DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Status of Claims
2. This Office Action is in response to the application filed on 07/22/2026. Claims 1 and through 20 are presently pending and are presented for examination.
3. 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.
Response to Arguments
4. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1-20 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.
Double Patenting
5. The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claim 1 is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. [ 12,047,161 B2-heareafter Zhou]. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because claim 1 of instant application has broaden claim 1 of Zhou by eliminating “search space” and then adding the “search space” to dependent claim 2- the “via a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) message” addition is a normal practice.
Claims 16 and 20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. [ 12,047,161 B2-heareafter Zhou] for the same reasons applied to the claim 1.
Claims 2 and 17 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1 of U.S. Patent No. [ 12,047,161 B2-heareafter Zhou] because it is the same as “mapping of one or more respective physical cell identifiers to each search space” extracted from first limitation of claim 1 of Zhou.
Claims 3 and 18 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 2 of U.S. Patent No. [ 12,047,161 B2-heareafter Zhou] because they are substantially the same.
Claims 4 and 19 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 3 of U.S. Patent No. [ 12,047,161 B2-heareafter Zhou] because they are substantially the same.
Claims 5 is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 4 of U.S. Patent No. [ 12,047,161 B2-heareafter Zhou] because they are substantially the same.
Claims 6 is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 5 of U.S. Patent No. [ 12,047,161 B2-heareafter Zhou] because they are substantially the same.
Claims 7 is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 6 of U.S. Patent No. [ 12,047,161 B2-heareafter Zhou] because they are substantially the same.
Claims 8 is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 7 of U.S. Patent No. [ 12,047,161 B2-heareafter Zhou] because they are substantially the same.
Claims 9 is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 8 of U.S. Patent No. [ 12,047,161 B2-heareafter Zhou] because they are substantially the same.
Claims 10 is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 9 of U.S. Patent No. [ 12,047,161 B2-heareafter Zhou] because they are substantially the same.
Claims 11 is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 10 of U.S. Patent No. [ 12,047,161 B2-heareafter Zhou] because they are substantially the same.
Claims 12 is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 11 of U.S. Patent No. [ 12,047,161 B2-heareafter Zhou] because they are substantially the same.
Claims 13 is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 12 of U.S. Patent No. [ 12,047,161 B2-heareafter Zhou] because they are substantially the same.
Claims 14 is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 13 of U.S. Patent No. [ 12,047,161 B2-heareafter Zhou] because they are substantially the same.
Claims 15 is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 14 of U.S. Patent No. [ 12,047,161 B2-heareafter Zhou] because they are substantially the same.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6. 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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jassal et al. (US 2021/0329512 A1) in view of Chung et al. (US 2023/0036012 A1) further in view of Cirik et al. (US 2020/0351841 A1).
For claim 1 Jassal teaches a method for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) (paragraph 9 “UE performs radio resource management (RRM)”), comprising:
receiving, via a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) message, an indication of a mapping of one or more respective physical cell identifiers to each control resource set of a group of control resource sets (paragraph 10 “MAC-CE includes relevant PCIs mapped to time/frequency (CORESET) for cell search (search space)are provided via a MAC-CE to UE”, paragraph 24 “the MAC-CE command may include fields for one or more of: physical cell identifier (PCI); Control Resource Set (CORESET) #0; Search Space Set #0”, and paragraph 90 “MAC-CE command includes system information which indicates relations CORSET #0 and SearchSpaceSet #0…The UE may also acquire cell-specific information, e.g. initial bandwidth part (BWP) configuration, common CORESETs, common search space sets, etc.”);
receiving, via a first control resource set of the group of control resource sets, a control message scheduling a communication between the UE and a network device (paragraph 84 “PDCCH scheduling (control message scheduling) over CORSET”, paragraph 100 “configuration information in respective fields pertaining to CORESET #0 (first control set), SearchSpaceSet #0, a neighbor cell PCI”, and paragraph 133 “if the MAC-CE command (e.g. MAC-CE command 700) carries (i.e. contains or includes) cell-specific information such as common CORESETs, the neighbor cell can schedule UL transmissions by transmitting PDCCHs scheduling PUSCHs over the indicated common CORESETs”);
identifying, based at least in part on the indication of the mapping, an association between the first control resource set, with a corresponding pool index, and one or more first physical cell identifiers (paragraph 100 “configuration information in respective fields associating (mapping) CORESET #0, SearchSpaceSet #0, a neighbor cell PCI” and paragraph 103 “the network sends a MAC-CE command (e.g. MAC-CE command 500) to the UE, carrying an indication to update system information, such as CORESET #0, SearchSpaceSet #0, Cell Access information such as a neighbor cell PCI and an UL resource allocation (e.g. PUSCH), etc.”); and
communicating, based at least in part on the association between the first control resource set, the corresponding pool index, and the one or more first physical cell identifiers, with the network device according to one or more parameters associated with the one or more first physical cell identifiers, wherein the one or more parameters comprises a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state (paragraph 100 “configuration information in respective fields pertaining to CORESET #0, SearchSpaceSet #0, a neighbor cell PCI… For each neighbor cell whose PCI is indicated, the MAC-CE command (e.g. the MAC-CE command 500) can carry SFN, CORESET #0, SS #0 parameters associated to a given PCI”).
