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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PENG, GUAN (CN113825229A published on 12/21/2021, google translation herein PENG) in view of XU et al. (US 20230199584).
Regarding claims 1, 17, 20, PENG teaches a beam switching delay determining method (terminal(pages 14, 17, 20, 21, terminal), comprising:
receiving, by a terminal, indication information, wherein the indication information is used to indicate target beams, the target beams comprise a first beam and a second beam (pages 14, 17, 20, 21, …The switching delay is mainly caused by the fact that the network device sends a signaling to perform TCI state switching, and therefore, the delay may also be referred to as TCI state switching delay, or beam switching delay…the terminal device communicates with the network device using the first TCI state; in step 520, the terminal device receives a handover signaling from the network device, the handover signaling including information indicating the activated second TCI state combination…As shown in fig. 7, when the beam corresponding to the CSI-RS resource #1 is switched to the beam corresponding to the CSI-RS resource #2,… the reference signal in the TCI state (i.e., the new TCI state) in the handover signaling and the reference signal in the currently activated TCI state (i.e., the old TCI state) have a QCL relationship with the same signal (e.g., SSB)); and
determining, by the terminal, a switching delay of the target beam according to a first preset rule in a case that the indication information is received (tables 1, 2; pages 14, 16, The switching delay is mainly caused by the fact that the network device sends a signaling to perform TCI state switching, and therefore, the delay may also be referred to as TCI state switching delay, or beam switching delay…the length of the handover delay mainly depends on whether the TCI state indicated by the network device is known by the terminal device, and whether the terminal device maintains the TCI states).
However, PENG does not teach the first beam and the second beam are associated with two different cells;
But, XU in similar or same field of endeavor teaches the first beam and the second beam are associated with two different cells (abstract, par. 31, where the first candidate beam set includes a candidate beam of a serving cell and a candidate beam of a non-serving cell);
Thus, it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary skill in the art before the effectively filing date of the claimed invention to implement the system or method as taught by XU in the system of PENG to associate the beams to cells for recovery.
The motivation would have been to improve flexibility and reliability of the beam failure recovery (XU par. 31).
Regarding claims 2, 18, PENG teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the first preset rule comprises at least one of the following:
prolonging a layer L1 measurement time;
prolonging a time-frequency synchronization and automatic gain control (AGC) adjustment time (page 19, TL1-RSRPOne possible method of determining the length of time of (c)); or
prolonging a path loss estimation time (pages 11, 19, the spatial relationship may further include related parameters for uplink transmission power control, including one or more of the following: a path lossestimation Reference signal (Pathloss Reference RS), a Reference power, a compensation coefficient (Alpha), an open-loop or closed-loop power control indication, aclosed-loop power control number (closed loop index), and the like…TL1-RSRPOne possible method of determining the length of time of (c)).
Regarding claims 3, 19, PENG teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein the prolonging an L1 measurement time comprises:
prolonging, based on a first preset value, an L1 measurement time corresponding to the first beam (page 15, 19, the required delay (T) of a receive beamL1-RSRP)… a known TCI state, TL1-RSRP＝0…an unknown TCI state, if condition A1 is satisfied, TL1-RSRP0; otherwise TL1-RSRP＝TL1-RSRP_Measurement_Period_CSI-RS); and
prolonging, based on a second preset value, an L1 measurement time corresponding to the second beam(page 15, 19, the required delay (T) of a receive beamL1-RSRP)… a known TCI state, TL1-RSRP＝0…an unknown TCI state, if condition A1 is satisfied, TL1-RSRP0; otherwise TL1-RSRP＝TL1-RSRP_Measurement_Period_CSI-RS); and
the prolonging a path loss estimation time comprises: prolonging, based on a third preset value, a path loss estimation time corresponding to the first beam (pages 11, 19, the spatial relationship may further include related parameters for uplink transmission power control, including one or more of the following: a path lossestimation Reference signal (Pathloss Reference RS), a Reference power, a compensation coefficient (Alpha), an open-loop or closed-loop power control indication, aclosed-loop power control number (closed loop index), and the like…TL1-RSRPOne possible method of determining the length of time of (c)); and
prolonging, based on a fourth preset value, a path loss estimation time corresponding to the second beam (pages 11, 19, the spatial relationship may further include related parameters for uplink transmission power control, including one or more of the following: a path lossestimation Reference signal (Pathloss Reference RS), a Reference power, a compensation coefficient (Alpha), an open-loop or closed-loop power control indication, aclosed-loop power control number (closed loop index), and the like…TL1-RSRPOne possible method of determining the length of time of (c)).
