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
2. 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 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.
3. The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Claims 1-4, 6, 12-13, 15, 19-22, 24 and 28-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nam et al. (US 2020/0396685- IDS), hereinafter Nam, in view of Matsumura et al. (US 2024/0356617; IDS – WO 2023/007698 A1), hereinafter Matsumura.
Regarding claim 1, Nam discloses: (1) a UE 115-c-fig.5, as device 905 shown in fig.9, comprising memory and processor, configured to perform the claimed steps, see 0142; (2) At 515-fig.5 (e.g., during a WUS occasion), UE 115-c may receive one or more of the WUSs transmitted by base station 105-c, see 0116. At 535, base station 105-c may transmit PDCCH data during the DRX on- duration (e.g., in cases where the wake-up message includes a wake-up indication for the UE 115-c). The UE 115-c may monitor for the PDCCH during the DRX on-duration, see 0120 (equivalent to receive a wakeup signal (WUS) indicating the UE is to wakeup and monitor for downlink transmission during a subsequent discontinuous reception (DRX) on-duration period); (3) At 525, UE 115-c may transmit, using the UL resources identified at 520, a beam report for the one or more configured beam pairs based on the wake-up message, see 0118.
Nam, however, fails to teach a report indicating beam strength of each of one or more uplink beams, in response to receiving the WUS.
Matsumura from the same field of endeavor as Nam teaches a diagram in figure 3 to show an example of the CSI report including the UL beam report. “CRI or SSBRI or SRI #1”, “CRI or SSBRI or SRI #2”, “CRI or SSBRI or SRI #3”, and “CRI or SSBRI or SRI #4” illustrated in FIG. 3 each indicate a UL beam index. “POWER/MPR Related value #1”, “POWER/MPR Related value #2”, “POWER/MPR Related value #3”, and “POWER/MPR Related value #4” are each a value related to transmission power/MPR of a UL beam corresponding to each UL beam index. The notation of FIG. 3 is an example, and another notation having similar meanings may be used. The UL beam indexes may be ordered according to strength of the RSRP/SINR, and a value related to transmission power/MPR corresponding to a first (optimal) UL beam index may be reported first, see 0054.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to employ a CSI report (beam report) including the UL beam report and the beam strength as taught by Matsumura into the system of Nam. The suggestion/motivation for doing so would have been to clarify as to at least one UL beam reported or selected in order to prevent system performance, such as throughput from deterioration.
Regarding claim 2 and claim 20, Nam discloses as discussed, a correspondence between WUSs and UL resources for feedback may be semi-statically configured via RRC signaling, may be dynamically indicated by each WUS, etc. UL resources for different UEs may be distinctive (e.g., UE-specific). For example, the UL resources may be allocated for different UEs using different time, frequency, code sequences, etc. In some cases (e.g., for multi-beam WUS transmission of a wake-up message), each beam (e.g., each WUS) may have separate UL resources or all beams may share the same UL resource (e.g., or may share some combination of UL resources). In the case that a pre-configured beam to be used for PDCCH during a DRX on-duration is sufficient, the UE may receive the PDCCH data using the pre-configured beam. Alternatively, the UE and base station may identify one or more alternative beams of sufficient quality based on the feedback (e.g., beam report) conveyed by the UE via the configured UL resources for WUS-based fast beam management techniques, see 0042, 0164.
Regarding claim 3 and claim 21, Matsumura discloses "In the present disclosure, UL RSRP (RSRP of UL) may be calculated as PUEtx-PL=PUEtx-(DL PBS-DL RSRP). PUEtx is transmission power of the UE, and may be determined using P-MPR based on UL high-speed transmission power control (TPC) and MPE. PL is path loss, and DL Pes is DL transmission power in the base station. In the present disclosure, the UL beam quality to be reported may be at least one of RSRP, PHR, and MPE (MPR) of the UL (UL beam).", see 0071-0072. It is noted that DL RSRP stands for downlink reference signal received power, implying the claimed reception and measuring of DL reference signals.).
