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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 04/27/2026 has been considered by examiner and made of record in the application file.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 12-13, 16, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang (US-20210160724-A1) in view of Lee (US-20160242076-A1).
Regarding Claim 1, YANG discloses A method, comprising: receiving, by at least one user equipment comprising at least one processor from a radio network node, at least one beam reporting configuration message comprising at least one measurement beam parameter indication indicative of at least one measurement beam parameter value corresponding to at least one measurement beam (paragraph [0048], Fig.5, "As illustrated in FIG. 5, the gNB transmits beam measurement configuration to UE…" and paragraph [0051], "When the network provides the configuration to the UE, if the network would like the UE to log beam measurement results, the beam measurement configuration could also be configured with at least one of the following." and paragraph [0052], "An indicator for indicating measurement of at least one beam and storage of beam measurement results." (i.e., base station sending configuration message UE to log beam measurement.));
receiving, by the at least one user equipment via the at least one measurement beam according to the at least one measurement beam parameter value, at least one measurement signal to result in at least one received measurement signal (paragraph [0080], "according to the configuration received, the beam measurement can be conducted at UE on beam basis, cell basis, or even beam group basis or cell group basis. According, the beam measurement results storing and reporting may also be based on beam, beam group, cell, or cell group." and paragraph [0081], "The beam measured can be at least one beam configured for signaling transmission of a control channel and/or a beam configured for data transmission of a data channel. The beam configured for signaling transmission of the control channel and the beam configured for data transmission of the data channel may be the same or different beams. In case that multiple beams are to be measured, these beams may correspond to one cell or different cells." and paragraph [0082], "Turning to FIG. 3 again, the beam measurement configuration may indicative of measurement of Beam 1, Beam 2, and Beam 3 of FIG. 3 by including respective IDs of these beams. Still another example, the beam measurement configuration may indicative of one or more cells by including ID of the cell or IDs of multiple cells. In this case, the UE will measure all beams corresponding to the cell or the multiple cells."(i.e., UE receives a plurality of beams to measure and log the results and that could be form one cell or multiple cells.));
determining, by the at least one user equipment, at least one measurement signal signal strength parameter value corresponding to the at least one received measurement signal (paragraph [0057], "Once such indicator is phrased from the beam measurement configuration, the UE will conduct beam measurement and store the beam measurement results. The beam measurement results will be logged to the network when the UE accessing to the network." and paragraph [0060], "The beam measurement results can be various. For example, it can be beam index of all beams measured, beam index of all beams qualified, beam related parameters, and the like. The beam related parameters can be signal strength or signal quality related, such as reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR), and so on." (i.e., UE measures the strength of the beam that was transmitted.));
(paragraph [0030], "The idle mode is illustrative of an operating mode in which a connection such as a RRC connection is not established." and paragraph [0050], "In one implementation, in addition to beam measurement, the beam measurement configuration is further indicative of beam measurement results reporting by the UE when the UE enters into a connected mode again. In this case, the beam measurement configuration can be comprehended as a combination of a measurement configuration and a reporting confirmation." and paragraph [0084], "When the UE switches to a connected mode, that is, when the UE is accessing the network, the UE can report the beam measurement results to the network." (i.e., UE performs the measurement in idle mode meaning it does not have a connection to a base station, in order to send the measurement it needs to send an RRC message in order to be RRC connected. The examiner will rely on a different reference to explicitly show of transmitting, establishing, and transmitting after performing measurement.));
based on the transmitting of the at least one beam measurement connection establishment request, establishing, by the at least one user equipment with the radio network node, at least one beam measurement reporting connection to result in at least one established beam measurement reporting connection (paragraph [0073], "If the beam measurement configuration still indicative of measurement reporting in a connected mode, the UE will report the beam measurement results to the network (that is, the network device gNB) when the UE enters the connected mode." and paragraph [0077], "As mentioned above, the beam measurement configuration is indicative of beam measurement by the UE in the idle mode" (i.e., established a connection is implied as it needs to RRC connect in order to send measurement.));
and transmitting, by the at least one user equipment to the radio network node via the at least one established beam measurement reporting connection, at least one beam measurement report comprising the at least one measurement signal signal strength parameter value (paragraph [0079], "UE can cache the beam measurement results in butter for example, and report the beam measurement results to the network device when the UE enters into the connected state, if the beam measurement configuration indicates such reporting." (i.e., the UE sends measurement when RRC connected.)).
