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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-20 received on 8/30/2024 have been examined, of which claims 1, 8 and 15 are independent.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 recites “determining: based on the first power offset, first channel state information (CSI) report quantities associated with the first resources, based on the second power offset, second CSI report quantities associated with the second resources, and a CSI report that includes at least one of the first CSI report quantities and the second CSI report quantities”. The specification does not appear to teach determining for CSI report “quantity” or number of reports associated with resource based on power offset. Para 89, 273, 285-286 in published application appear to describe CSI-RS varying transmission levels and resources, but does not appear to teach determining quantity of CSI report based on transmission levels. Claims 8, 15 and dependent claims are rejected for similar reasons.
Further, claim 2 recites “the first power offset is relative to first ratios of an energy per resource element (EPRE) of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) to first EPREs of the first resources for the CSI-RS, and the second power offset is relative to second ratios of the EPRE of the PDSCH to second EPREs of the second resources for the CSI-RS”. However, the specification does not appear to teach the ratios as claimed. Claims 9 and 16 are rejected for similar reasons.
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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 3, 7, 10, 14, 17 and 20 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 pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claim 3 recites “the first resources are separate from the second resources, or the first power offset is different from the second power offset, and quantities of the CSI report include at least one of a channel quality indicator (CQI), a rank indicator (RI), a precoder matrix indicator (PMI), and a layer indicator (LI)”. It is unclear if the “quantities” limitation is part of “the first power” limitation and optional for “the first resources” limitation. Claims 10 and 17 are rejected for similar reasons.
Claim 7 recites “the first resources” and “the second resources”, which are preceded by two recitations of the respective limitations : “first/second resources associated with first/second power offset” in claim 1 and “first/second resources associated with third/fourth power offset” in claim 7. It is unclear which recitation is further limited and the association of resources to the power offset. Claims 14 and 20 are rejected for similar reasons.
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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
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 1-4, 8-11, 15-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Manolakos et al. (WO 2021208007) in view of Cirik et al. (US 20200052769)
Regarding claim 1, Manolakos teaches a method of operating a user equipment (UE) (process flow that supports subband power offset configurations for CSI reporting and UE 115-b, fig 5), the method comprising:
receiving:
first information for a set of resources for a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) (para 98-99, 103: in 505- indication associated with first subband, in 510- indication associated with second subband, and in 525- a first set of resources for receiving the first set of CSI-RSs of the set of CSI-RSs may be within the first sub band and second set of resources for receiving the second set of CSI-RSs of the set of CSI-RSs may be within the second subband),
second information for (i) first resources from the set of resources and (ii) a first power offset, wherein the first resources are associated with the first power offset (para 98: at 505, the base station 105-b may transmit an indication of a first power offset (for example, a first power offset 405) associated with a first subband of a band (for example, a subband of a first set of subbands 330) , the UE 115-b may receive the indication of the first power offset),
third information for (ii) second resources from the set of resources and (ii) a second power offset, wherein the second resources are associated with the second power offset (para 99: at 510, the base station 105-b may transmit an indication of a second power offset (for example, a second power offset 410) associated with a second sub band of the band (for example, a subband of a second set of subbands 335), the UE 115-b may receive the indication of the second power offset), and
the CSI-RS using the first resources and the second resources (para 103: At 525, the base station 105-b may transmit a set of CSI-RSs (for example, a CSI-RS 325) over at least a portion of the band. The UE 115-b may receive the set of CSI-RSs, the set of CSI-RSs may include a first set of CSI-RSs and a second set of CSI-RSs, a first set of resources for receiving the first set of CSI-RSs of the set of CSI-RSs may be within the first sub band and second set of resources for receiving the second set of CSI-RSs of the set of CSI-RSs may be within the second subband);
determining:
based on the first power offset, first channel state information (CSI) report quantities associated with the first resources (para 104-105: the UE 115-b determining values for a first set of CSI report parameters for the first sub band based on the first power offset and the set of CSI-RSs, determining values for the first set of CSI report parameters involve first CQI),
based on the second power offset, second CSI report quantities associated with the second resources (para 104-105: determining the values for the set of CSI report parameters may involve the UE 115-b determining values for second set of CSI report parameters for the second sub band based on the second power offset and the set of CSI-RSs, determining values for the second set of CSI report parameters involve second CQI), and
a CSI report that includes at least one of the first CSI report quantities and the second CSI report quantities (para 107: transmitting the single CSI report or the multiple CSI reports may involve the UE 115-b transmitting a first CSI report indicating the values for the first set of CSI report parameters and a second CSI report indicating the values for the second set of CSI report parameters); and
transmitting a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) including the CSI report (para 107: at 535, the UE 115-b may transmit a single CSI report or multiple CSI reports indicating one or more of the values for the set of CSI report parameters. In some examples, transmitting the single CSI report or the multiple CSI reports may involve the UE 115-b transmitting a first CSI report indicating the values for the first set of CSI report parameters and a second CSI report indicating the values for the second set of CSI report parameters).
