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
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Agiwal et al. (US Application 2017/0251518, hereinafter Agiwal).
Regarding claim 1, Agiwal discloses a baseband processor (figs. 2,4,5,19-21,29,30) configured to, when executing instructions stored in a memory([0401], which recites the controller 2920 may be a circuit, an application-specific circuit, or at least one processor. UE operations may be implemented using a memory unit storing corresponding program codes. Specifically, the UE may be equipped with a memory unit to store program codes implementing desired operations, and the controller 2920 may read and execute the program codes stored in the memory unit), perform operations comprising:
receive higher layer signaling that configures, for each discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle of a UE(Abstract, [0084], which recites the UE may start receiving the RS transmitted by each TX beam using best RX beam of the previous DRX cycle. Receiving, from a base station (BS), configuration information of discontinuous reception (DRX), performing beam measurement before a start of an on duration of the DRX, transmitting, to the BS, beam feedback information according to the beam measurement result, and performing a certain operation after transmitting the beam feedback information), a reference signal associated with each beam of a plurality of beams(Abstract, [0075], which recites a UE measures the reference signals (RSs) transmitted by the BS using beamforming to determine the best downlink (DL) transmitting (TX) beam and corresponding best receiving (RX) beam); and
determining, for each beam of the plurality of beams, an associated beam quality metric for that beam based on the reference signal associated with that beam([0084] -[0086],[0202], where the RSRP,RSRQ and CQI are considered as the quality metric for the beam); and
generating a Scheduling Request (SR) for transmission over an uplink beam during a DRX on duration, wherein the uplink beam is selected from the plurality of beams based on the associated beam quality metric(Abstract, [0083], [0088], which recites the UE sends beam feedback to the BS, In one embodiment, the beam feedback can be sent using random access (dedicated or contention based) or using dedicated radio resources configured for beam feedback, or using the dedicated SR followed by beam feedback).
Regarding claim 10, Agiwal discloses a UE (User Equipment) (figs. 2,4,5,11,19-21,29,30), comprising:
RF circuitry (2910) configured to convert between RF signals and baseband signals([0398], which recites A transceiver 2910 may transmit and receive signals to and from other network entities. Thereby, convert between RF signals and baseband signals ); one or more processors (2920) coupled to the RF circuitry([0400], which recites the controller 2920 and the transceiver 2910 may be electrically connected to each other ) and configured to process the baseband signals and cause ([0401], which recites the controller 2920 may be a circuit, an application-specific circuit, or at least one processor. UE operations may be implemented using a memory unit storing corresponding program codes. Specifically, the UE may be equipped with a memory unit to store program codes implementing desired operations, and the controller 2920 may read and execute the program codes stored in the memory unit), the UE to:
receive higher layer signaling that configures for a cell, at a first time during a discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle of the UE(Abstract, [0084], which recites the UE may start receiving the RS transmitted by each TX beam using best RX beam of the previous DRX cycle. Receiving, from a base station (BS), configuration information of discontinuous reception (DRX), performing beam measurement before a start of an on duration of the DRX, transmitting, to the BS, beam feedback information according to the beam measurement result, and performing a certain operation after transmitting the beam feedback information), a reference signal associated with that time and with a first beam Abstract, [0075], which recites a UE measures the reference signals (RSs) transmitted by the BS using beamforming to determine the best downlink (DL) transmitting (TX) beam and corresponding best receiving (RX) beam); and
transmit an indication of a determination of whether a beam failure of the first beam has occurred based on measuring of the reference signal(step 1135, [0153],where the out coverage area of a serving cell is considered as a beam failure. [0245],[0282] which also discloses the best beam is changed and the old best beam is not available the non-availability is also considered as beam failure ).
Regarding claim 18, Agiwal discloses a method (figs. 2,4,5,19-21,29,30), comprising:
measuring a beam quality metric for a beam based on a reference signal associated with the beam([0084] -[0086],[0202], where the RSRP,RSRQ and CQI are considered as the quality metric for the beam), wherein the reference signal is mapped to an associated set of time-frequency resources within or prior to a Discontinuous Reception (DRX) on duration of a user equipment (UE) (Abstract, [0084], which recites the UE may start receiving the RS transmitted by each TX beam using best RX beam of the previous DRX cycle. Receiving, from a base station (BS), configuration information of discontinuous reception (DRX), performing beam measurement before a start of an on duration of the DRX, transmitting, to the BS, beam feedback information according to the beam measurement result, and performing a certain operation after transmitting the beam feedback information);
transmitting a beam measurement report that indicates the beam quality metric, wherein the beam measurement report is configured as one of periodic, semi-persistent, or aperiodic([0075], which recites a UE measures the reference signals (RSs) transmitted by the BS using beamforming to determine the best downlink (DL) transmitting (TX) beam and corresponding best receiving (RX) beam. Let's say there are N TX beams at the BS and M RX beams at the MS. The BS transmits RS using N TX beams wherein each TX beam is repeated M times. The UE will try to receive each of N TX beams using each RX beam during the beam measurement duration. Beam measurement duration is configured to the UE depending on number of RX beams at the UE and time taken by BS to transmit N TX beams. After performing the measurement, the UE reports the measurement result (e.g., DL best TX beam) to the BS); and transmitting, over a beam determined based on the beam quality metric, a scheduling request (SR) during the DRX on duration([0177], which recites the UE sends beam feedback using the configured dedicated or common resources, the UE can start monitoring the downlink and check for scheduling messages using the last (i.e., in previous DRX cycle) reported TX beam and corresponding RX beam. So the UE monitors downlink and check for scheduling messages from start of BF duration 1350. If the BS has data to transmit it may start transmitting data to the UE using the last (i.e., in previous DRX cycle) reported TX beam before receiving the beam feedback).