However, Yang does not explicitly disclose transmitting, by the at least one user equipment to the radio network node, at least one beam measurement connection establishment request; based on the transmitting of the at least one beam measurement connection establishment request, establishing, by the at least one user equipment with the radio network node, at least one beam measurement reporting connection to result in at least one established beam measurement reporting connection; and transmitting, by the at least one user equipment to the radio network node via the at least one established beam measurement reporting connection, at least one beam measurement report.
Lee discloses transmitting, by the at least one user equipment to the radio network node, at least one beam measurement connection establishment request (paragraph [0132], Fig.9:945, "The UE establishes or re-establishes an RRC connection to a BS and thus enters the RRC connected mode (step S940). As the UE transitions from the RRC idle mode to the RRC connected mode, the UE sends a logging indicator to the network (step S945)." (i.e., UE sending a message to establish RRC connection.));
based on the transmitting of the at least one beam measurement connection establishment request, establishing, by the at least one user equipment with the radio network node, at least one beam measurement reporting connection to result in at least one established beam measurement reporting connection (paragraph [0133], Fig.9, "The UE can send the logging indicator to the network when the RRC connection is established, when the RRC connection is reestablished, or when the RRC connection is reconfigured…When the RRC connection reconfiguration procedure of FIG. 6 is performed, the logging indicator may be included in the RRC connection reconfiguration complete message." (i.e., UE and base station establishing connection.));
and transmitting, by the at least one user equipment to the radio network node via the at least one established beam measurement reporting connection, at least one beam measurement report (paragraph [0136], Fig.9:960, "The UE sends to the network an information response including the logged measurement (step S960). The information response may include the logging indicator which indicates the existence of the logged measurement." (i.e., UE sending measurement.)).
Yang and Lee are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field wireless communication. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yang to implement the method of Lee in order to reduce the amount of overhead, and Lee provides a method wherein the logged measurement can be received at a time desired by a network (Lee, paragraph [0018], “Overhead caused by additional signaling for performing a minimization driving test (MDT) can be reduced. In addition, a logged measurement can be received at a time desired by a network.”).
Regarding Claim 12, Yang in view of Lee discloses all the limitation of claim 1.
Yang further discloses wherein the at least one measurement signal signal strength parameter value comprises at least one of: at least one signal strength value corresponding to the at least one measurement beam or at least one ratio of the at least one signal strength value with respect to at least one of at least one noise value or at least one interference value determined by the at least one user equipment (paragraph [0060], "The beam measurement results can be various. For example, it can be beam index of all beams measured, beam index of all beams qualified, beam related parameters, and the like. The beam related parameters can be signal strength or signal quality related, such as reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR), and so on." (i.e., the measurement is either signal strength or RSRQ or SINR)).
Regarding Claim 13, Yang in view of Lee discloses all the limitation of claim 1.
Yang further discloses wherein the at least one beam reporting configuration message is further indicative of at least one of a timing resource indication (paragraph [0068], "The network can configure where and when the beam measurement will be conducted. As one implementation, the time can be indicated by a timer, in this case, when the timer expires, the UE will stop beam measurement. Still another example, the time can be expressed as a time window in which beam measurement will be conducted. Alternatively, in addition to or instead of the timer or time window, measurement frequency, measurement cycle, and/or measurement duration can be used as the time information. For example, the UE can be instructed to conduct beam measurement in a time window at a certain measure interval." (i.e., the configuration message indicating a timer or time information to perform the measurement.))
Regarding Claim 16, which is similar in scope to claim 1, thus rejected under the same rationale.
Regarding Claim 19, which is similar in scope to claim 1, thus rejected under the same rationale.
Claim(s) 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang (US-20210160724-A1) in view of Lee (US-20160242076-A1) in further view of Hande (US-20220330153-A1).
Regarding Claim 2, Yang in view of Lee discloses all the limitation of claim 1.
However, Yang in view of Lee do not explicitly disclose wherein the at least one beam measurement connection establishment request comprises at least one request for a reduced-capability connection, wherein the at least one established beam measurement reporting connection is at least one reduced-capability connection capable of facilitating the receiving the at least one beam measurement report, and wherein the at least one reduced-capability connection is not capable of facilitating transmitting downlink traffic to the at least one user equipment.