Manolakos teaches the CSI-RS resource information and configuration including power offset for first and second set of resources. The reference does not teach that the set of resources for CSI-RS of a serving cell. Cirik is directed to resource management for beam failure recovery.
Cirik further teaches receiving first information for a set of resources for a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) on a serving cell (para 411: a wireless device may be configured (e.g., for a serving cell) with a first set of periodic CSI-RS resource configuration indexes by a higher layer parameter, the wireless device may be configured with a second set of CSI-RS resource configuration indexes and/or SS/PBCH block indexes by a higher layer parameter, the first set of CSI-RS resource configuration indexes and/or SS/PBCH block indexes and/or the second set of CSI-RS resource configuration indexes and/or SS/PBCH block indexes may be used for radio link quality measurements on the serving cell). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine CSI-RS resource configuration based on power offset and CSI reporting as taught by Manolakos with CSI-RS resource sets configuration for serving cell as taught by Cirik for the benefit of providing improved resource management as taught by Cirik in abstract.
Regarding claim 8, Manolakos teaches a user equipment (UE) (UE 115, fig 5, device 905, fig 9), comprising:
a transceiver (transceiver 915, fig 9) configured to receive:
first information for a set of resources for a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) (para 98-99, 103: in 505- indication associated with first subband, in 510- indication associated with second subband, and in 525- a first set of resources for receiving the first set of CSI-RSs of the set of CSI-RSs may be within the first sub band and second set of resources for receiving the second set of CSI-RSs of the set of CSI-RSs may be within the second subband),
second information for (i) first resources from the set of resources and (ii) a first power offset, wherein the first resources are associated with the first power offset (para 98: at 505, the base station 105-b may transmit an indication of a first power offset (for example, a first power offset 405) associated with a first subband of a band (for example, a subband of a first set of subbands 330) , the UE 115-b may receive the indication of the first power offset),
third information for (i) second resources from the set of resources and (ii) a second power offset, wherein the second resources are associated with the second power offset (para 99: at 510, the base station 105-b may transmit an indication of a second power offset (for example, a second power offset 410) associated with a second sub band of the band (for example, a subband of a second set of subbands 335), the UE 115-b may receive the indication of the second power offset), and
the CSI-RS using the first resources and the second resources (para 103: At 525, the base station 105-b may transmit a set of CSI-RSs (for example, a CSI-RS 325) over at least a portion of the band. The UE 115-b may receive the set of CSI-RSs, the set of CSI-RSs may include a first set of CSI-RSs and a second set of CSI-RSs, a first set of resources for receiving the first set of CSI-RSs of the set of CSI-RSs may be within the first sub band and second set of resources for receiving the second set of CSI-RSs of the set of CSI-RSs may be within the second subband); and
a processor (processor 935, fig 9) operably connected to the transceiver (fig 9), the processor configured to determine:
based on the first power offset, first channel state information (CSI) report quantities associated with the first resources (para 104-105: the UE 115-b determining values for a first set of CSI report parameters for the first sub band based on the first power offset and the set of CSI-RSs, determining values for the first set of CSI report parameters involve first CQI),
based on the second power offset, second CSI report quantities associated with the second resources (para 104-105: determining the values for the set of CSI report parameters may involve the UE 115-b determining values for second set of CSI report parameters for the second sub band based on the second power offset and the set of CSI-RSs, determining values for the second set of CSI report parameters involve second CQI), and
a CSI report that includes at least one of the first CSI report quantities and the second CSI report quantities (para 107: transmitting the single CSI report or the multiple CSI reports may involve the UE 115-b transmitting a first CSI report indicating the values for the first set of CSI report parameters and a second CSI report indicating the values for the second set of CSI report parameters),
wherein the transceiver (transceiver 915, fig 9) is further configured to transmit a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) including the CSI report (para 107: at 535, the UE 115-b may transmit a single CSI report or multiple CSI reports indicating one or more of the values for the set of CSI report parameters. In some examples, transmitting the single CSI report or the multiple CSI reports may involve the UE 115-b transmitting a first CSI report indicating the values for the first set of CSI report parameters and a second CSI report indicating the values for the second set of CSI report parameters).
