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 .
This office action is in response to amendment filed 07/30/2026.
Claims 1-30 are presented for examination and pending.
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.
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 1-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kim et al. (US 2020/0396628 A1) in view of Farag et al. (US 2023/0247454 A1) and Matsumura et al. (US 2023/0345280 A1).
Regarding claim 1, 27, Kim discloses a network node for wireless communication, comprising:
One or more antennas (see fig. 18, 1830, discloses node having an antenna); and
One or more processors and one or more memories that store code for the one or more processors (see fig. 18, 1810, 1820, discloses a node having a processor and memory), the one or more processors configured to cause the network node to:
receive a configuration corresponding to one or more channel state information (CSI) report settings associated with a reference signal resource set (para. 0116-0119, discloses configuring a UE to report measurements based on CSI-RS resources),
wherein the one or more CSI report settings include a report quantity corresponding to a primary set of CSI measurements of a plurality of CSI measurements associated with the reference signal resource set (see para. 0122-0127, describes quantity configuration); and
transmit, based at least in part on the configuration, at least one CSI report that indicates the primary set of CSI measurements, and a secondary set of CSI measurements of the plurality of CSI measurements (see para. 0112-0127, discloses reporting multiple measurements corresponding to cell or beam. See also para. 0139-0144, discloses primary and secondary measurement objects),
wherein the maximum quantity of the CSI measurements includes a sum of report quantity and a maximum quantity of CSI measurements of the secondary set of CSI measurements (see para. 0108, 0122-0127, discloses configuration setting maximum reporting criteria and reporting according to the configuration, note that secondary set of CSI measurements if not configured can be 0 and UE can only report primary up to maximum configured),
wherein the plurality of CSI measurements comprises at least one of a physical layer reference signal received power (RSRP) value or a physical layer signal-to- interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) (para. 0147, discloses RSRP or SINR), and the secondary set of CSI measurements comprises one or more CSI measurements that are not included in the primary set of CSI measurements (para. 0139-0144, the two measurements are different as identified by CD-SSB and non-CD-SSB).
Kim fails to disclose but Farag discloses wherein the primary set of CSI measurements comprises at least one of a strongest RSRP value or a strongest SINR associated with the plurality of CSI measurements (see para. 0274).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify to include one of the strongest RSRP or SINE associated with measurement.
The motivation for doing so would be to identify optimal resource for communication based on measurement.
Kim fails to disclose but Matsumura discloses transmit a capability report indicating a maximum quantity of channel state information (CSI) measurements that the network node is capable of reporting in a single CSI report (see para. 0097, 0120, discloses setting a max number of measurement resource setting in each report setting following a capability reported by the UE).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify to include transmit a capability report indicating a maximum quantity of channel state information (CSI) measurements that the network node is capable of reporting in a single CSI report as described by Matsumura.
The motivation for doing so would be to allow taking into consideration UE capability for measurement to prevent misconfiguration.
Regarding claims 25, 29, Kim discloses a network node for wireless communication, comprising:
One or more antennas (see fig. 18, 1830, discloses node having an antenna); and
One or more processors and one or more memories that store code for the one or more processors (see fig. 18, 1810, 1820, discloses a node having a processor and memory), the one or more processors configured to cause the network node to:
transmit a configuration corresponding to one or more channel state information (CSI) report settings associated with a reference signal resource set (para. 0116-0119, discloses configuring a UE to report measurements based on CSI-RS resources),
wherein the one or more CSI report settings include a report quantity corresponding to a primary set of CSI measurements of a plurality of CSI measurements associated with the reference signal resource set (see para. 0122-0127, describes quantity configuration); and
receive, based at least in part on the configuration, at least one CSI report that indicates a primary set of CSI measurements, of a plurality of CSI measurements associated with the reference signal resource set, and a secondary set of CSI measurements of the plurality of CSI measurements (see para. 0112-0127, discloses reporting multiple measurements corresponding to cell or beam. See also para. 0139-0144, discloses primary and secondary measurement objects),
wherein the maximum quantity of the CSI measurements includes a sum of report quantity and a maximum quantity of CSI measurements of the secondary set of CSI measurements (see para. 0108, 0122-0127, discloses configuration setting maximum reporting criteria and reporting according to the configuration, note that secondary set of CSI measurements if not configured can be 0 and UE can only report primary up to maximum configured),
wherein the plurality of CSI measurements comprises at least one of a physical layer reference signal received power (RSRP) value or a physical layer signal-to- interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) (para. 0147, discloses RSRP or SINR), and
wherein the primary set of CSI measurements comprises at least one of a strongest RSRP value or a strongest SINR associated with the plurality of CSI measurements (para. 0147, discloses RSRP or SINR), and the secondary set of CSI measurements comprises one or more CSI measurements that are not included in the primary set of CSI measurements (para. 0139-0144, the two measurements are different as identified by CD-SSB and non-CD-SSB).
