DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(e) the invention was described in (1) an application for patent, published under section 122(b), by another filed in the United States before the invention by the applicant for patent or (2) a patent granted on an application for patent by another filed in the United States before the invention by the applicant for patent, except that an international application filed under the treaty defined in section 351(a) shall have the effects for purposes of this subsection of an application filed in the United States only if the international application designated the United States and was published under Article 21(2) of such treaty in the English language.
Claims 62-66, 68-74 and 76-81 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(e) as being anticipated by Nilsson et al. (U.S. PGPub 2024/0396692), hereinafter referred to as Nilsson.
Regarding claim 62, Nilsson discloses a method, performed by a terminal device (wireless device; See Fig. 7, #22), the method comprising:
receiving information indicating a first transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state and a second TCI state (receive from the network node a Downlink Control Information, DCI, comprising an indication that indicates a first and second TCI state; See [0089]);
receiving a configuration message indicating both the first TCI state and the second TCI state to be applied for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission (the simultaneous transmission is indicated by a DCI or Radio Resource Control, RRC, message, wherein the simultaneous transmission is for at least one of the first PUSCH occasion, the first set of PUSCH layers and the second PUSCH occasion, and the second set of PUSCH layers and the TCI states are linked to the PUSCH transmission occasions using first and second respective spatial filters; See [0089]-[0090]); and
performing, with a network device, the PUSCH transmission (transmit one of a first physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, transmission occasion and a first set of PUSCH layers using a first spatial filter associated with the first TCI state, and transmit one of a second PUSCH transmission occasion and a second set of PUSCH layers using a second spatial filter associated with the second TCI state; See [0089]),
wherein:
the PUSCH transmission is associated with a first PUSCH transmission occasion and a second PUSCH transmission occasion (transmit one of a first physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, transmission occasion and a first set of PUSCH layers using a first spatial filter associated with the first TCI state, and transmit one of a second PUSCH transmission occasion and a second set of PUSCH layers using a second spatial filter associated with the second TCI state; See [0089]),
the first TCI state is applied to the first PUSCH transmission occasion (transmit one of a first physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, transmission occasion and a first set of PUSCH layers using a first spatial filter associated with the first TCI state; See [0089]) associated with a first sounding reference signal (SRS) resource identified by a first SRS resource indicator in downlink control information (DCI) (the DCI further comprises a first sounding reference signal, SRS, resource indicator associated with at least one of the first PUSCH transmission occasion and transmission of the first set of PUSCH layers; See [0090]), and the second TCI state is applied to the second PUSCH transmission occasion (transmit one of a second PUSCH transmission occasion and a second set of PUSCH layers using a second spatial filter associated with the second TCI state; See [0089]) associated with a second SRS resource identified by a second SRS resource indicator in the DCI (the DCI further comprises a second SRS resource indicator associated with at least one of the second PUSCH transmission occasion and transmission of the second set of PUSCH layers; See [0090]).
Regarding claim 63, Nilsson further discloses the method of claim 62, wherein:
the first TCI state is applied to the first SRS resource, the second TCI state is applied to the second SRS resource (The first TCI state corresponds to the first PUSCH transmission occasion linked to a first SRI and the second TCI states corresponds to a second PUSCH transmission occasion linked to a second SRI, where a first SRI is associated with a first SRS resource set and a second SRI is associated with a second SRS resource set; See [0071] and [0090]).
Regarding claim 64, Nilsson further discloses the method of claim 62, wherein:
the first SRS resource corresponds to a most recent first transmission of SRS resource identified by the first SRS resource indicator, the second SRS resource corresponds to a most recent second transmission of SRS resource identified by the second SRS resource indicator (where a first SRI is associated with a first SRS resource set and a second SRI is associated with a second SRS resource set; See [0071]).
Regarding claim 65, Nilsson further discloses the method of claim 62, wherein:
the PUSCH transmission is performed based on a first precoder, the first precoder is determined based on the first SRS resource indicator (The DCI further comprises first precoding information associated with at least one of the first PUSCH transmission occasion and transmission of the first set of PUSCH layers. The DCI further comprises a first sounding reference signal, SRS, resource indicator associated with at least one of the first PUSCH transmission occasion and transmission of the first set of PUSCH layers; See [0090]).
Regarding claim 66, Nilsson further discloses the method of claim 62, wherein:
the PUSCH transmission is performed based on a second precoder, the second precoder is determined based on the second SRS resource indicator (The DCI further comprises second precoding information associated with at least one of the second PUSCH transmission occasion and transmission of the second set of PUSCH layers. The DCI further comprises a second SRS resource indicator associated with at least one of the second PUSCH transmission occasion and transmission of the second set of PUSCH layer; See [0090]).