Manolakos teaches the CSI-RS resource information and configuration including power offset for first and second set of resources. The reference does not teach that the set of resources for CSI-RS of a serving cell. Cirik is directed to resource management for beam failure recovery.
Cirik further teaches receiving first information for a set of resources for a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) on a serving cell (para 411: a wireless device may be configured (e.g., for a serving cell) with a first set of periodic CSI-RS resource configuration indexes by a higher layer parameter, the wireless device may be configured with a second set of CSI-RS resource configuration indexes and/or SS/PBCH block indexes by a higher layer parameter, the first set of CSI-RS resource configuration indexes and/or SS/PBCH block indexes and/or the second set of CSI-RS resource configuration indexes and/or SS/PBCH block indexes may be used for radio link quality measurements on the serving cell). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine CSI-RS resource configuration based on power offset and CSI reporting as taught by Manolakos with CSI-RS resource sets configuration for serving cell as taught by Cirik for the benefit of providing improved resource management as taught by Cirik in abstract.
Regarding claim 15, Manolakos teaches a base station (BS 105, fig 5; device 1305, fig 13), comprising:
a transceiver (transceiver 1320, fig 13) configured to:
transmit:
first information for a set of resources for a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) (para 98-99, 103: in 505- indication associated with first subband, in 510- indication associated with second subband, and in 525- a first set of resources for receiving the first set of CSI-RSs of the set of CSI-RSs may be within the first sub band and second set of resources for receiving the second set of CSI-RSs of the set of CSI-RSs may be within the second subband),
second information for (i) first resources from the set of resources and (ii) a first power offset, wherein the first resources are associated with the first power offset (para 98: at 505, the base station 105-b may transmit an indication of a first power offset (for example, a first power offset 405) associated with a first subband of a band (for example, a subband of a first set of subbands 330) , the UE 115-b may receive the indication of the first power offset),
third information for (i) second resources from the set of resources and (ii) a second power offset, wherein the second resources are associated with the second power offset (para 99: at 510, the base station 105-b may transmit an indication of a second power offset (for example, a second power offset 410) associated with a second sub band of the band (for example, a subband of a second set of subbands 335), the UE 115-b may receive the indication of the second power offset), and
the CSI-RS using the first resources and the second resources (para 103: At 525, the base station 105-b may transmit a set of CSI-RSs (for example, a CSI-RS 325) over at least a portion of the band. The UE 115-b may receive the set of CSI-RSs, the set of CSI-RSs may include a first set of CSI-RSs and a second set of CSI-RSs, a first set of resources for receiving the first set of CSI-RSs of the set of CSI-RSs may be within the first sub band and second set of resources for receiving the second set of CSI-RSs of the set of CSI-RSs may be within the second subband); and
receive a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) or a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) including a CSI report (para 107: at 535, the UE 115-b may transmit a single CSI report or multiple CSI reports indicating one or more of the values for the set of CSI report parameters. In some examples, transmitting the single CSI report or the multiple CSI reports may involve the UE 115-b transmitting a first CSI report indicating the values for the first set of CSI report parameters and a second CSI report indicating the values for the second set of CSI report parameters); and
a processor (processor 1340, fig 13) operably connected to the transceiver (fig 13), the processor configured to determine, from the CSI report, at least one of: first channel state information (CSI) report quantities that are associated with the first resources and based on the first power offset (para 104-105: the UE 115-b determining values for a first set of CSI report parameters for the first sub band based on the first power offset and the set of CSI-RSs, determining values for the first set of CSI report parameters involve first CQI), and second CSI report quantities that are associated with the second resources and based on the second power offset (para 104-105: determining the values for the set of CSI report parameters may involve the UE 115-b determining values for second set of CSI report parameters for the second sub band based on the second power offset and the set of CSI-RSs, determining values for the second set of CSI report parameters involve second CQI).