Regarding claim 2, Agiwal discloses the baseband processor of claim 1, wherein, for each beam of the plurality of beams, the reference signal is mapped to an associated set of time-frequency resources within the DRX on duration([0075]-[0088]).
Regarding claim 3, Agiwal discloses the baseband processor of claim 1, wherein, for each beam of the plurality of beams, the reference signal is mapped to an associated set of time-frequency resources prior to the DRX on duration([0075]-[0088]).
Regarding claim 4, Agiwal discloses the baseband processor of claim 1, wherein the uplink beam is mapped to a selected set of Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resources, and wherein the selected set of PUCCH is uniquely associated with the reference signal associated with the uplink beam([0226]-[0233]).
Regarding claim 5, Agiwal discloses the baseband processor of claim 1, wherein, for each beam of the plurality of beams, the SR is generated based on a determination that the associated beam quality metric for the uplink beam is equal to or greater than a threshold value([0075]-[0088]).
Regarding claim 6, Agiwal discloses the baseband processor of claim 1, wherein a selected set of Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) resources is mapped to both the uplink beam and a first beam that is different than the uplink beam([0226]-[0233]).
Regarding claim 7, Agiwal discloses the baseband processor of claim 1, wherein the associated beam quality metric measured for the uplink beam was based on at least a threshold number of measurements to estimate a path loss associated with the uplink beam([0075]-[0088]), and wherein the operations further comprises: estimating the path loss associated with the uplink beam based at least in part on the associated beam quality metric([0075]-[0088]); and selecting a transmit power for the SR based on the estimated path loss associated with the uplink beam([0075]-[0088]).
Regarding claim 8, Agiwal discloses the baseband processor of claim 1, wherein the associated beam quality metric measured for a first beam of the plurality of beams is a highest associated beam quality metric, wherein the highest associated beam quality metric is based on a number of measurements to estimate a path loss associated with the uplink beam([0075]-[0088]), and wherein the operations further comprises:
selecting one of the first beam or a previous uplink beam as the uplink beam, wherein the previous uplink beam is associated with a previous path loss estimate([0075]-[0088]); and determining a transmit power for the SR based on the previous path loss estimate, if the number of measurements is fewer than a threshold number([0075]-[0088]).
Regarding claim 9, Agiwal discloses the baseband processor of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprises to monitor one or more of Downlink Control Information (DCI) for an Uplink (UL) grant, a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), via the uplink beam for which the SR was generated for transmission over([0226]-[0233],[0321]-[0335]).
Regarding claim 11, Agiwal discloses the UE of claim 10, wherein the beam failure of the first beam is also determined based on measuring the reference signal associated with a second time outside of the DRX on duration of the UE and during the DRX cycle of the UE([0075]-[0088], [0386]).
Regarding claim 12, Agiwal discloses the UE of claim 10, wherein, when the determination is made that the beam failure of the first beam occurred, the one or more processors are further configured to cause the UE to: transmit a beam failure recovery request over a set of resources, wherein, when the cell is a Primary Cell (PCell) or a Primary Secondary Cell (PSCell), the set of resources is associated with one of a contention-based Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) or a contention free PRACH, and wherein, when the cell is a Secondary Cell, the set of resources is associated with a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) grant of the UE([0066],[0153]), [0245]-[0250],[0266]-[0267]).
Regarding claim 13, Agiwal discloses the UE of claim 12, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to stop a DRX on duration timer in response to the determination that the beam failure of the first beam occurred([0153], [0245],[0282]).
Regarding claim 14, Agiwal discloses the UE of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to reset and restart the DRX on duration timer in response to the determination that the beam failure of the first beam occurred([0153], [0245],[0282]).
Regarding claim 15, Agiwal discloses the UE of claim 13, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: determine that the beam failure recovery request was unsuccessful([0153], [0245],[0282]); expire the DRX on duration timer; and enter a sleep state in response to an expiration of the DRX on duration timer([0153], [0245],[0282]).
Regarding claim 16, Agiwal discloses the UE of claim 12, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to stop a DRX inactivity timer in response to the determination that the beam failure of the first beam occurred([0153], [0245],[0282]).
Regarding claim 17, Agiwal discloses the UE of claim 16, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to reset or restart the DRX inactivity timer in response to processing a successful beam failure recovery response([0153], [0245],[0282]).
Regarding claim 19, Agiwal discloses the method of claim 18, wherein the beam measurement report is in response to a power saving signal that indicates to the UE to wake up([0076],[0078],[0316]).
Regarding claim 20, Agiwal discloses the method of claim 18, wherein the beam measurement report is aperiodic, and wherein the method further comprises transmitting a request for a DRX wake up for transmitting the beam measurement report, if the beam has changed by at least a threshold amount([0075]-[0088], [0386]).
Conclusion
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/DADY CHERY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2418
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