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 § 102
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ma et al. (US Publication 2023/0284139 A1).
The applied reference has a common assignee with the instant application. Based upon the earlier effectively filed date of the reference, it constitutes prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2). This rejection under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) might be overcome by: (1) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(a) that the subject matter disclosed in the reference was obtained directly or indirectly from the inventor or a joint inventor of this application and is thus not prior art in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(A); (2) a showing under 37 CFR 1.130(b) of a prior public disclosure under 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(B) if the same invention is not being claimed; or (3) a statement pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) establishing that, not later than the effective filing date of the claimed invention, the subject matter disclosed in the reference and the claimed invention were either owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person or subject to a joint research agreement.
In regards to claims 1 and 19 Ma teaches, a method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving, from a transmit-and-receive point (TRP), a first indication that the TRP is performing wireless communication using a first set of radio frequency (RF) components different from a second set of RF components (see paragraph 261-262 and figure 19, step 604-606-608; proceeds to step 606 in which the UE operates in a non-AI mode, e.g. an air interface is implemented in a conventional non-AI way, such as according to the signaling, measurement, and feedback protocols defined in a standard that does not incorporate AI; If the UE is AI capable, then at step 608 the UE receives, from the network, an AI-based air interface component configuration; see paragraph 260 for the network device being a TRP); and in response to receiving the first indication: wirelessly communicating with the TRP in a first mode of operation different from a second mode of operation (see figure 19 steps 606, 608; the UE operates in either the non-AI or AI mode). Note: Either of the AI-mode or non-AI mode can be interpreted as either the first mode or the second mode. Figure 3 in Ma shows a T-TRP and NT-TRP which read on the first vs second RF components.
In regards to claim 2, Ma teaches, wherein fewer bits are wirelessly communicated in order to indicate a particular value when operating in the first mode of operation than when operating in the second mode of operation (see paragraph 267; the mode switch signaling may be sent from the network to the UE semi-statically (e.g. in RRC signaling or in a MAC CE) or dynamically (e.g. in DCI); see paragraph 310; the second stage DCI 704 includes a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) field, and the second stage DCI 704 may indicate whether the MCS field in the second stage DCI 704 is for AI implementation or non-AI implementation. For example, if it is for non-AI implementation, the MCS field may consist of M1 bits (e.g. 5 bits) to indicate the modulation order and coding rate from a list of options; otherwise, the MCS field may consist of M2 bits to indicate the input of an AI module (e.g. AI inference engine) at the UE side, where M2 could be different than M1 (e.g. M2 is 3 bits and M1 is 5 bits). In an AI implementation, the UE uses the value of the M2 bits as the AI input to infer the exact value of modulation order and coding rate.).
In regards to claims 3 and 20, Ma teaches, subsequent to the wirelessly communicating with the TRP in the first mode of operation, receiving, from the TRP, a second indication that the TRP is performing the wireless communication using the second set of RF components and in response to receiving the second indication: wirelessly communicating with the TRP in the second mode of operation (see paragraph 318; The AI indicator bit(s) may allow dynamic switching between AI and non-AI modes, e.g. if the network device 352 notices that the AI mode is not efficient or effective, the network device 352 may switch to a conventional non-AI method, and possibly indicate a retraining procedure, thereby pivoting dynamically to try to maintain the UE's performance).
In regards to claim 4, Ma teaches, wherein fewer bits are used by the UE to report a channel measurement when operating in the first mode of operation than when operating in the second mode of operation (see paragraph 351; it may be the case that in some AI-enabled air interface schemes, more bits of feedback (compared to a conventional non-AI implementation) are needed during a training phase. Then, post-training, fewer bits of feedback (compared to a conventional non-AI implementation) might only be required. For example, the feedback during training might include channel measurement results (e.g. CSI, etc.) and/or might include other items not necessarily transmitted in a non-AI air interface implementation, e.g. throughput, latency, power consumption, bit error rate, log likelihood ratio (LLR) values, indications of a change in direction, sequences or other information for training purposes, measurement results, etc. Post-training, there may be less feedback in the AI-enabled interface, e.g. only information indicative of an error rate, such as BER, block error rate (BLER), or packet error rate).