Manolakos teaches the CSI-RS resource information and configuration including power offset for first and second set of resources. The reference does not teach that the set of resources for CSI-RS of a serving cell. Cirik is directed to resource management for beam failure recovery.
Cirik further teaches to transmit first information for a set of resources for a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) on a serving cell (para 411: a wireless device may be configured (e.g., for a serving cell) with a first set of periodic CSI-RS resource configuration indexes by a higher layer parameter, the wireless device may be configured with a second set of CSI-RS resource configuration indexes and/or SS/PBCH block indexes by a higher layer parameter, the first set of CSI-RS resource configuration indexes and/or SS/PBCH block indexes and/or the second set of CSI-RS resource configuration indexes and/or SS/PBCH block indexes may be used for radio link quality measurements on the serving cell). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine CSI-RS resource configuration based on power offset and CSI reporting as taught by Manolakos with CSI-RS resource sets configuration for serving cell as taught by Cirik for the benefit of providing improved resource management as taught by Cirik in abstract.
Regarding claim 2, 9 and 16, Manolakos further teaches wherein: the first power offset is relative to first ratios of an energy per resource element (EPRE) of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) to first EPREs of the first resources for the CSI-RS (para 84: each power offset may be defined as an energy per resource element ratio (EPRE) associated with the CSI-RS 325 and a downlink shared channel resource 310 (for example, a PD SCH resource), if the EPRE, which may be a ratio of CSI-RS power over PDSCH power, has a value of X (for example, in which X =0 dB), the first power offset associated with the first set of sub bands 330-a may have a power value P01 = X + Y (for example, in which Y = 10)), and
the second power offset is relative to second ratios of the EPRE of the PDSCH to second EPREs of the second resources for the CSI-RS (para 84: each power offset may be defined as an energy per resource element ratio (EPRE) associated with the CSI-RS 325 and a downlink shared channel resource 310 (for example, a PD SCH resource), if the EPRE, which may be a ratio of CSI-RS power over PDSCH power, has a value of X (for example, in which X =0 dB), the second power offset associated with the second set of subbands 335-a may have a power value P02 = X - Z (for example, in which Z = 10)).
Regarding claim 3, 10 and 17, Manolakos further teaches wherein: the first resources are separate from the second resources (fig 3-5; para 98-99, 103: first subband is 330, second subband is 335 and a first set of resources for receiving the first set of CSI-RSs of the set of CSI-RSs may be within the first sub band and second set of resources for receiving the second set of CSI-RSs of the set of CSI-RSs may be within the second subband; as shown in fig 3a-3b, the first and second subbands are different) and quantities of the CSI report include at least one of a channel quality indicator (CQI), a rank indicator (RI), a precoder matrix indicator (PMI), and a layer indicator (LI) (para 105 describe that CSI report parameter include CQI, RI, PMI and/or LI).
