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 .
Response to Amendment
This communication is in response to the election of 5/29/2026. Accordingly, Claims 1-4, 6-7,9-15,18-19, 38 are currently pending in the application and claims 21-23, 27 withdrawn.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-4, 6-7,9-15,18-19, 38 in the reply filed on 5/29/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Objections
Claim 14 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 14 recites the subject matter “acknowledgement ACK or non-acknowledgement NACK”. Examiner believes parentheses should be used such as “acknowledgement (ACK) or non-acknowledgement (NACK)”.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1, 3, 4, 12, 13, 14, 15, 18, is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 1 recites the subject matter of “An electronic apparatus” and “user equipment”. It is however unclear if user equipment is referring to an electronic apparatus or should be considered a separate apparatus.
Claims 3, 4, 13, 14 recite the subject matter of “MAC CE”. It is however unclear on what is meant by such subject matter. Examiner suggests defining such subject matter.
Claim 4 recites the subject matter of “CSI-AperiodicTriggerState” and “aperiodicSRS-ResourceTrigger”. It is however unclear on what is meant by such subject matter. Examiner suggests defining such subject matter.
Claim 12 recites the limitation "the network side" in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 13 recites the limitation "the network side" in line 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 14 recites the limitation “the transmission” and "the network side" in lines 3-6. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 15 recites the limitation "the network side" seen throughout the claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim 18 recites the limitation "the network side" in lines 4. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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 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 –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 3, 7, 10, 38 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Pan et al. (US 2020/0059398).
Regarding claim 1, 38, Pan discloses an electronic apparatus for wireless communications, (Systems, methods and instrumentalities are disclosed for WTRU-initiated beam recovery including beam switching and/or beam sweeping, abstract) comprising:
at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code, where the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the electronic apparatus to processing circuitry (WTRU 102 may include a processor 118,…, non-removable memory 130, removable memory 132, [0048]-[0050] and [0233]-[0234] and figure 1B), configured to:
determine that a physical layer beam management event has occurred (Events that may trigger beam recovery may include, for example, beam quality degradation due to WTRU mobility, WTRU rotation, blockage, dynamic change in link quality, link failure, and/or the like and WTRU-initiated beam recovery may be triggered, for example, by a beam quality degradation event and The WTRU may monitor at least one of a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) or a synchronization signal block (SSB) to assess whether the beam failure condition has been met. The CSI-RS or the SSB may be associated with a physical downlink control channel and reported by the WTRU's physical layer, [0101]-[0104] and [0134]-[0135] and [0003] and [0230] and [0119] and figure 7); and
perform a beam management procedure initiated by user equipment (WTRU-initiated (e.g., WTRU-triggered) beam recovery (e.g., WTRU-initiated beam switching and/or beam sweeping) may be used, [0101]-[0104] and [0134]-[0135] and figure 7).
Regarding claim 2, Pan discloses wherein, the beam management procedure initiated by the user equipment comprises any one or more of the following: beam sweeping initiated by the user equipment, beam reporting initiated by the user equipment, beam activation initiated by the user equipment, and beam selecting initiated by the user equipment (WTRU-initiated (e.g., WTRU-triggered) beam recovery (e.g., WTRU-initiated beam switching and/or beam sweeping) may be used and A WTRU may perform WTRU-initiated beam sweeping for measurement and reporting purposes [0101]-[0104] and [0134]-[0135] and [0129]-[0131] and [0149] and [0205] and figure 7).
Regarding claim 3, Pan discloses wherein, the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the electronic apparatus to request a network side to trigger the beam sweeping initiated by the user equipment via uplink control information or MAC CE (Using a WTRU-initiated beam recovery mechanism, a WTRU may send a beam recovery request (e.g., a beam failure recovery request) to a network entity (e.g., a TRP) and A WTRU-initiated beam recovery request may be related to beam sweeping and a WTRU may send a beam recovery request in an uplink signal (e.g., a PRACH signal or a PUCCH signal), [0102]-[0103] and [0119]-[0120] and [0122] and [0125]).
Regarding claim 7, Pan discloses wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the electronic apparatus to measure a reference signal received by the user equipment and perform the beam reporting initiated by the user equipment based on a measurement result, wherein the reference signal comprises any one or more of the following: a synchronization signal block, a channel state information reference signal, and a demodulation reference signal (The WTRU may monitor at least one of a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) or a synchronization signal block (SSB) to assess whether the beam failure condition has been met. The CSI-RS or the SSB may be associated with a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) through spatial quasi-collocation (QCL) and measuring beam quality on at least one of a CSI-RS or a SSB and A WTRU may perform WTRU-initiated beam sweeping for measurement and reporting purposes, [0003]-[0004] and [0120] and [0135] and [0149] and [0189]).
