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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 5-8, 15-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 5, 15 recite the limitation "the second CSI-RS resource parameter" in line 1 of each claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claims.
Claims 6, 16 recite the limitation "the second CSI-RS resource parameter" in line 1 of each claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claims.
Claims 7, 17 recite the limitation "the second CSI-RS resource parameter" in line 1 of each claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claims.
Claims 8, 18 recite the limitation "the second CSI-RS resource parameter" in line 1 of each claim. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 14, 16, 18, 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a) as being anticipated by Lin et al (USPN 20210288773).
Regarding claim 11, Lin discloses
a user equipment (UE) comprising: (UE, FIG. 3 #116, comprising [0062-0070]
a radio frequency (RF) receiver configured to receive a first channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration while in connected mode, wherein the first CSI-RS configuration includes a first CSI-RS resource parameter (transceiver, FIG. 3 #310, operable to receive first CSI-RS configuration during RRC_CONNECTED, the configuration comprises resource parameter [0005, 0166, 0078, 0101, 0102, 0114], Abstract, FIG. 8
a processor, coupled to the RF receiver, configured to transition the UE to an idle or inactive mode (processor, FIG. 3 #340, coupled to transceiver to switch UE from active to inactive mode [0101, 0102, 0112]
the RF receiver configured to receive, while the UE is in the idle or inactive mode, a second CSI-RS configuration associated with a CSI-RS (transceiver, FIG. 3 #310, operable to receive second CSI-RS configuration while in RCC_IDLE/INACTIVE state [0113-0115], FIG. 8
wherein the second CSI-RS configuration does not include the first CSI-RS resource parameter (second configuration omits some part of first configuration/resource parameter [0113-0115], Abstract
the processor further configured to monitor, based on the second CSI-RS configuration, for the CSI-RS to track at least one of time or frequency (CSI-RS/TRS used for time/frequency tracking [0097, 0211, 0212, 0114]
Claim 1 is rejected based on similar ground(s) provided in rejection of claim 11.
Regarding claims 4, 14, Lin discloses “wherein the second CSI-RS configuration includes a second CSI-RS resource parameter, the second CSI-RS resource parameter being one of frequencyDomainAllocation, firstOFDMSymbolInTimeDomain, freqBand (RB indication), powerControlOffsetSS, scramblingID, periodicityAndOffset, QCL indication, or a number of slots” frequency domain allocation [0118-0124], first OFDM symbol in time domain [0125-0127, scrambling ID [0158, 0159], QCL indication [0136-0139], number of slots [0129-0133]
Regarding claims 6, 16, Lin discloses “wherein the second CSI-RS resource parameter is a QCL indication having a value of a corresponding SSB index” CSI-RS/TRS resource and SS/PBCH block are quasi-co-located with respect to QCL type, k-th CSI-RS/TRS and k-th transmitted SS/PBCH block [0137, 0138]
Regarding claims 8, 18, Lin discloses “wherein the second CSI-RS resource parameter is freqBand having a value equal to a size of an initial DL BWP” DL BWP for idle-mode CSI-RS/TRP reception can be the initial DL BWP [0107, 0123]
Regarding claims 9, 19, Lin discloses “wherein each beam has at most one TRSconfiguration, and a TRS configuration index equals the QCL-ed SSB index” UE assumes each idle mode CSI-RS/TRS resource set consists of S>1 CSI-RS/TRS resources where S is number of transmitted SS/PBCH blocks per burst, UE assumes k-th CSI-RS/TRS and k-th transmitted SS/PBCH block which gives 1:1 index correspondence [0137, 0138].
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin in view of Hsieh et al (WO 2022028518).
Regarding claims 2, 12, Lin does not expressly disclose “wherein the first CSI-RS resource parameter is one of repetition, trs-Info, nrofPorts, firstOFDMSymbolInTimeDomain2 cdm-Type, density, or powerControlOffset”
Hsieh discloses TRS is an periodic non-zero-power (NZP)-CSI-RS-Resourceset configured with trs-info and each NZP-CSI-RS-Resource resource is 1-port and density of 3 [0028]
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement “wherein the first CSI-RS resource parameter is one of repetition, trs-Info, nrofPorts, firstOFDMSymbolInTimeDomain2 cdm-Type, density, or powerControlOffset” as taught by Hsieh into Lin’s system with the motivation to provide these parameters via RRC signaling in connected mode (Hsieh, paragraph [0003, 0004])
Regarding claims 3, 13, Lin does not expressly disclose “wherein the first CSI-RS resource parameter is an optional parameter”
Hsieh discloses the information on each of the NZP CSI-RS resource may include any combination of (1) to (9), indicating some information are optional [0029]
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement “wherein the first CSI-RS resource parameter is an optional parameter” as taught by Hsieh into Lin’s system with the motivation to provide these parameters via RRC signaling in connected mode (Hsieh, paragraph [0003, 0004])
Regarding claims 5, 15, Lin discloses RE-mapping/frequency-domain configuration without any bit-width specification [0118-0124]. Lin does not expressly disclose “wherein the second CSI-RS resource parameter is frequencyDomainAllocation having a size of two bits”
Hsieh discloses frequencyDomainAllocation id is 4 bits long while the powerControlOffsetSS is 2 bits long [0030]
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement “wherein the second CSI-RS resource parameter is frequencyDomainAllocation having a size of two bits” as taught by Hsieh into Lin’s system as a result of design experiments/design choice or by Hsieh’s stated goal of minimizing total configuration size (Hsieh, paragraph [0030]).