Hande discloses wherein the at least one beam measurement connection establishment request comprises at least one request for a reduced-capability connection (paragraph [0106], Fig.1, "The configured power states may provide for the UE 115 to perform relatively frequent uplink transmission to support such applications while reducing power consumption." and paragraph [0106], Fig.1, "For example, a first configuration for the uplink-only power state 315 may configure the UE 115 with at least a first BWP on a PCell that may permit transmission of uplink data and restrict reception of downlink data (e.g., via a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a PDCCH, or both)."(i.e., the connection between the base station and UE can be a reduced-capability connection such as restricting to only having the UE perform uplink and not received downlink.)),
wherein the at least one established beam measurement reporting connection is at least one reduced-capability connection capable of facilitating the receiving the at least one beam measurement report (paragraph [0044], "A base station may transmit an uplink configured grant to the UE to schedule periodic uplink transmissions by the UE. The UE may transmit uplink data during each uplink-only power state based on the uplink configured grant." and paragraph [0106], "The configured power states may provide for the UE 115 to perform relatively frequent uplink transmission to support such applications while reducing power consumption…" (i.e., Yang and Lee discloses of transmitting measurement report as disclosed in claim 1, Hande discloses of allocating resources for uplink.)),
and wherein the at least one reduced-capability connection is not capable of facilitating transmitting downlink traffic to the at least one user equipment (paragraph [0106], Fig.1, "For example, a first configuration for the uplink-only power state 315 may configure the UE 115 with at least a first BWP on a PCell that may permit transmission of uplink data and restrict reception of downlink data (e.g., via a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a PDCCH, or both)." (i.e., base station establishing a connection to only permit of transmission of uplink.)).
Yang in view of Lee and Hande are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field wireless communication. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yang to implement the method of Hande in order to have the UE only perform uplink while restricting downlink in order to reduce power consumption for the UE (Hande, paragraph [0106], “The configured power states may provide for the UE 115 to perform relatively frequent uplink transmission to support such applications while reducing power consumption… The UE 115 may thereby support at least some throughput of uplink data while switching between the uplink-only power state 315 and the uplink and downlink power state 320, which may provide for reduced latency and increased throughput for periodic uplink transmissions as compared with some power states (e.g., DRX OFF states), in which a UE 115 may not support uplink data throughput.”).
Claim(s) 3-5, and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang (US-20210160724-A1) in view of Lee (US-20160242076-A1) in further view of Zhou (US-20210084441-A1).
Regarding Claim 3, Yang in view of Lee discloses all the limitation of claim 1.
However, Yang in view of Lee do not disclose further comprising: transmitting, by the at least one user equipment, at least one traffic delivery connection establishment request; responsive to the at least one traffic delivery connection establishment request, establishing, by the at least one user equipment, at least one full-capability connection with the at least one user equipment corresponding to at least one determined delivery beam determined by the radio network node based on the at least one measurement signal signal strength parameter value; and receiving, by the at least one user equipment from the radio network node via the at least one determined delivery beam and via the at least one full-capability connection, traffic.
Zhou discloses further comprising: transmitting, by the at least one user equipment, at least one traffic delivery connection establishment request (paragraph [0115], Fig., "At 310, UE 115-a may transmit a group proximity message indicating that the group 305 of UEs 115 including UE 115-a and, at least, a second UE 115 are located within a defined proximity of each other." and paragraph [0116], "At 315, UE 115-a may receive a beam configuration for the group of UEs based on the group proximity message. At 320, UE 115-a may communicate with base station 105-b based on the beam configuration." (i.e., UE requesting a communication using the beam configuration.));
responsive to the at least one traffic delivery connection establishment request (paragraph [0116], "At 315, UE 115-a may receive a beam configuration for the group of UEs based on the group proximity message." (i.e., base station sending beam configuration in order for the UE the comminate with the base station with the beams.)),
establishing, by the at least one user equipment, at least one full-capability connection with the at least one user equipment corresponding to at least one determined delivery beam determined by the radio network node based on the at least one measurement signal signal strength parameter value (paragraph [0110], "Base station 105-a may select the first beam 205-a and use the first beam 205-a for each UE 115 in the first group 210-a. In some cases, base station 105-a may determine to configure UE1 for beam measurement and reporting based on a proximity, capability, signal strength, or other factors, of UE1." and paragraph [0116], "At 320, UE 115-a may communicate with base station 105-b based on the beam configuration." and paragraph [0120], "Additionally, base station 105-a may transmit the beam configuration 315 that provides an indication of a beam sweep pattern to UE 115-a. UE 115-a may then indicate the beam sweep pattern to the other UEs 115 in the group. The base station 105-b may then perform a beam sweep procedure in accordance with the indicated beam sweep pattern to enable the base station 105-b, UEs in the group, or both, to select beams for communicating uplink and/or downlink transmissions at 320."(i.e., establishing a connection using the beam configuration.));
and receiving, by the at least one user equipment from the radio network node via the at least one determined delivery beam and via the at least one full-capability connection, traffic (paragraph [0116], "At 320, UE 115-a may communicate with base station 105-b based on the beam configuration." and paragraph [0120], "Additionally, base station 105-a may transmit the beam configuration 315 that provides an indication of a beam sweep pattern to UE 115-a. UE 115-a may then indicate the beam sweep pattern to the other UEs 115 in the group. The base station 105-b may then perform a beam sweep procedure in accordance with the indicated beam sweep pattern to enable the base station 105-b, UEs in the group, or both, to select beams for communicating uplink and/or downlink transmissions at 320."(i.e., communication full-capability connection, and receiving and sending traffic.)).