Regarding claim 10, Pan discloses, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the electronic apparatus to transmit information of a beam suggested by the user equipment in the beam activation initiated by the user equipment or in the beam selecting initiated by the user equipment (The WTRU may suggest/indicate (e.g., in a beam recovery request) a candidate beam association to a network entity (e.g., a TRP) according to the ranking. In response to the suggestion/indication, the network entity may switch to a Tx beam in the suggested/indicated beam association to send a DL signal, [0151]-[0152] and [0154] and [0205]).
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.
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) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pan et al., in further view of Ly et al. (US 2023/0136011).
Regarding claim 11, Pan fails to disclose wherein, the information of the beam comprises a unified Transmission Configuration Indicator state which is capable of being used for both an uplink beam and a downlink beam; or information of an uplink beam comprises a Transmission Configuration Indicator state, and information of a downlink beam comprises spatial relationship information. However in a similar field of endeavor, Ly discloses the information of the beam comprises a unified Transmission Configuration Indicator state which is capable of being used for both an uplink beam and a downlink beam; or information of an uplink beam comprises a Transmission Configuration Indicator state, and information of a downlink beam comprises spatial relationship information (beam indication may be a joint or separate downlink (DL)/uplink (UL) beam indication in a unified TCI framework and the UE 315 may transmit an indication of which TRP transmit beam 320 is identified by the UE 315 as a preferred TRP transmit beam, [0053] and [0064]-[0065]). It 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 to incorporate the concept of having information indicating a beam be joint or separate downlink (DL)/uplink (UL) beam indication in a unified TCI framework state as disclosed by Ly into the method of WTRU-initiated beam recovery comprising WTRU indicating a candidate beam to a network entity as disclosed by Pan in order to improve the system and provide flexible means in indicating beams.
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pan et al., in further view of Zhou (US 2022/0132325).
Regarding claim 12, Pan fails to disclose obtain, from the network side, information indicating a range of beams from which the user equipment suggests a beam. However in a similar field of endeavor, Zhou discloses obtain, from the network side, information indicating a range of beams from which the user equipment suggests a beam (obtaining the beam sweeping range information issued by the base station and UE… send range configuration request information to the base station to request the base station to inform the beam sweeping range information for subsequently performing the beam sweeping to re-determine the best matching beam pair, [0033] and [0388] and [0017]-[0018] and abstract). It 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 to incorporate the concept of obtaining beam sweeping range information as disclosed by Zhou into the method of WTRU-initiated beam recovery comprising WTRU indicating a candidate beam to a network entity as disclosed by Pan in order to improve the system and provide proper configuration information for beam sweeping to suggests a beam.
Claim(s) 14, 15, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pan et al. , in further view of Kung et al. (US 2023/0171788).
Regarding claim 14, Pan discloses perform the transmission via uplink control information or MAC CE (The WTRU may suggest/indicate (e.g., in a beam recovery request) a candidate beam association to a network entity and The beam failure recovery request may be transmitted using … a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resource and uplink control information signaling, [0151]-[0152] and [0004] and [0125] and [0154] and [0205]).
Pan however fails to disclose receive, from the network side, an acknowledgement ACK or non-acknowledgement NACK message for the transmission. However in a similar field of endeavor, Kung discloses receive, from the network side, an acknowledgement ACK or non-acknowledgement NACK message for the transmission (a UE could select and/or activate a first one or more beam(s) for a DL channel based on at least one of a beam quality or a beam report associated with the first one or more beam(s)…The beam report could include or indicate at least (identity or index of) the first one or more beams(s)… the UE could activate the selected beam(s) in response to acknowledgement or indication received from the network, [0193] and [0235]). It 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 to incorporate the concept of activating a selected beam based upon acknowledgment (correlating to being correctly received and approved) from a network as disclosed by Kung into the method of WTRU-initiated beam recovery comprising WTRU indicating a candidate beam to a network entity as disclosed by Pan in order to improve the system and flexibly activate suggested beam, such as via an ACK from the network.