In regards to claim 5, Ma teaches, wherein fewer bits are used in downlink control information (DCI) to indicate a modulation-and-coding scheme (MCS) when operating in the first mode of operation than when operating in the second mode of operation (see paragraph 310; Modulation and Coding schemes (1+M1 or 1+M2 bits)).
In regards to claim 6, Ma teaches transmitting a message to the TRP, the message requesting that the TRP use the second set of RF components for the wireless communication instead of the first set of RF components (see paragraph 7; The TRP may wirelessly communicate with one or more UEs in the vicinity of the TRP. The UEs may perform sensing and feedback measurements or results based on the sensing, which the TRP may then use to determine the required information about the objects and/or conditions in the vicinity of the TRP; see paragraphs 151-154; For example, the carriers available for each service and/or each UE may be considered. [0152] (C) Environment/channel conditions, e.g. between the UE and a TRP. [0153] (D) Available TRPs and their capabilities, e.g. some TRPs might support more advanced functionality than other TRPs. [0154] (E) Capability of the UE, e.g. non-AI capable, AI capable, AI mode 1, AI mode 2, etc.).
In regards to claim 7, Ma teaches, wherein the message is transmitted in response to a wireless channel condition between the TRP and the UE being at or below a particular value (see paragraph 7; see paragraph 7; The TRP may wirelessly communicate with one or more UEs in the vicinity of the TRP. The UEs may perform sensing and feedback measurements or results based on the sensing, which the TRP may then use to determine the required information about the objects and/or conditions in the vicinity of the TRP).
In regards to claim 8, Ma teaches, wherein, when the first set of RF components is being used for the wireless communication the second set of RF components is not being used for the wireless communication, and wherein, when the second set of RF components is being used for the wireless communication, the first set of RF components is not being used for the wireless communication (see paragraph 90; other UEs might only support AI optimization of individual air interface components on a component-by-component basis).
In regards to claim 9, Ma teaches, wherein the second set of RF components results in better performance than the first set of RF components (see paragraph 89; The network device 352 might still use AI to try to better optimize or configure one or more air interface components for communicating with the UE 308, e.g. to select between different possible predefined options for an air interface component).
In regards to claim 10, Ma teaches, wherein the second set of RF components consumes more power than the first set of RF components (see paragraph 9; the network or UE might not always want to implement AI, e.g. to reduce power consumption or because performance is acceptable without AI).
In regards to claim 11, Ma teaches, a device comprising: a first set of radio frequency (RF) components; a second set of RF components different from the first set of RF components (see figure 2, NT-TRP and T-TRP); at least one processor (see figure 3, processor 276 or processor 260); and a memory storing processor-executable instructions (see figure 3, memories 258, 278) that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to: perform wireless communication using the first set of RF components and not the second set of RF components (see paragraph 90; other UEs might only support AI optimization of individual air interface components on a component-by-component basis); and in response to a trigger: perform the wireless communication using the second set of RF components and not the first set of RF components (see paragraph 318; The AI indicator bit(s) may allow dynamic switching between AI and non-AI modes, e.g. if the network device 352 notices that the AI mode is not efficient or effective, the network device 352 may switch to a conventional non-AI method, and possibly indicate a retraining procedure, thereby pivoting dynamically to try to maintain the UE's performance), wherein the first set of RF components consumes less power than the second set of RF components (see paragraph 9; the network or UE might not always want to implement AI, e.g. to reduce power consumption or because performance is acceptable without AI).
In regards to claim 12, Ma teaches, wherein the first set of RF components comprises a first RF unit (RFU), and the second set of RF components comprises a different second RFU (see the NT-TRP and T-TRP in figure 3).