Regarding claim 4, PENG teaches the method according to claim 3, wherein the first preset value is determined based on at least one of the following:
a period of a first reference signal (RS) (page 19, TL1-RSRP＝TL1-RSRP_Measurement_Period_CSI-RS); a priority of the first RS (optional, page 19); or a priority of a cell associated with the first RS (optional, page 19); or
the second preset value is determined based on at least one of the following: a period of a first RS (page 19, TL1-RSRP＝TL1-RSRP_Measurement_Period_CSI-RS); a priority of the first RS (optional, page 19); or a priority of a cell associated with the first RS (optional, page 19); or
the third preset value is determined based on at least one of the following: a period of a first RS (page 19, TL1-RSRP＝TL1-RSRP_Measurement_Period_CSI-RS); a priority of the first RS (optional, page 19); or a priority of a cell associated with the first RS (optional, page 19); or
the fourth preset value is determined based on at least one of the following: a period of a first RS (page 19, TL1-RSRP＝TL1-RSRP_Measurement_Period_CSI-RS); a priority of the first RS (optional, page 19); or a priority of a cell associated with the first RS (optional, page 19).
Regarding claim 5, PENG teaches the method according to claim 4, wherein in a case that at least two of an RS associated with the first beam, an RS associated with the second beam, and a second RS overlap in time domain (if the CSI-RS does not overlap the temporal positions of the measurement gap and SMTC, P is 1…there may be overlap or coincidence of the reference signals included in the multiple TCI states…at least one coincident reference signal or at least one reference signal in the TCI state (i.e. the new TCI state) and the currently activated TCI state (i.e. the old TCI state) in the switching signaling is in an overlapped state), the first RS comprises at least one of the RS associated with the first beam, the RS associated with the second beam, or the second RS among the RSs that overlap in time domain (page 15, N ═ ceil (maxNumberrxBeam/N)res_per_set). Wherein, maxNumberRxBeam represents the number of receiving beams, Nres_per_setRepresenting the number of CSI-RS resources in the set of CSI-RS resources…the terminal device may use the reference signal in the coincident state in the switching process, and keep receiving beam).
Regarding claim 6, PENG teaches the method according to claim 2, wherein the prolonging a time-frequency synchronization and AGC adjustment time comprises prolonging an arrival time of a first RS received after the indication information is received, wherein the prolonging an arrival time of a first RS is prolonging the arrival time of the first RS by U times (optional based on claim 2; page 11, the spatial relationship may further include related parameters for uplink transmission power control, including one or more of the following: a path lossestimation Reference signal (Pathloss Reference RS), a Reference power, a compensation coefficient (Alpha), an open-loop or closed-loop power control indication, aclosed-loop power control number (closed loop index), and the like).
Regarding claim 7, PENG teaches the method according to claim 6, wherein in a case that at least two of an RS associated with the first beam, an RS associated with the second beam, and a second RS overlap in time domain, a value of K is a quantity of the RSs overlapping in time domain, and U is a positive integer less than or equal to K (page 15, 19, if the CSI-RS does not overlap the temporal positions of the measurement gap and SMTC, P is 1…there may be overlap or coincidence of the reference signals included in the multiple TCI states…at least one coincident reference signal or at least one reference signal in the TCI state (i.e. the new TCI state) and the currently activated TCI state (i.e. the old TCI state) in the switching signaling is in an overlapped state).
Regarding claim 8, PENG teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the first beam and the second beam meet at least one of the following:
the first beam or the second beam is associated with a current serving cell of the terminal (page 9, 14, a TCI state configured for its indicated serving cell and BWP);
an RS associated with the first beam and an RS associated with the second beam overlap in time domain (page 15, 18, 19);
the RS associated with the first beam and a second RS overlap in time domain (page 15, 18, 19); or
the RS associated with the second beam and the second RS overlap in time domain (page 15, 18, 19, if the CSI-RS does not overlap the temporal positions of the measurement gap and SMTC, P is 1…there may be overlap or coincidence of the reference signals included in the multiple TCI states…at least one coincident reference signal or at least one reference signal in the TCI state (i.e. the new TCI state) and the currently activated TCI state (i.e. the old TCI state) in the switching signaling is in an overlapped state).
Regarding claim 9, PENG teaches the method according to claim 5, wherein a cell associated with the second RS comprises one of the following:
the current serving cell of the terminal (page 9, 14, The MAC-CE may be used to configure a TCI state for the PDSCH in the indicated serving cell. Specifically, the MAC-CE includes an Identifier (ID) of a serving cell (serving cell), an ID of the BWP, and an indication bit for indicating whether each TCI state is activated);
a cell associated with one of the target beams (optional, page 9, 14); or
other cells, wherein the other cells are cells other than the current serving cell and a cell associated with each of the target beams (optional, page 9, 14).