Yang in view of Lee and Zhou are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field wireless communication. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yang to implement the method of Zhou as it would reduce the overhead for beam configuration for each individual UE (Zhou, paragraph [0006], “The base station may receive the group proximity message and communicate with the group of UEs based on the group proximity message. In some cases, by indicating the group of UEs, the base station may be able to reduce a beam measurement and report overhead. For example, the base station may configure just a subset of UEs in the group for beam measurement and reporting, and the base station may use the same beam for each UE in the group.”).
Regarding Claim 4, Yang in view of Lee discloses all the limitation of claim 1.
However, Yang in view of Lee do not explicitly disclose herein the at least one user equipment comprises a first user equipment, and wherein the method further comprises: transmitting, by a second user equipment of the at least one user equipment, a traffic delivery connection establishment request; based on the transmitting of the traffic delivery connection establishment request, establishing, by the second user equipment, a full-capability connection with the radio network node according to at least one determined delivery beam determined by the radio network node based on the at least one measurement signal signal strength parameter value; and receiving, by the second user equipment from the radio network node via the at least one determined delivery beam and via the full-capability connection, traffic.
Zhou discloses wherein the at least one user equipment comprises a first user equipment (paragraph [0115], "a second UE 115"),
and wherein the method further comprises: transmitting, by a second user equipment of the at least one user equipment, a traffic delivery connection establishment request (paragraph [0115], Fig., "At 310, UE 115-a may transmit a group proximity message indicating that the group 305 of UEs 115 including UE 115-a and, at least, a second UE 115 are located within a defined proximity of each other…The group proximity message may be transmitted to base station 105-b. In some other examples, the group proximity message may be transmitted to a relay node or an intermediate communications device managing the group 305." and paragraph [0116], "At 315, UE 115-a may receive a beam configuration for the group of UEs based on the group proximity message. At 320, UE 115-a may communicate with base station 105-b based on the beam configuration." (i.e., examiner is reading the Zhou second UE was communicating with the base station the measurement report, and now another UE 115 is sending a request to establish a traffic delivery connection.));
based on the transmitting of the traffic delivery connection establishment request, establishing, by the second user equipment, a full-capability connection with the radio network node according to at least one determined delivery beam determined by the radio network node based on the at least one measurement signal signal strength parameter value (paragraph [0110], "Base station 105-a may select the first beam 205-a and use the first beam 205-a for each UE 115 in the first group 210-a. In some cases, base station 105-a may determine to configure UE1 for beam measurement and reporting based on a proximity, capability, signal strength, or other factors, of UE1." and paragraph [0116], "At 320, UE 115-a may communicate with base station 105-b based on the beam configuration." and paragraph [0120], "Additionally, base station 105-a may transmit the beam configuration 315 that provides an indication of a beam sweep pattern to UE 115-a. UE 115-a may then indicate the beam sweep pattern to the other UEs 115 in the group. The base station 105-b may then perform a beam sweep procedure in accordance with the indicated beam sweep pattern to enable the base station 105-b, UEs in the group, or both, to select beams for communicating uplink and/or downlink transmissions at 320."(i.e., beam sweeping procedure is reading on using the best beam to perform communication with the base station.));
and receiving, by the second user equipment from the radio network node via the at least one determined delivery beam and via the full-capability connection, traffic (paragraph [0116], "At 320, UE 115-a may communicate with base station 105-b based on the beam configuration." and paragraph [0120], "Additionally, base station 105-a may transmit the beam configuration 315 that provides an indication of a beam sweep pattern to UE 115-a. UE 115-a may then indicate the beam sweep pattern to the other UEs 115 in the group. The base station 105-b may then perform a beam sweep procedure in accordance with the indicated beam sweep pattern to enable the base station 105-b, UEs in the group, or both, to select beams for communicating uplink and/or downlink transmissions at 320."(i.e., UE communicating with the base station.)).