Regarding claim 68, Nilsson further discloses the method of claim 62, wherein:
the PUSCH transmission is a non-codebook based transmission (non-codebook based, or partial or non-coherent codebook based, PUSCH transmissions; See [0185]).
Regarding claim 69, Nilsson further discloses the method of claim 62, wherein:
the information comprises further DCI (receive from the network node a Downlink Control Information, DCI, comprising an indication that indicates a first and second TCI state; See [0089]).
Regarding claim 70, Nilsson discloses a method, performed by a network device (network node; See Fig. 7, #16), the method comprising:
transmitting information indicating a first transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state and a second TCI state (transmitting downlink control information, DCI, comprising an indication of a first TCI state and a second TCI state to be activated by the WD; See [0087]);
transmitting a configuration message indicating both the first TCI state and the second TCI state to be applied for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission (the simultaneous transmission is indicated by a DCI or Radio Resource Control, RRC, message, wherein the simultaneous transmission is for at least one of the first PUSCH occasion, the first set of PUSCH layers and the second PUSCH occasion, and the second set of PUSCH layers and the TCI states are linked to the PUSCH transmission occasions using first and second respective spatial filters; See [0087]-[0088]); and
performing, with a terminal device, the PUSCH transmission (receiving a first physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, transmission occasion or a first set of PUSCH layers transmitted using a first spatial filter associated with the first TCI state, and receive a second PUSCH transmission occasion or a second set of PUSCH layers transmitted using a second spatial filter associated with the second TCI state; See [0087]),
wherein:
the PUSCH transmission is associated with a first PUSCH transmission occasion and a second PUSCH transmission occasion (transmit one of a first physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, transmission occasion and a first set of PUSCH layers using a first spatial filter associated with the first TCI state, and transmit one of a second PUSCH transmission occasion and a second set of PUSCH layers using a second spatial filter associated with the second TCI state; See [0089]),
the first TCI state is applied to the first PUSCH transmission occasion (transmit one of a first physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, transmission occasion and a first set of PUSCH layers using a first spatial filter associated with the first TCI state; See [0089]) associated with a first sounding reference signal (SRS) resource identified by a first SRS resource indicator in downlink control information (DCI) (the DCI further comprises a first sounding reference signal, SRS, resource indicator associated with at least one of the first PUSCH transmission occasion and transmission of the first set of PUSCH layers; See [0090]), and the second TCI state is applied to the second PUSCH transmission occasion (transmit one of a second PUSCH transmission occasion and a second set of PUSCH layers using a second spatial filter associated with the second TCI state; See [0089]) associated with a second SRS resource identified by a second SRS resource indicator in the DCI (the DCI further comprises a second SRS resource indicator associated with at least one of the second PUSCH transmission occasion and transmission of the second set of PUSCH layers; See [0090]).
Regarding claim 71, Nilsson further discloses the method of claim 70, wherein: the first TCI state is applied to the first SRS resource, the second TCI state is applied to the second SRS resource (The first TCI state corresponds to the first PUSCH transmission occasion linked to a first SRI and the second TCI states corresponds to a second PUSCH transmission occasion linked to a second SRI, where a first SRI is associated with a first SRS resource set and a second SRI is associated with a second SRS resource set; See [0071] and [0090]).
Regarding claim 72, Nilsson further discloses the method of claim 70, wherein: the first SRS resource corresponds to a most recent first transmission of SRS resource identified by the first SRS resource indicator, the second SRS resource corresponds to a most recent second transmission of SRS resource identified by the second SRS resource indicator (where a first SRI is associated with a first SRS resource set and a second SRI is associated with a second SRS resource set; See [0071]).
Regarding claim 73, Nilsson further discloses the method of claim 70, wherein: the PUSCH transmission is performed based on a first precoder, the first precoder is determined based on the first SRS resource indicator (The DCI further comprises first precoding information associated with at least one of the first PUSCH transmission occasion and transmission of the first set of PUSCH layers. The DCI further comprises a first sounding reference signal, SRS, resource indicator associated with at least one of the first PUSCH transmission occasion and transmission of the first set of PUSCH layers; See [0090]).
Regarding claim 74, Nilsson further discloses the method of claim 70, wherein: the PUSCH transmission is performed based on a second precoder, the second precoder is determined based on the second SRS resource indicator (The DCI further comprises second precoding information associated with at least one of the second PUSCH transmission occasion and transmission of the second set of PUSCH layers. The DCI further comprises a second SRS resource indicator associated with at least one of the second PUSCH transmission occasion and transmission of the second set of PUSCH layer; See [0090]).