Kim fails to disclose but Farag (US 2023/0247454 A1) discloses wherein the primary set of CSI measurements comprises at least one of a strongest RSRP value or a strongest SINR associated with the plurality of CSI measurements (see para. 0274).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify to include one of the strongest RSRP or SINE associated with measurement.
The motivation for doing so would be to identify optimal resource for communication based on measurement.
Kim fails to disclose but Matsumura discloses receive a capability report indicating a maximum quantity of channel state information (CSI) measurements that the network node is capable of reporting in a single CSI report (see para. 0097, 0120, discloses setting a max number of measurement resource setting in each report setting following a capability reported by the UE).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify to include transmit a capability report indicating a maximum quantity of channel state information (CSI) measurements that the network node is capable of reporting in a single CSI report as described by Matsumura.
The motivation for doing so would be to allow taking into consideration UE capability for measurement to prevent misconfiguration.
Regarding claim 2, Kim discloses the network node wherein the reference signal resource set comprises at least one of: a CSI reference signal (CSI-RS) set, or a synchronization signal block (SSB) resource set (see para. 0116-0119, discloses CSI-RS resource, see also para. 0139-0146).
Regarding claim 3, Kim discloses the network node wherein the plurality of CSI measurements comprises at least one of: an SSB index RSRP, an SSB index SINR, a CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI) RSRP, or a CRI SINR (see para. 0112, discloses configuration including SS block index, therefore the measurement report includes at least SSB index RSRP).
Regarding claims 26, 28, 30, Kim discloses the network node wherein the reference signal resource set comprises at least one of a CSI reference signal (CSI-RS) set, or a synchronization signal block (SSB) resource set (see para. 0116-0119, discloses CSI-RS resource, see also para. 0139-0146), and wherein the plurality of CSI measurements comprises at least one of:an SSB index RSRP, an SSB index SINR, a CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI) RSRP, or a CRI SINR (see para. 0112, discloses configuration including SS block index, therefore the measurement report includes at least SSB index RSRP).
Regarding claim 4, Kim discloses the network node wherein the at least one CSI report consists of a single CSI report (see para. 0122-0125, discloses quantities per cell per beam to include in the measurement report, i.e. single measurement report including multiple quantities of measurements).
Regarding 5, Kim discloses the network node wherein the one or more CSI report settings consists of a single CSI report setting corresponding to the single CSI report, the CSI report setting indicating the primary set of CSI measurements and the secondary set of CSI measurements (see para. 0122-0125, discloses quantities per cell per beam to include in the measurement report, i.e. single measurement report including multiple quantities of measurements).
Regarding claim 6, Kim discloses the network node wherein the one or more processors, to transmit the at least one CSI report, are configured to cause the network node to: transmit a first communication comprising a first part of the single CSI report, wherein the first part of the single CSI report includes the primary set of CSI measurements (see para. 0122-0125 discloses reporting configuration including indication for UE to include multiple, i.e primary and secondary, CSI measurements in report and transmit); and transmit a second communication comprising a second part of the single CSI report, wherein the second part of the single CSI report includes the secondary set of CSI measurements (see para. 0122-0125 discloses reporting configuration including indication for UE to include multiple, i.e primary and secondary, CSI measurements in report and transmit).