Regarding claims 7, 17, Lin discloses the DL BWP for idle-mode CSI-RS/TRS can be the initial DL BWP [0107]. Lin does not expressly disclose “wherein the second CSI-RS resource parameter is startingRB providing an indication relative to a start of an initial downlink (DL) bandwidth part (BWP)”
Hsieh discloses startingRB describing IE indicating a PRB where CSI resource starts in relation to common resource block #0 (CRB#0) on the common resource block grid [0029, 0030]
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement “wherein the second CSI-RS resource parameter is frequencyDomainAllocation having a size of two bits” as taught by Hsieh into Lin’s system with the motivation to yield a startingRB indication relative to the start of the initial DL BWP as indicated by Hsieh’s goal of providing a compact frequency-domain reference for idle-mode CSI-RS resources within the cell’s initial access bandwidth
Regarding claims 10, 20, Lin discloses symbol location indicated via bitmap [0125-0128]. Lin does not expressly disclose “a slot offset are jointly indicated in the second CSI-RS configuration”
Hsieh discloses a single IE indicating a periodicity and a corresponding slot offset [0029, 0030]
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement “a slot offset are jointly indicated in the second CSI-RS configuration” as taught by Hsieh into Lin’s system with the motivation to jointly encoding related time-domain parameters into a single IE for overhead reduction and achieve goal of minimizing total configuration bit count (Hsieh, paragraph [0030])
Claims 1, 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lin in view of Ang et al (USPN 20210321330).
Regarding claim 11, Lin discloses
a user equipment (UE) comprising: (UE, FIG. 3 #116, comprising [0062-0070]
a radio frequency (RF) receiver configured to receive a first channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) configuration while in connected mode, wherein the first CSI-RS configuration includes a first CSI-RS resource parameter (transceiver, FIG. 3 #310, operable to receive first CSI-RS configuration during RRC_CONNECTED, the configuration comprises resource parameter [0005, 0166, 0078, 0101, 0102, 0114], Abstract, FIG. 8
a processor, coupled to the RF receiver, configured to transition the UE to an idle or inactive mode (processor, FIG. 3 #340, coupled to transceiver to switch UE from active to inactive mode [0101, 0102, 0112]
the RF receiver configured to receive, while the UE is in the idle or inactive mode, a second CSI-RS configuration associated with a CSI-RS (transceiver, FIG. 3 #310, operable to receive second CSI-RS configuration while in RCC_IDLE/INACTIVE state [0113-0115], FIG. 8
wherein the second CSI-RS configuration does not include the first CSI-RS resource parameter (second configuration omits some part of first configuration/resource parameter [0113-0115], Abstract
the processor further configured to monitor, based on the second CSI-RS configuration, for the CSI-RS to track at least one of time or frequency (CSI-RS/TRS used for time/frequency tracking [0097, 0211, 0212, 0114]
Lin does not expressly disclose “first configuration as a connected mode CSI-RS resource configuration”
Ang discloses providing TRS/CSI-RS occasions available in connected mode to idle/inactive mode UEs while reducing system overhead impact [0056, 0060]
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to implement “first configuration as a connected mode CSI-RS resource configuration” as taught by Ang into Lin’s system with the motivation to arrive at first configuration being connected mode CSI-RS configuration for connected mode only parameters and second configuration being idle mode configuration that would reduce overhead by omitting connected mode only parameters.
Claim 1 is rejected based on similar ground(s) provided in rejection of claim 11.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Maleki et al (USPN 20230388077) FIG. 1
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THAI NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571)270-7632. The examiner can normally be reached M-F campus 10:30-5pm, telework 6pm-8pm| Telework count days.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ian N Moore can be reached at (571)272-3085. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/THAI NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469
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