disclose wherein the one or more TCI states include a single joint TCI state, wherein the single joint TCI state is associated with the first TRP ID if the single joint TCI state is a first TCI state in the one or more TCI states, and wherein the single joint TCI state is associated with the second TRP ID if the single joint TCI state is not the first TCI state in the one or more TCI states. In an analogous art, Rahman discloses wherein the one or more TCI states include a single joint TCI state (para 0436 -439; single (joint or common) TCI), wherein the single joint TCI state is associated with the first TRP ID if the single joint TCI state is a first TCI state in the one or more TCI states (para 0107, 0110, 0138; single TRP), and wherein the single joint TCI state is associated with the second TRP ID if the single joint TCI state is not the first TCI state in the one or more TCI states. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Khoshnevisan/You’s method/system by having Rahman’s disclosure in order to improve beam management by aligning spatial beams at both UE and base station. Claims 9 and 23, Khoshnevisan/You’s does not explicitly disclose wherein the one or more TCI states include a first joint TCI state and a second joint TCI state, and wherein the first joint TCI state is associated with the first TRP ID and the second joint TCI state is associated with the second TRP ID. In an analogous art, Rahman discloses wherein the one or more TCI states include a first joint TCI state and a second joint TCI state (para 0384; common TCI states), and wherein the first joint TCI state is associated with the first TRP ID and the second joint TCI state is associated with the second TRP ID (para 0107; 0110; 0435-0436 ; TRPs for single joint TCI states). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Khoshnevisan/You’s method/system by having Rahman’s disclosure in order to improve beam management by aligning spatial beams at both UE and base station. Claims 10 and 24, Khoshnevisan/You’s does not explicitly disclose wherein the one or more TCI states include a first downlink (DL) TCI state and a first uplink (UL) TCI state, and wherein the first DL TCI state and the first UL TCI state are associated with the first TRP ID. In an analogous art, Rahman discloses wherein the one or more TCI states include a first downlink (DL) TCI state and a first uplink (UL) TCI state (para 0005-0006; 0058), and wherein the first DL TCI state and the first UL TCI state are associated with the first TRP ID (para 0110 and 0138). It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Khoshnevisan/You’s method/system by having Rahman’s disclosure in order to improve beam management by aligning spatial beams at both UE and base station. Conclusion 4. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMINA CHOUDHRY whose telephone number is (571)270-7102. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Thursday (7:30 a.m. to 5.00p.m.). If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yemane Mesfin can be reached on (571)272-3927. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /SAMINA F CHOUDHRY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/715,690 Page 2 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/715,690 Page 3 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/715,690 Page 4 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/715,690 Page 5 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/715,690 Page 6 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/715,690 Page 7 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/715,690 Page 8 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/715,690 Page 9 Art Unit: 2462 Application/Control Number: 18/715,690 Page 10 Art Unit: 2462
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