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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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) 1-5, 8-11, 13-18, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bhamri (US 20240171252) in view of Guo (US 20240015771).
Regarding claim 1, Bhamri discloses a method performed by a user equipment (UE) in a ([0004]), the method comprising:
receiving, from a base station, configuration information for uplink (UL) reference signals (RSs) to be transmitted by the UE while receiving downlink (DL) interference or channel measurement signals ([0265], receives a joint configuration, from a network, defining uplink (“UL”) and downlink (“DL”) reference signal (“RS”) resources for facilitating self-interference measurements at the UE for full-duplex UE operation);
transmitting, to the base station, the UL RSs while receiving the DL interference or channel measurement signals, based on the configuration information ([0277], UE UL transmissions to one TRP and UE DL receptions from another TRP for UE full-duplex operation);
estimating self-interference (SI) based on the transmitted UL RSs and the DL received interference or channel measurement signals ([0179][0265], performs self-interference measurements according to the received joint configuration; perform self-interference measurements caused by simultaneous UL transmission to at least one TRP/beam and DL reception from at least another TRP/beam); and
transmitting, to the base station, a report corresponding to the received DL interference or channel measurement signals ([0179][0265], reports at least one UE UL Tx beam and UE DL Rx beam pair).
Even though the full duplex mode can be operated at any band, Bhamri does not explicitly disclose a UE in a sub-band full duplex (SBFD) mode for concurrent transmission and reception.
Guo discloses a UE in a sub-band full duplex (SBFD) mode for concurrent transmission and reception (Guo, [0082], UE 115-b may support sub-band full duplex (SBFD) communications).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to combine the teachings of simultaneous transmission and reception as given by Bhamri with the teachings of support sub-band full duplex mode given by Guo. The motivation for doing so would have been to reduce interference based on the self-interference measurement (Guo, [0096]).
Claim 20 is rejected similarly with claim 1 noting that Bhamri discloses transceivers and processors (Bhamri, fig. 4).
Regarding claim 2, Bhamri and Guo disclose the method of claim 1, wherein the report includes measurements corresponding to the received DL interference or channel measurement signals, and wherein the measurements indicates the SI (Bhamri, [0179], report back to at least one pair of TRPs, wherein the TRP pair can be determined when the self-interference for UE FD operation with that TRP pair is below a network configured threshold value).
Regarding claim 3, Bhamri and Guo disclose the method of claim 2, wherein transmitting the UL RSs while receiving the DL interference or channel measurement signals comprises transmitting the UL RSs in SBFD slots at least partially overlapping the received DL interference or channel measurement signals in a time domain (Bhamri, [0225], partial overlap in time-domain symbols should be scheduled by the two DCIs from two TRP).
Regarding claim 4, Bhamri and Guo disclose the method of claim 2, wherein the report includes a DL RS identifier (ID) and a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) for each of the received DL interference or channel measurement signals, and wherein the SINRs indicate the SI (Bhamri, [0179][0195], figs. 2-3, DL beam 1, UL beam 2, when the self-interference (which can be a SINR) is above a certain threshold, Guo, [0074]).
Regarding claim 5, Bhamri and Guo disclose the method of claim 2, wherein the configuration information links different UL RSs having different UL RSs identifiers (IDs) with a same interference or channel measurement signal to be received at different times (Bhamri, [0189], the UE 302 is effectively repeating UL NZP RS in time domain using different UE Tx beam/panel 306a-c and for each repeated transmission of UL NZP RS, UE 302 is using the same UE DL Rx beam/panel 304 and measuring self-interference 308a-c on same beam corresponding to different UL NZP RS transmissions on different beams).
Regarding claim 8, Bhamri and Guo disclose the method of claim 2, wherein the configuration information links different UL RSs having different UL RSs identifiers (IDs) with different interference or channel measurement signals to be received at different times, and wherein the report includes at least one of the UL RS IDs (Bhamri, [0188-189])
Regarding claim 9, Bhamri and Guo disclose the method of claim 1, wherein the report includes an indication of at least one pair of a preferred DL beam and a preferred UL beam (Bhamri, [0201], to report at least one pair of UL Tx beams (corresponding to one TRP) and DL Rx beams (corresponding to the same one TRP or a different second TRP) for performing FD operation e.g., to receive DL from one beam/panel/TRP and transmit UL using a different beam. Here, list of the beam pair to be used is implicitly the preferred pair).
Regarding claim 10, Bhamri and Guo disclose the method of claim 9, wherein the indication of the at least one pair of the preferred DL beam and the preferred UL beam includes at least one of a DL RS ID, a UL RS ID, a DL transmission configurations indication (TCI) state, a UL TCI state, or UL spatial relation information associated with the at least one pair of the preferred DL beam and the preferred UL beam ([0201-202], the UE indicates at least one index associated with a UL-DL RS resource ID of a resource set).
Regarding claim 11, Bhamri and Guo disclose the method of claim 9, wherein the indication of the at least one pair of the preferred DL beam and the preferred UL beam includes a group of transmission configurations indication (TCI) states for DL reception and UL transmission and corresponding preferability level UL spatial relation information (Bhamri, [0095]).