Regarding claim 15, Kung discloses wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the electronic apparatus to determine that the beam suggested by the user equipment is correctly received and approved by the network side, in a case of receiving an ACK message from the network side, or wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the electronic apparatus to determine that the beam suggested by the user equipment is correctly received and approved by the network side, in a case of receiving an ACK message from the network side and receiving additional downlink control information indicating approval within a predetermined time window, or wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the electronic apparatus to determine that the beam suggested by the user equipment is correctly received and accepted by the network side, in a case of receiving an ACK message from the network side and not receiving additional downlink control information within a predetermined time window (a UE could select and/or activate a first one or more beam(s) for a DL channel based on at least one of a beam quality or a beam report associated with the first one or more beam(s)…The beam report could include or indicate at least (identity or index of) the first one or more beams(s)… the UE could activate the selected beam(s) in response to acknowledgement (correlating to being correctly received and approved) or indication received from the network, [0193] and [0235]). It 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 to incorporate the concept of activating a selected beam based upon acknowledgment (correlating to being correctly received and approved) from a network as disclosed by Kung into the method of WTRU-initiated beam recovery comprising WTRU indicating a candidate beam to a network entity as disclosed by Pan in order to improve the system and flexibly activate suggested beam, such as via an ACK from the network.
Claim(s) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pan et al., in further view of Bai et al. (US 2021/0185686).
Regarding claim 18, Pan discloses a beam suggested by the user equipment (The WTRU may suggest/indicate (e.g., in a beam recovery request) a candidate beam association to a network entity, [0151]-[0152] and [0004] and [0125] and [0154] and [0205]).
Pan however fails to disclose receive a list of component carriers from the network side, wherein the beam is applicable to each of the component carriers in the list. However in a similar field of endeavor, Bai discloses receive a list of component carriers from the network side, wherein the beam is applicable to each of the component carriers in the list (beam(s) may be applied to all BWPs on all CCs in a CC list for a UE if a CC list is configured for the UE and the UE…may receive the list of CCs via the indication…may apply the common beam across all CCs in the CC group and/or list (and/or all BWPs in the list of CCs), [0100] and [0102]-[0103] and page 12 claim 13). It 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 to incorporate the concept receiving a list of component carriers in which a beam may be applied as disclosed by Bai into the method of WTRU-initiated beam recovery comprising WTRU indicating a candidate beam to a network entity as disclosed by Pan in order to improve the system and flexibly apply beam configurations to component carriers, such as having a candidate/suggested beam applied to a list of component carriers received.
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Pan et al. in further view of Zhou et al. (US 2023/0083362).
Regarding claim 19, Pan fails to disclose receive, from a network side, an indication of whether to enable a beam management function initiated by the user equipment, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the electronic apparatus to receive the indication via radio resource control signaling. However in a similar field of endeavor, Zhou discloses disclose receive, from a network side, an indication of whether to enable a beam management function initiated by the user equipment, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the electronic apparatus to receive the indication via radio resource control signaling (an RRC message that indicates that beam-report-based implicit beam updating for UE initiated or UE event driven beam reports is enabled for the UE and when enabled on the UE 120, permits the UE 120 to autonomously (i.e., without intervention from the base station 110) perform a beam update (e.g., a beam switch, a TCI state change, or the like) and transmitting a beam failure recovery (BFR) report including an indication of the candidate beam., [0414]-[0416] and [0412] and [0419] and [0012] and [0482]). It 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 to incorporate the concept of receiving an RRC message enabling UE initiated or UE event driven reports as disclosed by Zhou into the method of WTRU-initiated beam recovery comprising a beam quality degradation event as disclosed by Pan in order to improve the system and flexibly enable configuration parameters, such as UE initiated events.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 4, 6, 9, 13, is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Akkarakaran et al. (US 2019/0132033) disclosing power control component 340 may operate at one or more communication layers, such as physical layer or L1, MAC layer or L2, a PDCP/RLC layer or L3, etc., to measure reference signals and/or detect/report corresponding beam management events ([0054]).
Li et al. (US 10582503) disclosing apparatuses, systems, and methods for a wireless device to perform user equipment (UE) initiated beam management procedures with a base station or gNB (abstract).
Zhu et al. (US 2021/0006986) disclosing the UE may initiate a beam-sweeping procedure to re-measure the plurality of UE receive beams, where the UE measures the first UE receive beam before measuring others of the plurality of UE receive beams (abstract).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NGUYEN HOANG NGO whose telephone number is (571)272-8398. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kwang Yao can be reached at 571-272-3182. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NGUYEN H NGO/Examiner, Art Unit 2473
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