Regarding claim 4 and claim 22, Matsumura discloses in figure 4 that beam 6 has the highest U-RSRP value in combination with Fig. 5 showing that beam 6 and its corresponding UL-RSRP are reported via the beam report.
Regarding claim 6 and 24, Nam discloses "In some examples, the WUS manager 1215 may set one or more wake- up indication bits in the set of wake-up messages based on the downlink data buffered at the base station for the one or more UEs.", see 0163; and "If the wake-up indication (e.g., the wake-up indication field) is set to "1," the UE, or sub-group of UEs, associated with the wake-up indication may wake-up for the next DRX on-duration. Otherwise (e.g., if the wake-up indication is set to "0"), the UE, or sub-group of UEs, associated with the wake-up indication may skip the next DRX on-duration (e.g., and remain in a sleep state or low power state to conserve power), see 0107. It is noted that it is considered as implicitly disclosed that a UE that receives a wake-up message that has no wake-up bit set remains in sleep mode and hence does not transmit any beam report.). Thus, “1” as positive value of the wakeup indication bit indicates the UE to transmit the report.
Regarding claim 12, please see the rejection of claim 1. The rejection of claim 1 is for an apparatus for wireless communication at a UE to a network entity has been described above, and it should be noted that an apparatus for wireless communication at the network entity to the UE can be performed in a similar manner. The BS 1305-fig.13 of Nam includes a memory and a processor configured to perform the claimed steps, see 0168.
Regarding claim 13 and claim 29, Nam discloses as discussed, a correspondence between WUSs and UL resources for feedback may be semi-statically configured via RRC signaling, may be dynamically indicated by each WUS, etc. UL resources for different UEs may be distinctive (e.g., UE-specific). For example, the UL resources may be allocated for different UEs using different time, frequency, code sequences, etc. In some cases (e.g., for multi-beam WUS transmission of a wake-up message), each beam (e.g., each WUS) may have separate UL resources or all beams may share the same UL resource (e.g., or may share some combination of UL resources). In the case that a pre-configured beam to be used for PDCCH during a DRX on-duration is sufficient, the UE may receive the PDCCH data using the pre-configured beam. Alternatively, the UE and base station may identify one or more alternative beams of sufficient quality based on the feedback (e.g., beam report) conveyed by the UE via the configured UL resources for WUS-based fast beam management techniques, see 0042, 0164.
Regarding claim 15, Nam discloses "In some examples, the WUS manager 1215 may set one or more wake- up indication bits in the set of wake-up messages based on the downlink data buffered at the base station for the one or more UEs.", see 0163; and "If the wake-up indication (e.g., the wake-up indication field) is set to "1," the UE, or sub-group of UEs, associated with the wake-up indication may wake-up for the next DRX on-duration. Otherwise (e.g., if the wake-up indication is set to "0"), the UE, or sub-group of UEs, associated with the wake-up indication may skip the next DRX on-duration (e.g., and remain in a sleep state or low power state to conserve power), see 0107. It is noted that it is considered as implicitly disclosed that a UE that receives a wake-up message that has no wake-up bit set remains in sleep mode and hence does not transmit any beam report.). Thus, “1” as positive value of the wakeup indication bit indicates the UE to transmit the report.
Regarding claim 19, this claim has similar limitations as those of claim 1. Therefore, it is rejected under Nam-Matsumura for the same reasons as set forth in the rejection of claim 1.
Regarding claim 28, this claim has similar limitations as those of claim 12. Therefore, it is rejected under Nam-Matsumura for the same reasons as set forth in the rejection of claim 12.
Allowable subject matter
7. Claims 5, 7, 8-11, 14, 16-18, 23, 25-27 and 30 are rejected based on its dependency, would be allowable if rewritten or amended to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
8. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Bao et al. (US 2022/0046744) is cited, and considered pertinent to the instant specification.
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUC C HO whose telephone number is (571)272-3147. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8am-4pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Gary Mui can be reached on 571-270-1420 (Gary.mui@uspto.gov). The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DUC C HO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2465
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