Regarding claim 76, Nilsson further discloses the method of claim 70, wherein: the PUSCH transmission is a non-codebook based transmission (non-codebook based, or partial or non-coherent codebook based, PUSCH transmissions; See [0185]).
Regarding claim 77, Nilsson further discloses the method of claim 70, wherein: the information comprises further DCI (receive from the network node a Downlink Control Information, DCI, comprising an indication that indicates a first and second TCI state; See [0089]).
Regarding claim 78, Nilsson further discloses a terminal device (wireless device; See Fig. 7, #22), comprising a processor (processor; See Fig. 7, #86) configured to cause the terminal device to:
receive information indicating a first transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state and a second TCI state (receive from the network node a Downlink Control Information, DCI, comprising an indication that indicates a first and second TCI state; See [0089]);
receive a configuration message indicating both the first TCI state and the second TCI state to be applied for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission (the simultaneous transmission is indicated by a DCI or Radio Resource Control, RRC, message, wherein the simultaneous transmission is for at least one of the first PUSCH occasion, the first set of PUSCH layers and the second PUSCH occasion, and the second set of PUSCH layers and the TCI states are linked to the PUSCH transmission occasions using first and second respective spatial filters; See [0089]-[0090]); and
perform, with a network device, the PUSCH transmission (transmit one of a first physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, transmission occasion and a first set of PUSCH layers using a first spatial filter associated with the first TCI state, and transmit one of a second PUSCH transmission occasion and a second set of PUSCH layers using a second spatial filter associated with the second TCI state; See [0089]),
wherein:
the PUSCH transmission is associated with a first PUSCH transmission occasion and a second PUSCH transmission occasion (transmit one of a first physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, transmission occasion and a first set of PUSCH layers using a first spatial filter associated with the first TCI state, and transmit one of a second PUSCH transmission occasion and a second set of PUSCH layers using a second spatial filter associated with the second TCI state; See [0089]),
the first TCI state is applied to the first PUSCH transmission occasion (transmit one of a first physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, transmission occasion and a first set of PUSCH layers using a first spatial filter associated with the first TCI state; See [0089]) associated with a first sounding reference signal (SRS) resource identified by a first SRS resource indicator in downlink control information (DCI) (the DCI further comprises a first sounding reference signal, SRS, resource indicator associated with at least one of the first PUSCH transmission occasion and transmission of the first set of PUSCH layers; See [0090]), and the second TCI state is applied to the second PUSCH transmission occasion (transmit one of a second PUSCH transmission occasion and a second set of PUSCH layers using a second spatial filter associated with the second TCI state; See [0089]) associated with a second SRS resource identified by a second SRS resource indicator in the DCI (the DCI further comprises a second SRS resource indicator associated with at least one of the second PUSCH transmission occasion and transmission of the second set of PUSCH layers; See [0090]).
Regarding claim 79, Nilsson further discloses the terminal device of claim 78, wherein: the first TCI state is applied to the first SRS resource, the second TCI state is applied to the second SRS resource (The first TCI state corresponds to the first PUSCH transmission occasion linked to a first SRI and the second TCI states corresponds to a second PUSCH transmission occasion linked to a second SRI, where a first SRI is associated with a first SRS resource set and a second SRI is associated with a second SRS resource set; See [0071] and [0090]).
Regarding claim 80, Nilsson further discloses a network device (network node; See Fig. 7, #16), comprising a processor (processor; See Fig. 7, #70) configured to cause the network device to:
transmit information indicating a first transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state and a second TCI state (transmitting downlink control information, DCI, comprising an indication of a first TCI state and a second TCI state to be activated by the WD; See [0087]);
transmit a configuration message indicating both the first TCI state and the second TCI state to be applied for a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission (the simultaneous transmission is indicated by a DCI or Radio Resource Control, RRC, message, wherein the simultaneous transmission is for at least one of the first PUSCH occasion, the first set of PUSCH layers and the second PUSCH occasion, and the second set of PUSCH layers and the TCI states are linked to the PUSCH transmission occasions using first and second respective spatial filters; See [0087]-[0088]); and
perform, with a terminal device, the PUSCH transmission (receiving a first physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, transmission occasion or a first set of PUSCH layers transmitted using a first spatial filter associated with the first TCI state, and receive a second PUSCH transmission occasion or a second set of PUSCH layers transmitted using a second spatial filter associated with the second TCI state; See [0087]),
wherein:
the PUSCH transmission is associated with a first PUSCH transmission occasion and a second PUSCH transmission occasion (transmit one of a first physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, transmission occasion and a first set of PUSCH layers using a first spatial filter associated with the first TCI state, and transmit one of a second PUSCH transmission occasion and a second set of PUSCH layers using a second spatial filter associated with the second TCI state; See [0089]),
the first TCI state is applied to the first PUSCH transmission occasion (transmit one of a first physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH, transmission occasion and a first set of PUSCH layers using a first spatial filter associated with the first TCI state; See [0089]) associated with a first sounding reference signal (SRS) resource identified by a first SRS resource indicator in downlink control information (DCI) (the DCI further comprises a first sounding reference signal, SRS, resource indicator associated with at least one of the first PUSCH transmission occasion and transmission of the first set of PUSCH layers; See [0090]), and the second TCI state is applied to the second PUSCH transmission occasion (transmit one of a second PUSCH transmission occasion and a second set of PUSCH layers using a second spatial filter associated with the second TCI state; See [0089]) associated with a second SRS resource identified by a second SRS resource indicator in the DCI (the DCI further comprises a second SRS resource indicator associated with at least one of the second PUSCH transmission occasion and transmission of the second set of PUSCH layers; See [0090]).