Regarding claim 13, Bhamri and Guo disclose the method of claim 1, further comprising indicating, to the base station, via capability signaling, a list of panel pairs that are available for concurrent transmission and reception (Bhamri, claim 1, port at least one UL transmission (“Tx”) beam and DL reception (“Rx”) beam pair; and receive at least one downlink control information (“DCI”) for the full-duplex operation for simultaneous UL transmission and DL reception associated with at least two beams of at least one transmit/receive point (“TRP”) based on the reported at least one UL Tx beam and DL Rx beam pair).
Regarding claim 14, Bhamri and Guo disclose the method of claim 13, wherein the report includes an index of a pair of panels from among the indicated list (Bhamri, claim 1, [0201-202]).
Regarding claim 15, Bhamri and Guo disclose the method of claim 14, wherein the report further includes a preferability level or a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) for each panel included in the pair of panels, and wherein the SINRs indicate the SI (Guo, [0059][0074], may experience self-interference 210 (e.g., a reduced signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR)) between TRP 205-a (e.g., a transmit panel) and TRP 205-b (e.g., a receive panel) during full duplex communications; may report to the base station 105 an indication of the signal that the UE 115 received with a highest signal quality or an otherwise acceptable signal quality).
Regarding claim 16, Bhamri and Guo disclose the method of claim 1, further comprising:
determining that the SI is greater than a threshold (Guo, [0096], if the measured self-interference is relatively high (e.g., above the self-interference threshold) and
transmitting, to the base station, a request to adjust a used beam pair, in response to determining that the SI is greater than the threshold, wherein the request is carried via a physical random access channel (PRACH), a medium access control (MAC)-control element (CE), or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) (Guo, fig. 4, [0062-63][0103][0106], after step 415, feedback message to base station 105-c. The feedback message may include an indication of a second set of resources that are available for full duplex communications by UE 115-e based on the measured self-interference, here the feedback can carried in a MAC layer with control element).
Regarding claim 17, Bhamri and Guo disclose the method of claim 16, wherein the request includes a latest measurement corresponding to a received interference or channel measurement signal, and indicating the SI (Guo, [0103-106], an indication of a self-interference measurement by UE 115-e).
Regarding claim 18, Bhamri and Guo disclose the method of claim 1, wherein the interference measurement signals include a channel state information (CSI)-interference measurement (CSI-IM), wherein the channel measurement signals include a CSI-RS (Bhamri, ([0179][0194][0212][0265], performs self-interference measurements according to the received joint configuration; perform self-interference measurements caused by simultaneous UL transmission to at least one TRP/beam and DL reception from at least another TRP/beam), and wherein the UL RSs include a sounding RS (SRS) (Bhamri, [0212]).
Claim(s) 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bhamri in view of Guo further in view of Saggar (US 20240259074).
Regarding claim 12, Bhamri and Guo disclose the method of claim 1, wherein the report includes an indication of multiple pairs of a preferred DL beam and a preferred UL beam (Bhamri, [0201], to report at least one pair of UL Tx beams (corresponding to one TRP) and DL Rx beams (corresponding to the same one TRP or a different second TRP) for performing FD operation e.g., to receive DL from one beam/panel/TRP and transmit UL using a different beam), and
Bhamri does not explicitly disclose the report further includes a preferability level indication for each of the multiple pairs or the multiple pairs are ordered based on a preferability level.
Saggar discloses the report further includes a preferability level indication for each of the multiple pairs or the multiple pairs are ordered based on a preferability level (Saggar, [0129], the FD beam sets may be listed in an order that specifies preference (e.g., a first FD beam set in a list is a first and/or highest preference and a second FD beam set in the list is a second and/or lower preference; a rank of each candidate FD beam pair).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to combine the teachings of simultaneous transmission and reception as given by Bhamri with the teachings of ordering candidate beam pairs given by Saggar The motivation for doing so would have been to improve the link quality by selecting the best beam pair from the ordered list (Saggar, [0032][0091]).
Claim(s) 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bhamri in view of Guo further in view of Myung (US 20250089091).
Regarding claim 19, Bhamri and Guo disclose the method of claim 1,
wherein the report is transmitted based on a set of channel state information (CSI)-RSs (Bhamri, [0194], the UE could report the measured self-interference in CSI with RRC signaling to the primary TRP or multiple TRPs).
Bhamri does not explicitly disclose based on a set of channel state information (CSI)-RSs with a radio resource control (RRC) parameter for repetition being set to indicate “off’ .
Myung discloses based on a set of channel state information (CSI)-RSs with a radio resource control (RRC) parameter for repetition being set to indicate “off’ (Myung, [0168]-[0172], the RRC parameter ‘repetition’ is set to ‘OFF’, which relates to the Tx beam sweeping process of the BS; the UE reports the ID (e.g., CRI) and related quality information (e.g., RSRP) of the selected beam to the BS).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the time of effective filing to combine the teachings of simultaneous transmission and reception as given by Bhamri with the teachings of taking the repetition on/off status into account given by Myung. The motivation for doing so would have been to utilize different beams (Myung [0174]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-7 are 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 ZHENSHENG ZHANG whose telephone number is (571)270-1985. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 8:00am-6:00pm.
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/ZHENSHENG ZHANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2474
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