Regarding claim 10, PENG teaches the method according to claim 5, wherein the second RS is: a beam failure detection reference signal (BFD-RS), a candidate beam detection reference signal (CBD-RS), a radio link monitoring reference signal (RLM-RS), or an RS used for L1 measurement (page 10, 15, 18, 19, calculating and measuring beam quality. Beam quality may include, for example, but is not limited to: layer 1 received reference signal power (L1-RSRP), Layer 1 received reference signalquality (L1-RSRQ), layer 1signal to interference and noise ratio (L1-SINR), and the like. …the required delay (T) of a receive beamL1-RSRP)… a known TCI state, TL1-RSRP＝0…an unknown TCI state, if condition A1 is satisfied, TL1-RSRP0…TL1-RSRP＝TL1-RSRP_Measurement_Period_CSI-RS).
Regarding claim 11, PENG teaches the method according to claim 5, wherein the RS associated with the first beam comprises at least one of the following: a direct or indirect quasi co-location (QCL) source RS of the first beam (page 4, 19, the coincident reference signal is a reference signal of a QCL of the following type, the time duration required for the time-frequency synchronization is 0: reference signals for QCLs of type a, or reference signals for QCLs of type B, or reference signals for QCLs of type C); or a path loss reference signal (PL-RS) associated with the first beam (page 11, the spatial relationship may further include related parameters for uplink transmission power control, including one or more of the following: a path loss estimation Reference signal (Pathloss Reference RS), a Reference power, a compensation coefficient (Alpha), an open-loop or closed-loop power control indication, a closed-loop power control number (closed loop index), and the like); or the RS associated with the second beam comprises at least one of the following: a direct or indirect QCL source RS of the second beam (page 4, 19, the coincident reference signal is a reference signal of a QCL of the following type, the time duration required for the time-frequency synchronization is 0: reference signals for QCLs of type a, or reference signals for QCLs of type B, or reference signals for QCLs of type C); or a PL-RS associated with the second beam (page 11, the spatial relationship may further include related parameters for uplink transmission power control, including one or more of the following: a path loss estimation Reference signal (Pathloss Reference RS), a Reference power, a compensation coefficient (Alpha), an open-loop or closed-loop power control indication, a closed-loop power control number (closed loop index), and the like).
Regarding claim 12, PENG teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the indication information is carried in one or more pieces of beam switching signaling (page 14, The switching delay is mainly caused by the fact that the network device sends a signaling to perform TCI state switching, and therefore, the delay may also be referred to as TCI state switching delay, or beam switching delay).
Rgearding claim 13, PENG teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the indication information comprises at least one of the following: a spatial relation identifier; or a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state identifier (page 11, 14, the spatial relationship may further include related parameters for uplink transmission power control, including one or more of the following: a path loss estimation Reference signal (Pathloss Reference RS), a Reference power, a compensation coefficient (Alpha), an open-loop or closed-loop power control indication, a closed-loop power control number (closed loop index), and the like…The switching delay is mainly caused by the fact that the network device sends a signaling to perform TCI state switching, and therefore, the delay may also be referred to as TCI state switching delay, or beam switching delay).
Regarding claim 14, PENG teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the switching delay of the target beam comprises at least one of the following: a receiving and processing delay of the indication information; a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) delay; an L1 measurement time; a time-frequency synchronization and AGC adjustment time; or a path loss estimation time (the required delay (T) of a receive beamL1-RSRP)… a known TCI state, TL1-RSRP＝0…an unknown TCI state, if condition A1 is satisfied, TL1-RSRP0…TL1-RSRP＝TL1-RSRP_Measurement_Period_CSI-RS).
Regarding claim 15, PENG teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the determining, by the terminal, a switching delay of the target beam according to a first preset rule in a case that the indication information is received comprises: determining, by the terminal, the switching delay of the target beam based on a first switching delay according to the first preset rule in the case that the indication information is received (page 10, 15, 18, 19, the required delay (T) of a receive beamL1-RSRP)… a known TCI state, TL1-RSRP＝0…an unknown TCI state, if condition A1 is satisfied, TL1-RSRP0…TL1-RSRP＝TL1-RSRP_Measurement_Period_CSI-RS).
Regarding claim 16, PENG teaches the method according to claim 15, wherein the first switching delay is determined based on a protocol agreement (page 10, 15, 18, 19, the protocol places constraints on how long the terminal device needs to determine the receive beam. This time constraint is different according to the different states of the TCI state indicated by the network device on the terminal device side. For a known TCI state, this length of time is 0. For unknown TCI state, this length of time is related to the period of the reference signal.).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Nokia, Nokia Shanghai Bell (R4-2114419) teaches There will added signalling overhead in configuring UE for L1-RSRP measurements. Further, if the non-serving cell is not known, then the UE needs to perform PSS/SSS detection as well within the L1-RSRP measurement period (fig. 1, section 2).
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/THINH D TRAN/for /Thinh Tran/, Patent Examiner of Art Unit 2466 09/13/2026
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