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 .
This Office Action is in response to Application filed on July 12, 2024 in which claims 1-20 are presented for examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on July 13, 2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu et al. US Patent No. 12,256,276 in view of Song et al. US Publication No. 10,778,317.
Regarding claim 1, Zhu et al. disclose “a method of a User Equipment (UE), comprising: triggering or initiating a UE-initiated beam switching associated with a Cell; transmitting a beam switching indication associated with the Cell in response to the UE-initiated beam switching” (See Abstract describing techniques for receive bean switching for neighbor cell measurement. A method that may be performed by a user equipment (UE) includes determining a first receive beam of a plurality of receive beams to use for reception during a first synchronization signal block (SSB) duration within a synchronization signal block set (SSBS) duration); and
“performing, “expiration of a time” as a time offset (See Col. 10, lines 24-56 describing the UE may determine a time offset for switching from using the first receive beam to the second receive; Col. 4, lines 38-67), at least one of: canceling the triggered UE-initiated beam switching associated with the Cell; canceling a Scheduling Request (SR) associated with the UE-initiated beam switching (through scheduler 244); stopping a Random Access (RA) procedure associated with the UE-initiated beam switching; triggering a Beam Failure Recovery (BFR) associated with the Cell; retransmitting the beam switching indication; and/or generating and transmitting a second beam switching indication” (See Abstract describing determining a second receive beam of the plurality of receive beams to use for reception during a second SSB duration within the SSBS duration. The UE may measure one or more first signals transmitted by a serving cell and/or one or more neighbor cells with the first receive beam during the first SSB duration and measure one or more second signals transmitted by the serving cell and/or the one or more neighbor cells with the second receive beam during the second SSB duration). It is noted however, Zhu et al. do not specifically detail the aspects of “in response to considering the UE-initiated beam switching to be not successful” as recited in the instant claim 1. On the other hand, Song et al. achieved the aforementioned claimed features by providing a System and Method for Intra-cell Beam Switching Based on Configurable Physical Layer Event Detection (See Title, Abstract), wherein the signal from the user equipment may include a measurement of one beam that does not meet a minimum threshold specified by a parameter (See Figures 4-5; Col. 8, line 13-Col. 13, line 33). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have incorporated the teachings of Son et al. into the beam switching methodology of Zhu et al. because they are both directed to beam switching measurement and are both from the same field of endeavor. Such combination would have enhanced the versatility of Zhu et al. by allowing it to effectively perform beam switching while assigning different beam to user equipment to act as the serving beam; thus, in addition to facilitating intra-cell beam switching, the system prevents the problems that may arise from rapid beam switching. These aspects therefore improve the function of the system, the user equipment, and preserve telecommunication service quality.
As per claim 2, Song et al. disclose “wherein the UE starts or restarts the timer in response to the transmission of the beam switching indication, the retransmission of the beam switching indication, or the triggering or initiating of the UE-initiated beam switching” (Col. 3, line 40-Col. 5, line 42).
As per claim 3, Song et al. disclose “wherein the UE stops the timer in response to receiving a feedback, from a network, associated with the beam switching indication” (Figure 3; Col. 6, lines 21-61).
As per claim 4, Song et al. disclose “wherein the feedback is a negative feedback indicating the network not agreeing or acknowledging that the UE is to switch to a selected beam indicated in the beam switching indication” (See Figures 4-5; Col. 8, line 13-Col. 13, line 33)
As per claim 5, Zhu et al. disclose “wherein: the beam switching indication is associated with a beam for Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), and/or Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) of the UE, and/or the beam switching indication indicates a candidate beam or a selected beam of the UE, and/or the beam switching indication is a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) or a PUCCH signaling, and/or the beam switching indication is associated with an L1/L2-Triggered Mobility (LTM) candidate cell” (describing a scheduler 244 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and/or uplink).
As per claim 6, Zhu et al. disclose “wherein in response to considering the UE-initiated beam switching to be successful, the UE performs at least one of: beam switching to the candidate beam or the selected beam, and/or an LTM cell switch to the LTM candidate cell” (See Abstract describing techniques for receive bean switching for neighbor cell measurement).
claim 7, Song et al. disclose “wherein the UE triggers the BFR associated with the Cell in response to a transmission or retransmission number of the beam switching indication reaching a maximum number” (Col. 3, lines 15-39 describing a base station that is hardcoded and configured with one or more parameters that define thresholds for one or more physical layer characteristics with regard to beams of a cell site. The base station may broadcast the one or more parameters that define a threshold from the cell site, in embodiments. When a parameter defining a threshold is received by a user equipment, the user equipment is automatically configured to utilize the threshold to generate a report when a beam satisfies the threshold of the parameter, for example, with regard to one or more physical layer characteristics of the beam. The user equipment may then send the report as information in a signal to the base station, in some embodiments. The report may be utilized by the base station and/or the user equipment to detect and determine when events occur, i.e., when a beam satisfies the threshold or other conditions specified by the parameter with regard to one or more physical layer characteristics. When it is determined that an event occurs for a beam, the base station may proceed to determine that the beam which is serving the user equipment should be “replaced” with another beam. The base station then selects and performs beam switching to assign a different beam to the user equipment to act as the serving beam, in embodiments, where the different beam is not associated with an event).