Jassal does not explicitly teach an association between the first control resource set, with a corresponding pool index.
However, Chung teaches UE may be configured/receive different spatial relation info (e.g., reference RS and PCI) associated with each of different CORESET groups which are distinguished/identified by a CORESET group (or CORESET pool) ID (or index) (Chung: paragraph 277).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use the teachings of Chung in the configurable MAC-CE command of Jassal in order to associate a CORSET ID with a corresponding CORESET pool ID such that different CORESET groups/pools may correspond to different cells (or different TRPs) (Chung: paragraph 277).
Jassal in view of Chung does not explicitly teach, wherein the one or more parameters comprises a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state.
However, Cirik teaches according to an example embodiment, the one or more configuration parameters that may indicate at least one physical cell identifier for the plurality of TCI states. According to an example embodiment, the one or more configuration parameters indicating the plurality of TCI state groups may comprise determining the plurality of TCI state groups based on the at least one physical cell identifier indicated by the one or more configuration parameters (Cirik: paragraph 547).
Thus, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to use the teachings of Cirik in the combined configurable MAC-CE command of Chung and Jassal in order to associate configuration parameters that may indicate at least one physical cell identifier for the plurality of TCI states (Cirik: paragraph 547).
For claim 2 Jassal teaches the method, wherein the mapping is further between the one or more respective physical cell identifiers and each search space of a group of search spaces (paragraph 100 “configuration information in respective fields pertaining to CORESET #0, SearchSpaceSet #0, a neighbor cell PCI”).
For claim 3 Jassal in view of Chung teaches the method of the claim 2, wherein receiving the indication of the mapping comprises:
receiving the indication of the mapping of the one or more respective physical cell identifiers to a respective pool index of each search space of the group of search spaces, a respective pool index of each control resource set of the group of control resource sets, or any combination thereof (Chung: paragraph 277 “UE may be configured/receive different spatial relation info (e.g., reference RS and PCI) associated with each of different CORESET groups which are distinguished/identified by CORESET group (or a CORESET pool) ID (or index)” and Jassal: Fig. 5 “PCI, search set space and control resource set are mapped”).
For claim 4 Jassal teaches the method of claim 2, further comprising:
receiving, from the network device, an indication of a change of one or more active physical cell identifiers from a first set of active physical cell identifiers to a second set of active physical cell identifiers comprising the one or more first physical cell identifiers, wherein the mapping applies to the first set of active physical cell identifiers and the second set of active physical cell identifiers (Fig. 5B “NW sends MAC-CE command updating system information for neighbor cell” and paragraph 84 “updating cell-specific system information”).
For claim 5 Jassal in view of Chung and further in view of Cirik teaches the method of claim 2, further comprising:
receiving, from the network device, an indication of a second mapping of the one or more respective physical cell identifiers to each search space of the group of search spaces, each control resource set of the group of control resource sets, or any combination thereof (as discussed in claim 1 and claim 4-a different iteration); and
receiving an indication of a change of one or more active physical cell identifiers from a first set of active physical cell identifiers to a second set of active physical cell identifiers comprising the one or more first physical cell identifiers, wherein the second mapping applies to the first set of active physical cell identifiers and the mapping applies to the second set of active physical cell identifiers (as discussed in claim 1 and claim 4-a different iteration).
For claim 6 Jassal in view of Chung and further in view of Cirik the method, further comprising:
identifying a rule indicating the mapping of the one or more respective physical cell identifiers to each search space of a group of search spaces, each control resource set of the group of control resource sets, or any combination thereof, wherein the group of search spaces comprises a first search space and the group of control resource sets comprises the first control resource set, and wherein identifying the association between the first control resource set and the one or more first physical cell identifiers is based at least in part on the mapping (Chung: paragraph 220 “mapping rule” and paragraph 282 “a specific one of a plurality of cell identifiers configured for one resource may be determined by a predefined rule. For example, a cell identifier having the lowest or highest ID among a plurality of cell identifiers may be determined as the specific one cell identifier”).