Yang in view of Lee and Zhou are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field wireless communication. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yang to implement the method of Zhou as it would reduce the overhead for beam configuration for each individual UE (Zhou, paragraph [0006], “The base station may receive the group proximity message and communicate with the group of UEs based on the group proximity message. In some cases, by indicating the group of UEs, the base station may be able to reduce a beam measurement and report overhead. For example, the base station may configure just a subset of UEs in the group for beam measurement and reporting, and the base station may use the same beam for each UE in the group.”).
Regarding Claim 5, Yang in view of Lee in further view of Zhou discloses all the limitation of claim 4.
Zhou further discloses wherein the first user equipment and the second user equipment are geographically located within a geographic range of one another corresponding to a beam width associated with the at least one determined delivery beam (paragraph [0110], "For example, UE1, UE2, and UE3 in the first group 210-a may be close enough together (e.g., based on proximity, for example, inside a group radius)" and paragraph [0115], Fig.3, "At 310, UE 115-a may transmit a group proximity message indicating that the group 305 of UEs 115 including UE 115-a and, at least, a second UE 115 are located within a defined proximity of each other." (i.e., Fig.1 shows the UE are in within a geographical range of one another.)).
The proposed combination as well as the motivations for combining the references presented in the rejection of the parent claim apply to this claim and are incorporated herein by reference.
Regarding Claim 20, which is similar in scope to claim 3, thus rejected under the same rationale.
Claim(s) 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang (US-20210160724-A1) in view of Lee (US-20160242076-A1) in further view of Onggosanusi (US-20210022026-A1).
Regarding Claim 8, Yang in view of Lee discloses all the limitation of claim 1.
However, do not disclose wherein the at least one beam reporting configuration message comprises at least one beam measurement mode indication indicative of a dynamic reporting mode according to which the at least one user equipment is to avoid the transmitting the at least one beam measurement connection establishment request unless the at least one user equipment determines that the at least one measurement signal signal strength parameter value, which corresponds to the at least one measurement beam, satisfies a measurement beam reporting criterion.
Onggosanusi discloses wherein the at least one beam reporting configuration message comprises at least one beam measurement mode indication indicative of a dynamic reporting mode according to which the at least one user equipment is to avoid the transmitting the at least one beam measurement connection establishment request unless the at least one user equipment determines that the at least one measurement signal signal strength parameter value, which corresponds to the at least one measurement beam, satisfies a measurement beam reporting criterion (paragraph [0139], Fig.7, “As UE-k measures the RS to calculate beam quality (702), the UE, based on the calculated beam quality and/or other criteria, determines if the UE initiates an AP beam/CSI reporting (703). One of the criteria can be event-based. For example, if the beam quality metric is less than or equal to a threshold Y, UE-k will initiate AP beam/CSI reporting. This threshold Y can be fixed, pre-determined, configured via higher-layer (RRC) signaling, or dynamically signaled to the UE (via, e.g. PDCCH and/or MAC CE)…The associated beam quality can correspond to beam metric such as L1-RSRP or L1-SINR or CQI or hypothetical BLER, measured on RS resources associated with data and/or control transmissions." And paragraph [0140], “If the event is declared positive, the UE transmits the AP beam/CSI reporting.” (i.e., the UE to send the measurement report when the criterion is met, and as shown in Fig.7 the report in to be not send out until the event or the RSRP is satisfied. Although it does not state establishing connection, LEE Fig.9, discloses establishing connection for reporting, and therefore in combination teach the said limitation in claim 8.)).