Regarding claim 8, Zhu et al. disclose “a method of a User Equipment (UE), comprising: triggering or initiating a UE-initiated beam switching associated with a Cell” (See Abstract describing techniques for receive bean switching for neighbor cell measurement. A method that may be performed by a user equipment (UE) includes determining a first receive beam of a plurality of receive beams to use for reception during a first synchronization signal block (SSB) duration within a synchronization signal block set (SSBS) duration); “receiving a beam change indication from a network before transmitting a beam switching indication associated with the Cell in response to the UE-initiated beam switching” (See Abstract describing determining a second receive beam of the plurality of receive beams to use for reception during a second SSB duration within the SSBS duration. The UE may measure one or more first signals transmitted by a serving cell and/or one or more neighbor cells with the first receive beam during the first SSB duration and measure one or more second signals transmitted by the serving cell and/or the one or more neighbor cells with the second receive beam during the second SSB duration). It is noted however, Zhu et al. do not specifically detail the aspects of “canceling the triggered UE-initiated beam switching associated with the Cell in response to reception of the beam change indication” as recited in the instant claim 8. On the other hand, Song et al. achieved the aforementioned claimed features by providing a System and Method for Intra-cell Beam Switching Based on Configurable Physical Layer Event Detection (See Title, Abstract), wherein the signal from the user equipment may include a measurement of one beam that does not meet a minimum threshold specified by a parameter (See Figures 4-5; Col. 8, line 13-Col. 13, line 33; system 200 controls the assignment of a narrow beam to each individual user equipment served by the cell site, and further, controls re-assignment of a different narrow beam to each individual user equipment served by the cell site based on configurable parameters). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have incorporated the teachings of Son et al. into the beam switching methodology of Zhu et al. because they are both directed to beam switching measurement and are both from the same field of endeavor. Such combination would have enhanced the versatility of Zhu et al. by allowing it to effectively perform beam switching while assigning different beam to user equipment to act as the serving beam; thus, in addition to facilitating intra-cell beam switching, the system prevents the problems that may arise from rapid beam switching. These aspects therefore improve the function of the system, the user equipment, and preserve telecommunication service quality.
As per claim 9, Song et al. disclose “wherein the beam change indication is a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) activating and/or deactivating a beam associated with a channel of the Cell” (as one or more parameters corresponding to one or more of a Physical Layer or a Medium Access Control (MAC) Layer).
As per claim 10, Zhu et al. disclose “wherein: the beam switching indication is associated with a beam for Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), and/or Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) of the UE, and/or the beam switching indication indicates a candidate beam or a selected beam of the UE, and/or the beam switching indication is a MAC CE or a PUCCH signaling, and/or the beam switching indication is associated with an L1/L2-Triggered Mobility (LTM) candidate cell” (describing a scheduler 244 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and/or uplink).
As per claim 11, Song et al. disclose “wherein: the UE cancels a Scheduling Request (SR) associated with the UE-initiated beam switching in response to the reception of the beam change indication, and/or the UE stops a Random Access (RA) procedure associated with the UE-initiated beam switching in response to the reception of the beam change indication” by providing a System and Method for Intra-cell Beam Switching Based on Configurable Physical Layer Event Detection (See Title, Abstract), wherein the signal from the user equipment may include a measurement of one beam that does not meet a minimum threshold specified by a parameter (See Figures 4-5; Col. 8, line 13-Col. 13, line 33; system 200 controls the assignment of a narrow beam to each individual user equipment served by the cell site, and further, controls re-assignment of a different narrow beam to each individual user equipment served by the cell site based on configurable parameters).
As per claim 12, Song et al. disclose “wherein the UE applies a beam indicated in the beam change indication in response to receiving the beam change indication” (See Abstract describing a base station communicates a parameter for detecting beam-specific events via a cell site. Subsequently, a signal is received from a user device indicating a condition of a beam satisfies the parameter. The base station may then determine, based on the signal, that an event has occurred. Further, the base station may select a different beam at the cell site and assign said beam to serve the user device, thus performing beam switching on a per-device basis within the cell site).