Regarding claim 4, 11 and 18, Manolakos further teaches wherein: the first resources are associated with a first spatial filter, and the second resources are associated with a second spatial filter (para 60: The base station 105 may transmit a reference signal (for example, a cells specific reference signal (CRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS)), the UE 115 may provide feedback for beam selection, which may be a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) or codebook-based feedback (for example, a multi-panel type codebook, a linear combination type codebook, a port selection type codebook); para 57: beamforming is spatial filtering; para 106: at 530, the UE 115-b may determine a first PMI for the first subband and a second PMI for the second subband; here, the spatial filtering is same as beamforming and beam determination, where the PMI is reported in CSI report for the beam selection for first and second subbands).
Claims 5-6, 12-13, 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Manolakos et al. (WO 2021208007) in view of Cirik et al. (US 20200052769) in further view of Kang et al. (US 20180013532)
Regarding claim 5 and 12, Manolakos in view of Cirik teaches the limitations of the parent claim. Manolakos in view of Cirik fails to teach trigger for CSI reporting. Kang is directed to aperiodic CSI transmission.
Kang further teaches wherein: a trigger for the CSI report indicates that the CSI report (abstract: the BS triggers an aperiodic CSI report using a CSI request field included in the uplink DCI format, when the UE is configured with more than one channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), the multi-bit field is included in the uplink DCI) includes one of: the first CSI report quantities, the second CSI report quantities, or the first CSI report quantities and the second CSI report quantities (para 11-13: the channel state information may be transmitted through a plurality of the PUSCHs placed in a plurality of uplink subframes, the plurality of PUSCHs may be indicated by a piece of scheduling information included in DCI including the channel state information request and information indicating a number of the plurality of PUSCHs). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine CSI-RS resource configuration based on power offset and CSI reporting as taught by Manolakos in view of Cirik with CSI reporting based on triggering as taught by Kang for the benefit of preventing radio resource wastage as taught by Kang in para 22.
Regarding claim 6 and 13, Manolakos in view of Cirik fails to teach, but Kang further teaches wherein: the CSI report is an aperiodic CSI report and the trigger is provided by a downlink control information (DCI) format (abstract: the BS receives, from the UE, aperiodic CSI through a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) if the BS triggers an aperiodic CSI report using a CSI request field included in the uplink DCI format). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine CSI-RS resource configuration based on power offset and CSI reporting as taught by Manolakos in view of Cirik with CSI reporting based on triggering as taught by Kang for the benefit of preventing radio resource wastage as taught by Kang in para 22.
Regarding claim 19, Manolakos in view of Cirik fails to teach, but Kang further teaches wherein: a trigger for the CSI report indicates that the CSI report (abstract: the BS triggers an aperiodic CSI report using a CSI request field included in the uplink DCI format, when the UE is configured with more than one channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), the multi-bit field is included in the uplink DCI) includes one of: the first CSI report quantities, the second CSI report quantities, or the first CSI report quantities and the second CSI report quantities (para 11-13: the channel state information may be transmitted through a plurality of the PUSCHs placed in a plurality of uplink subframes, the plurality of PUSCHs may be indicated by a piece of scheduling information included in DCI including the channel state information request and information indicating a number of the plurality of PUSCHs); and
the CSI report is an aperiodic CSI report and the trigger is provided by a downlink control information (DCI) format (abstract: the BS receives, from the UE, aperiodic CSI through a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) if the BS triggers an aperiodic CSI report using a CSI request field included in the uplink DCI format). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine CSI-RS resource configuration based on power offset and CSI reporting as taught by Manolakos in view of Cirik with CSI reporting based on triggering as taught by Kang for the benefit of preventing radio resource wastage as taught by Kang in para 22.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7, 14 and 20 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) and (b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 1st and 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RINA C PANCHOLI whose telephone number is (571)272-2679. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30am-4pm.
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/RINA C PANCHOLI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477 8/17/2026
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