Regarding claim 7, Kim discloses the network node, wherein the at least one CSI report comprises a plurality of CSI reports (see para. 0122-0125, discloses maximum number of beams per cell to report, i.e. each beam measurement of the multiple corresponds to claimed plurality).
Regarding claim 8, Kim discloses the network node wherein the one or more CSI report settings comprises a plurality of CSI report settings corresponding to the plurality of CSI reports (see para. 0122-0125, discloses reporting configuration setting specifically plurality of CSI reports, such as multiple beams per cell).
Regarding claim 9, Kim discloses the network node wherein the plurality of CSI report settings include: a CSI report setting corresponding to the primary set of CSI measurements (see para. 0122-0125, discloses reporting configuration setting specifically plurality of CSI reports, such as multiple beams per cell); and at least one additional CSI report setting corresponding to the secondary set of CSI measurements (see para. 0122-0125, discloses reporting configuration setting specifically plurality of CSI reports, such as multiple beams per cell).
Regarding claim 10, Kim discloses the network node wherein a first periodicity corresponding to a first time period between CSI report transmissions is associated with the CSI report setting (see para. 0122, 0127, discloses reporting setting such as event base), and a second periodicity corresponding to a second time period between CSI transmissions is associated with the at least one additional CSI report setting, wherein the second time period is longer than the first time period (see para. 0122, 0127, discloses periodical setting for reporting periodic basis).
Regarding claim 11, Kim discloses the network node wherein the at least one additional CSI report setting comprises a plurality of additional CSI report settings, wherein a total quantity of reference signals in a set of reference signals corresponding to the reference signal resource set, and associated with the plurality of additional CSI report settings, is no greater than a maximum quantity of CSI measurements of the secondary set of CSI measurements (see para. 0122-0127, discloses number of beams and max setting).
Regarding claim 12, Kim discloses the network node wherein a first additional CSI report setting of the plurality of additional CSI report settings indicates a first subset of reference signals of the set of reference signals, and wherein a second additional CSI report setting of the plurality of additional CSI report settings indicates a second subset of reference signals of the set of reference signals, wherein the second subset of reference signals is different than the first subset of reference signals (see para. 0116-0119, discloses first subset as CSI-RS and para. 0137-0140, discloses SSBs as second subset, or CD-SSB as one and non-CD-SSB as another one).
Regarding claim 13, Kim discloses the network node wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine at least one CSI processing unit (CPU) associated with the plurality of CSI reports (see para. 0174, discloses processor configured for performing CSI processing for one or more RSs).
Regarding claim 14, Kim discloses the network node wherein the at least one CPU consists of a single CPU corresponding to the plurality of CSI reports (see para. 0174, discloses processor configured for performing CSI processing for one or more RSs).
Regarding claim 15, Kim discloses the network node wherein the one or more processors are further configured to associate the single CPU with a CSI report of the plurality of CSI reports, wherein the CSI report corresponds to the primary set of CSI measurements (see para. 0174, discloses processor configured for performing CSI processing for one or more RSs).
Regarding claim 16, the combination of Kim and Farag discloses the network node, wherein the secondary set of CSI measurements comprises at least one of a strongest RSRP value or a strongest SINR associated with a remaining set of CSI measurements, the remaining set of CSI measurements comprising each CSI measurement of the plurality of CSI measurements that is not included in the primary set of CSI measurements (see Farag at para. 0274).
Regarding claim 17, the combination of Kim and Farag discloses the network node wherein the one or more CSI report settings comprises: a first CSI report setting associated with the primary set of CSI measurements (see Kim at para. 0122-0125, discloses setting relating to one or more measurement object or different types of SSBs); and a second CSI report setting associated with the secondary set of CSI measurements (see Kim at para. 0122-0125, discloses setting relating to one or more measurement object or different types of SSBs), at least one of the first CSI report setting, the second CSI report setting, or a third CSI report setting indicating an index corresponding to the second CSI report setting (Kim at para. 0126, discloses measurement identities as index identifying specific type of measurements), and wherein the at least one of the first CSI report setting, the second CSI report setting, or the third CSI report setting indicates at least one rule associated with reporting the at least one of the strongest RSRP value or the strongest SINR associated with the remaining set of CSI measurements (Farag at para. 0219-0220, discloses different rules corresponding to CSI measurement reporting, such variation of absolute vs differential vs relative).