In regards to claim 13, Ma teaches, wherein the device further includes a baseband unit (BBU), and wherein the first RFU and the second RFU communicate with the BBU (see paragraph 52; the BBU).
In regards to claim 14, Ma teaches, wherein the first RFU has fewer power amplifiers than the second RFU (see paragraph 118; AI is implemented to optimize an irregular constellation (perhaps in terms of optimizing Euclidean distance), where the optimization may incorporate factors such as PAPR reduction and/or robustness to impairments from devices or the communication channel (e.g. phase noise, Doppler, power amplifier (PA) non-linearity, etc.)).
In regards to claim 15, Ma teaches, wherein the first set of RF components has at least one of: a reduced circuit chip area than a circuit chip area of the second set of RF components; a reduced RF component size than an RF component size of the second set of RF components; a fewer number of RF components than a number of RF components in the second set of RF components; a fewer number of crystal oscillators than a number of crystal oscillators in the second set of RF components; a fewer number of filters than a number of filters in the second set of RF components; or a fewer number of power amplifiers than a number of power amplifiers in the second set of RF components (see paragraph 118; AI is implemented to optimize an irregular constellation (perhaps in terms of optimizing Euclidean distance), where the optimization may incorporate factors such as PAPR reduction and/or robustness to impairments from devices or the communication channel (e.g. phase noise, Doppler, power amplifier (PA) non-linearity, etc.)).
In regards to claim 16, Ma teaches, wherein a first static power consumption of the first set of RF components is less than a second static power consumption of the second set of RF components, wherein the first static power consumption of the first set of RF components is a first power consumption of the first set of RF components when the first set of RF components are powered and ready for the wireless communication but are not performing the wireless communication, and wherein the second static power consumption of the second set of RF components is a second power consumption of the second set of RF components when the second set of RF components are powered and ready for the wireless communication but are not performing the wireless communication (see paragraph 9; (see paragraph 9; the network or UE might not always want to implement AI, e.g. to reduce power consumption or because performance is acceptable without AI) ).
In regards to claim 17, Ma teaches, wherein, during the performing the wireless communication using the first set of RF components, the second set of RF components remains powered and ready for the wireless communication but is not being used to perform wireless the communication, and wherein, during the performing the wireless communication using the second set of RF components, the first set of RF components remains powered and ready for the wireless communication but is not being used to perform the wireless communication (see paragraph 90; different UEs having the ability to support an AI-enabled air interface may have different levels of AI capabilities. For example, UE 302 might only support AI implementation in relation to a few air interface components in the physical layer, e.g. modulation and coding, whereas UE 304 may support AI implementation in relation to several air interface components in both the physical layer in MAC layer. Also, sometimes a UE may support joint AI optimization of multiple air interface components, whereas other UEs might only support AI optimization of individual air interface components on a component-by-component basis).
In regards to claim 18, Ma teaches wherein the device comprises a transmit-and-receive point (TRP) (see the TRP in figure 2), and wherein the trigger comprises at least one of: a message from an apparatus triggering a switch from the first set of RF components to the second set of RF components (see paragraph 318; The AI indicator bit(s) may allow dynamic switching between AI and non-AI modes, e.g. if the network device 352 notices that the AI mode is not efficient or effective, the network device 352 may switch to a conventional non-AI method, and possibly indicate a retraining procedure, thereby pivoting dynamically to try to maintain the UE's performance); a predicted or expected or actual traffic load of the TRP being within a particular range; a predicted or expected or actual physical resource block (PRB) usage ratio of the TRP being within a given range; a wireless channel condition between the TRP and a user equipment (UE) being at or below a particular value; a throughput for the UE being at or below a particular throughput value; expiry of a timer; or a time being within a particular time range.
Relevant Prior Art
Prior art Sun et al. (US Publication 2023/0276475 A1) teaches, CSI reporting enhancements for Multi-TRP operation (see figures 6A-7B).
Conclusion
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/JAY P PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466
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