Yang in view of Lee and Onggosanusi are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field wireless communication. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yang to implement the method of Onggosanusi of only reporting beam measurement when there is a certain level of quality changes in order to reduce reporting overhead (Onggosanusi, paragraph [0135], “In the following example embodiments, at least one of the following goals can be used to design the scheme: 1) to enhance link reliability by reducing beam failure events; 2) to reduce overall latency of DL beam selection; 3) to reduce UL reporting overhead.”).
Claim(s) 11 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang (US-20210160724-A1) in view of Lee (US-20160242076-A1) in further view of Chendamarai Kannan (US-20200145068-A1).
Regarding Claim 11, Yang in view of Lee discloses all the limitation of claim 1.
However, Yang in view of Lee do not explicitly disclose further comprising: ranking, by the at least one user equipment, the at least one measurement beam in descending order according to the at least one measurement signal signal strength parameter value to result in a measurement beam ranking order, wherein the at least one beam measurement report is further indicative of the measurement beam ranking order.
Chendamarai Kannan discloses further comprising: ranking, by the at least one user equipment, the at least one measurement beam in descending order according to the at least one measurement signal signal strength parameter value to result in a measurement beam ranking order, wherein the at least one beam measurement report is further indicative of the measurement beam ranking order (paragraph [0060], Fig.4, "At block 403, the UE ranks the plurality of beams based on a ranking parameter, wherein the ranking parameter includes one of: the interference plus noise metric, or the power contribution metric, and selects a subset of highest ranked beams from the ranked plurality of beams. The beam management reporting mode identified in the configuration message, stored at CSI reporting configuration 701, prompts UE 115 to execute, under control of controller/processor 280, beam ranking logic 703, in memory 282. The execution of beam ranking logic 703 provides the functionality for UE 115 to rank the available beams. Beam ranking logic 703 may provide for ranking the beams according to the interference plus noise metric, according to the power contribution metric, or some combination of both." (i.e., Chendamarai discloses of ranking the beam for measurement report.)).
Yang in view of Lee and Chendamarai Kannanare considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field wireless communication. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yang to implement the method of Chendamarai Kannan to rank the suitable downlink beams in order to reduce processing power of the base station to search and track a large number of beam that are suitable for communicating with the UE (Chendamarai Kannan, paragraph [0004], “A UE may be able to receive on many suitable downlink beams from one or more base stations, Searching and tracking a large number of beams increases complexity and consumes modem and RF power. It may thus be desirable to improve techniques for downlink beam selection in beamformed communication systems.”).
Regarding Claim 18, which is similar in scope to claim 11, thus rejected under the same rationale.
Claim(s) 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang (US-20210160724-A1) in view of Lee (US-20160242076-A1) in further view of Raghavan (US-20210409989-A1).
Regarding Claim 14, Yang in view of Lee discloses all the limitation of claim 1.
However, Yang in view of Lee do not explicitly disclose wherein the at least one measurement beam parameter value comprises at least one of: at least one quantity of the at least one measurement beam, at least one angular direction indication indicative of at least one direction corresponding to the at least one measurement beam, or at least one gain indication indicative of at least one beam gain corresponding to the at least one measurement beam.
Raghavan discloses wherein the at least one measurement beam parameter value comprises at least one of: (paragraph [0080], "a UE 115 may be configured to measure and report a beam combination parameter to a base station 105 to improve generation of a dynamic beam for beamformed communications. In some examples, the UE 115 may measure the beam combination parameter in terms of angular spread/coverage area of individual beams, array or signal gains at antennas or panels of the UE 115, additional panel/antenna module related information, etc." (i.e., UE measures the angular spread and signal gains to be reported to the base station.)).
Yang in view of Lee and Raghavan considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field wireless communication. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yang to implement the method of Raghavan of specific measurement such as angle measurement and signal gain in order to improve the generation of a dynamic beam for beamformed communication (Raghavan, paragraph [0080], “According to the techniques described herein, a UE 115 may be configured to measure and report a beam combination parameter to a base station 105 to improve generation of a dynamic beam for beamformed communications.”).
Claim(s) 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang (US-20210160724-A1) in view of Lee (US-20160242076-A1) in further view of Dalsgaard (US-20210045000-A1).
Regarding Claim 15, Yang in view of Lee discloses all the limitation of claim 1.
However, Yang in view of Lee do not disclose wherein the at least one beam reporting configuration message comprises at least one beam measurement mode indication indicative of a static reporting mode according to which the transmitting of the at least one beam measurement connection establishment request is to be responsive to the receiving of the at least one beam reporting configuration message.