Regarding claim 81, Nilsson further discloses the network device of claim 80, wherein: the first TCI state is applied to the first SRS resource, the second TCI state is applied to the second SRS resource (The first TCI state corresponds to the first PUSCH transmission occasion linked to a first SRI and the second TCI states corresponds to a second PUSCH transmission occasion linked to a second SRI, where a first SRI is associated with a first SRS resource set and a second SRI is associated with a second SRS resource set; See [0071] and [0090]).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 67 and 75 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nilsson as applied to claims 62 and 70 above, and further in view of Matsumura et al. (U.S. PGPub 2024/0129933), hereinafter referred to as Matsumura.
Regarding claim 67, Nilsson further teaches the method of claim 62, the method comprising: receiving a first mapping and a second mapping via media access control (MAC) control element (CE) signaling (The mapping of DL TCI states to codepoints in the TCI field may be done by MAC CE; See [0161]), the first mapping indicating a correspondence between the first TCI state and a TCI codepoint of a DCI message (where a list of activated DL TCI states are mapped to a set of TCI field codepoints in a DCI for Joint DL/UL TCI update for single-TRP based operation. The mapping of DL TCI states to codepoints in the TCI field may be done by MAC CE; See [0161]) and the second mapping indicating a correspondence between the second TCI state and the TCI codepoint of the DCI message (where a list of activated DL TCI states are mapped to a set of TCI field codepoints in a DCI for Joint DL/UL TCI update for single-TRP based operation. The mapping of DL TCI states to codepoints in the TCI field may be done by MAC CE; See [0161]), but fails to teach the mappings being associated with a first and second CORESET pool.
Matsumura teaches mapping the first TCI state and a TCI codepoint to a first CORESET pool and the second TCI state and the TCI codepoint to a second CORESET pool (the UE may assume that both of the TCI state activated by the MAC CE corresponding to the first CORESET pool ID and the TCI state activated by the MAC CE corresponding to the second CORESET pool ID are mapped to the TCI code point).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the method of Nilsson to include mapping the first TCI state and a TCI codepoint to a first CORESET pool and the second TCI state and the TCI codepoint to a second CORESET pool taught by Matsumura in order to optimize communication when operating in a multi-TRP environment.
Regarding claim 75, Nilsson further teaches the method of claim 70, the method comprising: receiving a first mapping and a second mapping via media access control (MAC) control element (CE) signaling (The mapping of DL TCI states to codepoints in the TCI field may be done by MAC CE; See [0161]), the first mapping indicating a correspondence between the first TCI state and a TCI codepoint of a DCI message (where a list of activated DL TCI states are mapped to a set of TCI field codepoints in a DCI for Joint DL/UL TCI update for single-TRP based operation. The mapping of DL TCI states to codepoints in the TCI field may be done by MAC CE; See [0161]) and the second mapping indicating a correspondence between the second TCI state and the TCI codepoint of the DCI message, but fail to teach the mappings being associated with a first and second CORESET pool.
Matsumura teaches mapping the first TCI state and a TCI codepoint to a first CORESET pool and the second TCI state and the TCI codepoint to a second CORESET pool (the UE may assume that both of the TCI state activated by the MAC CE corresponding to the first CORESET pool ID and the TCI state activated by the MAC CE corresponding to the second CORESET pool ID are mapped to the TCI code point).
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the method of Nilsson to include mapping the first TCI state and a TCI codepoint to a first CORESET pool and the second TCI state and the TCI codepoint to a second CORESET pool taught by Matsumura in order to optimize communication when operating in a multi-TRP environment.
Conclusion
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/ASHLEY SHIVERS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477 6/13/2026
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