For claim 7 Jassal in view of Chung and further in view of Cirik the method of claim 6, wherein identifying the rule comprises:
identifying a second mapping of the one or more respective physical cell identifiers to a respective pool index of each search space of the group of search spaces, a respective pool index of each control resource set of the group of control resource sets (Chung: paragraph 277 “UE may be configured/receive different spatial relation info (e.g., reference RS and PCI) associated with each of different CORESET groups which are distinguished/identified by CORESET group (or a CORESET pool) ID (or index)” and paragraphs 169-170 “a CORESET associated with a search space set… a CORESET associated with a monitored search space having the lowest CORESET-ID”), or
For claim 8 Jassal in view of Chung and further in view of Cirik the method of claim 6, further comprising:
identifying a second mapping of the one or more respective physical cell identifiers to each search space of the group of search spaces, each control resource set of the group of control resource sets (Chung: paragraph 277 “UE may be configured/receive different spatial relation info (e.g., reference RS and PCI) associated with each of different CORESET groups which are distinguished/identified by CORESET group (or a CORESET pool) ID (or index)” and paragraphs 169-170 “a CORESET associated with a search space set… a CORESET associated with a monitored search space having the lowest CORESET-ID”), or
receiving an indication of a change of one or more active physical cell identifiers from a first set of active physical cell identifiers to a second set of active physical cell identifiers comprising the one or more first physical cell identifiers, wherein the second mapping applies to the first set of active physical cell identifiers and the mapping applies to the second set of active physical cell identifiers (Jassal: paragraph 8 “handover command”, paragraph 21 “a handover message for inter-cell mobility and the method may include: transmitting, by the UE to the network via the identified neighbor cell, on a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) identified in the additional configuration information included in the received at least one of the L1 and the L2 signaling., and Fig. 5B “NW sends MAC-CE command updating system information”).
For claim 9 Jassal in view of Chung and further in view of Cirik the method of claim 8, wherein identifying the association between the first control resource set and the one or more first physical cell identifiers comprises:
mapping one or more control resource set indexes, one or more control resource set pool indexes, or any combination thereof to the one or more active physical cell identifiers according to a sequence based at least in part on the rule (Chung: paragraph 277 “UE may be configured/receive different spatial relation info (e.g., reference RS and PCI) associated with each of different CORESET groups which are distinguished/identified by CORESET group (or a CORESET pool) ID (or index)”).
For claim 10 Jassal in view of Chung and further in view of Cirik of claim 9, wherein mapping the one or more control resource set indexes, the one or more control resource set pool indexes, or any combination thereof to the one or more active physical cell identifiers according to the sequence comprises:
pairing one or more respective control resource set indexes, one or more respective control resource set pool indexes (Chung: paragraph 87 “index pairing in ascending order”, paragraph 277 “UE may be configured/receive different spatial relation info (e.g., reference RS and PCI) associated with each of different CORESET groups which are distinguished/identified by CORESET group (or a CORESET pool) ID (or index)”), or (this portion is based on a configuration design option).
For claim 11 Jassal in view of Chung and further in view of Cirik the method, wherein the one or more parameters associated with the one or more first physical cell identifiers comprise a bit scrambling technique, a rate matching pattern, one or more beam parameters, or any combination thereof (Jassal: Fig. 10A “neighbor cell sends PDCCH on CORSET#0, carrying DCI format scrambled with UE RNTI indicated in MAC-CE command” and Chung: paragraph 204 “Corresponding PDSCHs may be scrambled through a different scrambling ID (identifier) and the DCI may be transmitted through a CORESET belonging to a different CORESET group” and Chung: paragraph 205 “PDSCH rate matching based CRS pattern”, paragraph 128 “UL beam pair may be matched by a DL beam pair”).
For claim 12 Jassal in view of Chung and further in view of Cirik the method of claim 11, wherein communicating with the network device according to the one or more parameters associated with the one or more first physical cell identifiers comprises:
determining that the bit scrambling technique associated with the one or more first physical cell identifiers comprises an input for a shared channel for the communication (Chung: paragraph 204 “Corresponding PDSCHs may be scrambled through a different scrambling ID (identifier) and the DCI may be transmitted through a CORESET belonging to a different CORESET group”); and
applying the bit scrambling technique to the shared channel based at least in part on determining that the bit scrambling technique associated with the one or more first physical cell identifiers comprises the input (Chung: paragraph 204 “Corresponding PDSCHs may be scrambled through a different scrambling ID (identifier) and the DCI may be transmitted through a CORESET belonging to a different CORESET group”).