Dalsgaard discloses wherein the at least one beam reporting configuration message comprises at least one beam measurement mode indication indicative of a static reporting mode according to which the transmitting of the at least one beam measurement connection establishment request is to be responsive to the receiving of the at least one beam reporting configuration message (paragraph [0056], Fig.7, "In step 700 the UE is or enters the idle mode/state (i.e. it releases RRC connection with the previous serving cell). In step 702 the network node 110 broadcasts a measurement indication to the UE. The measurement indication may be the measurement configuration discussed above, for example, or it may be an indication of network node 110 supporting early measurement reporting, as also discussed above…In step 706 the UE performs the measurements. Upon connection to the serving cell (cell 100 in this example) in step 708, the UE also makes the early reporting of the idle mode measurements." (i.e., UE receiving a broadcast message 702 for an early measurement report that could be a configuration message, and at step 708 UE performs connection based on receiving the indicator have the UE connect and report the measurement. Examiner reading “a static mode” as when the UE receives message 702 to then send a connection request message 708.)).
Yang in view of Lee and Dalsgaard considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field wireless communication. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yang to implement the method of Dalsgaard to provide an indicator to the UE for early measurement in order to perform operations that can benefit the UE in order to have the UE with the best performance (Dalsgaard, paragraph [0041], “As the information is broadcast and need to cover UEs generically, the UE could be indicated in a generic manner in the broadcast information that the serving cell is using early measurement reporting based on UE idle mode measurements. This reporting could be for aiding early CA setup in one example but could also be other purposes. For example, such early measurements could be also used in evaluating e.g. the need for handover (for example if the UE reports much better RSRP of another layer, than the ‘recently’ connected to serving cell). In such case the network could handover UE's connection to the other layer immediately.”).
Claim(s) 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang (US-20210160724-A1) in view of Lee (US-20160242076-A1) in view of Zhou (US-20210084441-A1) in further view of Zheng (US-20240063883-A1).
Regarding Claim 6, Yang in view of Lee in further view of Zhou discloses all the limitation of claim 4.
However, Yang in view of Lee in further view of Zhou do not disclose wherein the at least one beam reporting configuration message is received via a synchronization signal block beam corresponding to a synchronization signal block beam direction, and wherein the at least one measurement beam corresponds to at least one measurement beam direction that is associated with the synchronization signal block beam direction.
Zheng discloses wherein the at least one beam reporting configuration message is received via a synchronization signal block beam corresponding to a synchronization signal block beam direction (paragraph [0088], Fig.7:710, "As shown in FIG. 7, the method 700 includes step S710. In step S710, information (e.g., a primary synchronization signal PSS or a secondary synchronization signal SSS) is transmitted to a terminal via a plurality of SSB beams. In addition, according to an example of the present invention, in step S710, configuration information may also be transmitted to the terminal, to control measurement results of which SSB beams are to be transmitted by the terminal…the configuration information including the reportBehaviorType field and the SpecificBeamReport field may be transmitted to the terminal. The configuration information may be transmitted by high-layer signaling or physical layer signaling, and the configuration information may also be CSI-ReportConfig. In addition, in step S710, physical layer information such as MAC CE, DCI and the like may also be transmitted to the terminal, so as to instruct the terminal to specifically feed back measurement results of which SSB beams when the value of the reportBehaviorType field is specific." (i.e., configuration message can be sent via SSB beam.)),
and wherein the at least one measurement beam corresponds to at least one measurement beam direction that is associated with the synchronization signal block beam direction (paragraph [0088], "In step S710, information (e.g., a primary synchronization signal PSS or a secondary synchronization signal SSS) is transmitted to a terminal via a plurality of SSB beams." and paragraph [0089], Fig.7:720, "The method 700 further includes step S720. In step S720, measurement results by the terminal of information transmitted via at least a part of the SSB beams is received." (i.e., UE measures the received SSB beam.)).
Yang in view of Lee in further view of Zhou and Zheng are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field wireless communication. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yang to implement the method of Zheng to transmit information via SSB beam as it would allow increase in signal range and reach and Zheng discloses of requesting to measure the transmitted configuration message in order to reduce overhead while ensuring quality of the transmitted data (Zheng, paragraph [0093], “According to the method performed by the base station in this embodiment, signaling interaction between the base station and the terminal can be greatly saved while ensuring quality of the transmitted data, and it can be applied to scenarios where the terminal moves at high speed.”).