Regarding claim 13, Zhu et al. disclose “a User Equipment (UE), comprising: a memory; and a processor operatively coupled with the memory, wherein the processor is configured to execute a program code to: trigger or initiate a UE-initiated beam switching associated with a Cell; transmit a beam switching indication associated with the Cell in response to the UE-initiated beam switching” (See Abstract describing techniques for receive bean switching for neighbor cell measurement. A method that may be performed by a user equipment (UE) includes determining a first receive beam of a plurality of receive beams to use for reception during a first synchronization signal block (SSB) duration within a synchronization signal block set (SSBS) duration); and “perform, expiration of a time” as a time offset (See Col. 10, lines 24-56 describing the UE may determine a time offset for switching from using the first receive beam to the second receive; Col. 4, lines 38-67), at least one of: canceling the triggered UE-initiated beam switching associated with the Cell; canceling a Scheduling Request (SR) associated with the UE-initiated beam switching (through scheduler 244); stopping a Random Access (RA) procedure associated with the UE-initiated beam switching; triggering a Beam Failure Recovery (BFR) associated with the Cell; retransmitting the beam switching indication; and/or generating and transmitting a second beam switching indication” (See Abstract describing determining a second receive beam of the plurality of receive beams to use for reception during a second SSB duration within the SSBS duration. The UE may measure one or more first signals transmitted by a serving cell and/or one or more neighbor cells with the first receive beam during the first SSB duration and measure one or more second signals transmitted by the serving cell and/or the one or more neighbor cells with the second receive beam during the second SSB duration). It is noted however, Zhu et al. do not specifically detail the aspects of “in response to considering the UE-initiated beam switching to be not successful” as recited in the instant claim 13. On the other hand, Song et al. achieved the aforementioned claimed features by providing a System and Method for Intra-cell Beam Switching Based on Configurable Physical Layer Event Detection (See Title, Abstract), wherein the signal from the user equipment may include a measurement of one beam that does not meet a minimum threshold specified by a parameter (See Figures 4-5; Col. 8, line 13-Col. 13, line 33). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to have incorporated the teachings of Son et al. into the beam switching methodology of Zhu et al. because they are both directed to beam switching measurement and are both from the same field of endeavor. Such combination would have enhanced the versatility of Zhu et al. by allowing it to effectively perform beam switching while assigning different beam to user equipment to act as the serving beam; thus, in addition to facilitating intra-cell beam switching, the system prevents the problems that may arise from rapid beam switching. These aspects therefore improve the function of the system, the user equipment, and preserve telecommunication service quality.
As per claim 14, Song et al. disclose “wherein the UE starts or restarts the timer in response to the transmission of the beam switching indication, the retransmission of the beam switching indication, or the triggering or initiating of the UE-initiated beam switching” (Col. 3, line 40-Col. 5, line 42).
As per claim 15, Song et al. disclose “wherein the UE stops the timer in response to receiving a feedback, from a network, associated with the beam switching indication” (Figure 3; Col. 6, lines 21-61).
As per claim 16, Song et al. disclose “wherein the feedback is a negative feedback indicating the network not agreeing or acknowledging that the UE is to switch to a selected beam indicated in the beam switching indication” (See Figures 4-5; Col. 8, line 13-Col. 13, line 33)
As per claim 17, Zhu et al. disclose “wherein: the beam switching indication is associated with a beam for Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), and/or Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) of the UE, and/or the beam switching indication indicates a candidate beam or a selected beam of the UE, and/or the beam switching indication is a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) or a PUCCH signaling, and/or the beam switching indication is associated with an L1/L2-Triggered Mobility (LTM) candidate cell” (describing a scheduler 244 may schedule UEs for data transmission on the downlink and/or uplink).
As per claim 18-19, Zhu et al. disclose “wherein in response to considering the UE-initiated beam switching to be successful, the UE performs beam switching to the candidate beam or the selected beam; wherein in response to considering the UE-initiated beam switching to be successful, the UE performs an LTM cell switch to the LTM candidate cell” (See Abstract describing techniques for receive bean switching for neighbor cell measurement).
claim 20, Song et al. disclose “wherein the UE triggers the BFR associated with the Cell in response to a transmission or retransmission number of the beam switching indication reaching a maximum number” (Col. 3, lines 15-39 describing a base station that is hardcoded and configured with one or more parameters that define thresholds for one or more physical layer characteristics with regard to beams of a cell site. The base station may broadcast the one or more parameters that define a threshold from the cell site, in embodiments. When a parameter defining a threshold is received by a user equipment, the user equipment is automatically configured to utilize the threshold to generate a report when a beam satisfies the threshold of the parameter, for example, with regard to one or more physical layer characteristics of the beam. The user equipment may then send the report as information in a signal to the base station, in some embodiments. The report may be utilized by the base station and/or the user equipment to detect and determine when events occur, i.e., when a beam satisfies the threshold or other conditions specified by the parameter with regard to one or more physical layer characteristics. When it is determined that an event occurs for a beam, the base station may proceed to determine that the beam which is serving the user equipment should be “replaced” with another beam. The base station then selects and performs beam switching to assign a different beam to the user equipment to act as the serving beam, in embodiments, where the different beam is not associated with an event).
Conclusion
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/FRANTZ COBY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2459
July 20, 2026
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