Regarding claim 18, the combination of Kim and Fagar discloses the network node, wherein the one or more CSI report settings comprises: a CSI report setting associated with the primary set of CSI measurements (see Kim at para. 0122-0125, discloses setting relating to one or more measurement object or different types of SSBs); and at least one additional CSI report setting associated with the at least one of the strongest RSRP value or the strongest SINR associated with the remaining set of CSI measurements (Farag at para. 0096, explicitly more than is configured to use differential reporting).
Regarding claim 19, Kim discloses the network node, wherein a CSI measurement of the secondary set of CSI measurements is adjacent to a CSI measurement of the primary set of CSI measurements (see fig. 10, discloses measurement objects adjacent in frequency domain).
Regarding claim 20, Kim discloses the network node wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the network node to: identify a plurality of adjacent CSI measurements of the plurality of CSI measurements (see Kim at fig. 10); determine that a quantity of adjacent CSI measurements of the plurality of adjacent CSI measurements satisfies a measurement quantity threshold (see Farag at para. 0280, discloses checking beam metric against threshold); and determine, based at least in part on the quantity of adjacent CSI measurements satisfying the measurement quantity threshold, that at least one reference signal identifier (ID) corresponding to at least one adjacent CSI measurement, of the plurality of adjacent CSI measurements, satisfies a reference signal ID condition, wherein the secondary set of CSI measurements comprises the at least one adjacent CSI measurement based at least in part on the at least one reference signal ID satisfying the reference signal ID condition (see para. 0280, discloses indicating a particular beam if the threshold is satisfied).
Regarding claim 21, the combination of Kim and Farag discloses the network node, wherein the one or more processors, to transmit the at least one CSI report, are configured to cause the network node to: perform a quantization method associated with the primary set of CSI measurements (see para. 0096, 0275); and perform at least one additional quantization method associated with the secondary set of CSI measurements (see para. 0096, 0275, discloses quantizing values within the report).
Regarding claim 22, the combination of Kim and Farag discloses the network node wherein the one or more processors, to perform the at least one additional quantization method, are configured to cause the network node to differentially report a CSI measurement of the secondary set of CSI measurements based at least in part on a relative CSI measurement strength associated with a CSI measurement of the primary set of CSI measurements (see para. 0096, 0275).
Regarding claim 23, the combination of Kim and Farag discloses the network node wherein the one or more processors, to perform the at least one additional quantization method, are configured to cause the network node to: differentially report at least one CSI measurement of a first subset of the secondary set of CSI measurements relative to at least one CSI measurement of the primary set of CSI measurements (see Kim as noted above discloses different subsets corresponding to CSI and SSB, see Farag discloses differential reporting, para. 0096); and differentially report at least one CSI measurement of a second subset of the secondary set of CSI measurements relative to the at least one CSI measurement of the first subset (see Kim as noted above discloses different subsets corresponding to CSI and SSB, see Farag discloses differential reporting, para. 0096).
Regarding claim 24, the combination of Kim and Farag discloses the network node, wherein the one or more processors, to transmit the at least one CSI report, are configured to cause the network node to: perform a quantization method associated with the primary set of CSI measurements based at least in part on a quantization parameter value (see Farag, para. 0096, discloses step size for quantization); and perform at least one additional quantization method associated with the secondary set of CSI measurements based at least in part on at least one additional quantization parameter value, wherein the at least one additional quantization parameter value is different than the quantization parameter value (see Farag. para. 0096, discloses two sets of values with different step size).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-30 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.
Conclusion
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NISHANT B DIVECHA whose telephone number is (571)270-3125. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 AM-6:00 PM.
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NISHANT B. DIVECHA
Supervisory Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2419
/Nishant Divecha/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2419
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