Claim(s) 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yang (US-20210160724-A1) in view of Lee (US-20160242076-A1) in view of Zhou (US-20210084441-A1) in view of Zheng (US-20240063883-A1) in further view of LANDIS (US-20220225248-A1).
Regarding Claim 7, Yang in view of Lee in view of Zhou in further view of Zheng discloses all the limitation of claim 6.
However, Yang in view of Lee in view of Zhou in further view of Zheng do not explicitly disclose wherein the at least one beam measurement report further comprises at least one synchronization signal block beam indication indicative of the synchronization signal block beam that corresponds to the at least one measurement beam, and wherein the at least one determined delivery beam is determined by the radio network node based on the at least one synchronization signal block beam indication.
LANDIS discloses wherein the at least one beam measurement report further comprises at least one synchronization signal block beam indication indicative of the synchronization signal block beam that corresponds to the at least one measurement beam (paragraph [0069], “The UE 404 may measure a signal strength (e.g., reference signal receive power (RSRP)) and report the symbol index together with the RSRP to the BS 402.” and paragraph [0094], Fig.9, "At block 906, the UE may receive, from the base station, a first message triggering the UE to measure a signal strength of SSB beams transmitted from the base station. In an aspect, if at least one SSB beam is being added to the SSB beam configuration, then the first message triggers the UE to measure the signal strength of the SSB beams including the at least one added SSB beam. For example, the UE may measure the signal strength by measuring a reference signal receive power (RSRP) and/or a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) of the SSB beams including the at least one added SSB beam. In another aspect, if at least one SSB beam is to be excluded/omitted from the SSB beam configuration, then the first message triggers the UE to measure the signal strength of the SSB beams excluding the at least one excluded/omitted SSB beam…At block 908, the UE may send, to the base station, a second message including a report of the signal strength of the SSB beams." (i.e., UE indicating the strength of the SSB beams.)),
and wherein the at least one determined delivery beam is determined by the radio network node based on the at least one synchronization signal block beam indication (paragraph [0097], Fig.9, "At block 914, the UE may establish a connection with the base station using an indicated SSB beam or QCL type. For example, the UE may use the at least one added SSB beam added to the modified SSB beam configuration (as indicated in the third message) to establish the connection. Moreover, the UE may use the at least one remaining SSB beam remaining in the modified SSB beam configuration or the QCL type corresponding to the at least one remaining SSB beam (as alternatively indicated in the third message) to establish the connection. The UE may also use the substitute QCL type (as alternatively indicated in the third message) in place of a previously used QCL type (for an excluded SSB beam) to establish the connection." (i.e., communication is established connection based on the SSB.)).
Yang in view of Lee in view of Zhou in further view of Zheng and LANDIS are considered to be analogous to the claimed invention because they are in the same field wireless communication. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yang to implement the method of LANDIS having the UE indicate the SSB with the measurement for various advantages such as including the indicator for a specific SSB beam allows the base station to flexibly adapt with dynamic beam based on a changing environment (LANDIS, paragraph [0075], “Advantages to the base station being able to dynamically change the SSB configuration include: 1) More flexibility to adapt to a changing environment, e.g., no cell activity, light cell activity, decreased/increased cell activity, UEs closer to the cell, UEs reaching edges of the cell coverage, etc.; 2) Reduced power use by reducing number of SSBs when not required—allows base stations (e.g., gNBs or eNBs) to save power when no users are present in the cell; 3) Improved coverage by allocating narrow SSB beams when a UE is about to move out of a coverage area (i.e., when the UE actually needs to use the narrower SSB beams); and 4) Less interference generated in the environment by transmitting less SSBs when there is no activity in the cell. Although aspects disclosed herein may be described with reference to FR2, it is contemplated that such aspects are also applicable to higher bands (e.g., sub-THz band (95 GHz-3 THz)).”).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-10, and 17 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
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Erkin S. Abdullaev whose telephone number is (571)272-4135. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday - 8:00 am - 5:00 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Wesley Kim can be reached at (571)272-7867. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
ERKIN S. ABDULLAEV
Examiner
Art Unit 2648
/ERKIN ABDULLAEV/Examiner, Art Unit 2648
/WESLEY L KIM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2648
Prosecution Insights