For claim 13 Jassal in view of Chung and further in view of Cirik the method of claim 11, wherein communicating with the network device according to the one or more parameters associated with the one or more first physical cell identifiers comprises:
applying the rate matching pattern associated with the one or more first physical cell identifiers to a shared channel carrying the communication, wherein each of a group of physical cell identifiers including the one or more first physical cell identifiers is associated with a different rate matching pattern (paragraph 205 “ one serving cell, a plurality of CRS (cell reference signal) patterns may be indicated to UE…PDSCH rate matching”).
For claim 14 Jassal in view of Chung and further in view of Cirik the method, comprising:
communicating with the network device via a subset of a plurality of transmission and reception points of a serving cell that are each associated with a respective physical cell identifier, wherein the one or more first physical cell identifiers correspond to one or more transmission and reception points of the subset (Jassal: paragraph 68 “a Node-B (NodeB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB), a Home eNodeB, a gNodeB, a transmission and receive point (TRP)” and Fig. B-C “PCI IDs”).
For claim 15 Jassal in view of Chung and further in view of Cirik the method, comprising:
communicating with the network device via a subset of a plurality of serving cells that are each associated with a respective physical cell identifier, wherein the one or more first physical cell identifiers correspond to one or more serving cells of the subset (Jassal: Fig. B “PCI IDs of serving cell”).
For claim 16 Jassal in view of Chung and further in view of Cirik a method for wireless communication at a network device (as discussed in claim 1), comprising:
transmitting, via a medium-access control-control element (MAC-CE) message, an indication of a mapping of one or more respective physical cell identifiers to each control resource set of a group of control resource sets (as discussed in claim 1);
identifying an association between a first control resource set, with a corresponding pool index, of the group of control resource sets(as discussed in claim 1);
transmitting, to the UE via the first control resource set and based at least in part on identifying the association, a control message scheduling a communication between the UE and the network device (as discussed in claim 1); and
communicating, based at least in part on the association between the first control resource set and the one or more first physical cell identifiers, with the UE according to one or more parameters associated with the one or more first physical cell identifiers, wherein the one or more parameters comprises a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state (as discussed in claim 1).
For claim 17 Jassal in view of Chung and further in view of Cirik the method, wherein the mapping is further between the one or more respective physical cell identifiers and each search space of a group of search spaces (as discussed in claim 2).
For claim 18 Jassal in view of Chung and further in view of Cirik the method of claim 17, wherein transmitting the indication of the mapping comprises:
transmitting the indication of the mapping of the one or more respective physical cell identifiers to a respective pool index of each search space of the group of search spaces, a respective pool index of each control resource set of the group of control resource sets, or any combination thereof (as discussed in claim 3).
For claim 19 Jassal in view of Chung and further in view of Cirik the method of claim 17, further comprising: transmitting, to the UE, an indication of a change of one or more active physical cell identifiers from a first set of active physical cell identifiers to a second set of active physical cell identifiers comprising the one or more first physical cell identifiers, wherein the mapping applies to the first set of active physical cell identifiers and the second set of active physical cell identifiers (as discussed in claim 4).
For claim 20 Jassal in view of Chung and further in view of Cirik an apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) (as discussed in claim 1), comprising:
one or more memories storing processor executable code (Jassal: Fig.3A "processor 200 coupled with memory 208"); and
one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and individually or collectively operable to execute the code to cause the apparatus to (Jassal: Fig.3A "processor 200 coupled with memory 208"); and
instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus (Jassal: Fig.3A "processor 200 coupled with memory 208") to:
receive, via a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) message, an indication of a mapping of one or more respective physical cell identifiers to each control resource set of a group of control resource sets (as discussed in claim 1);
receive, from a base station via a first control resource set of the group of control resource sets a control spaces, a control message scheduling a communication between the UE and a network (as discussed in claim 1);
identify, based at least in part on the indication of the mapping, an association between the first control resource set, with a corresponding pool index, and one or more first physical cell identifiers (as discussed in claim 1); and
communicate, based at least in part on the association between the first control resource set, the corresponding pool index, and the one or more first physical cell identifiers, with the network device according to one or more parameters associated with the one or more first physical cell identifiers, wherein the one or more parameters comprises a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state (as discussed in claim 1).
Conclusion
7. 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.
8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to David M OVEISSI whose telephone number is (571)270-3127. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8Am-5PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jeffrey Rutkowski can be reached at (571) 270 - 1215. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MANSOUR OVEISSI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415
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