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 .
Claims 1-28 are pending.
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.
Claims 1, 2, 8-9, 12, 13, 19-20, 23, 27 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Matsumura1 et al, application no. 2022/0131668, hereinafter known as Matsumura1.
As to claim 1, Matsumura1 discloses a method of wireless communications by a User Equipment (UE) (Matsumura1, figure 5, User equipment), comprising: transmitting, to a network entity, a UE capability indicating that the UE supports uplink (UL) Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) states for one or more uplink reference signals (RS) to be applied to an uplink transmission (Matsumura1, [0124], UE sending to the network capability information for reference signal in the uplink for TCI states, where capability is similar to downlink channel capability for TCI); receiving an indication of an UL TCI state after transmitting the UE capability (Matsumura1, [0135]-[0139], indication sent by network for TCI state in the DL that UE can use for uplink reference signal; [0169], updating uplink configuration when downlink configuration is received); and sending the uplink transmission in accordance with the indicated UL TCI state, wherein sending the uplink transmission in accordance with the indicated UL TCI state includes sending the uplink transmission based on the indicated UL TCI state (Matsumura1, [0113]-[0116], [0234], using the TCI state indication for uplink transmission by the UE).
As to claim 2, Matsumura1 discloses wherein the uplink transmission comprises at least one of a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), sounding reference signal (SRS), physical random access channel (PRACH), or physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) (Matsumura1, [0006], uplink transmission comprising PUCCH or SRS).
As to claim 8, Matsumura1 discloses further comprising receiving signaling from the network entity indicating UL TCI states have been activated for the UE based on the indicated UE support (Matsumura1, [0124], UE sending to the network capability information for reference signal in the uplink for TCI states, where capability is similar to downlink channel capability for TCI).
As to claim 9, Matsumura1 discloses wherein the signaling is via configuration of a radio resource control (RRC) parameter (Matsumura1, [0052], use of RRC signaling to configure TCI).
As to claims 12, 13 and 19-20, the claims are rejected as applied to claims 1, 2 and 8-9 respectively above by Matsumura1.
As to claims 23 and 27, the claims are rejected as applied to claims 1 and 8 respectively above by Matsumura1.
As to claims 28, the claim is rejected as applied to claim 1 above by Matsumura1.
Claims 3, 14 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumura1 in view of 3GPP TSG-RAN WG1 meeting #94, R1- 1809711, Gothenburg, Sweden, August 20th – 24th, 2018, Agenda item: 7.1.2.3, Source: Qualcomm Incorporated, Title: Beam management for NR, (IDS art), hereinafter known as Qualcomm.
As to claim 3, Matsumura1 discloses the method of claim 1. Matsumura1 does not expressly disclose however Qualcomm discloses wherein the UE capability indicates the UE supports UL TCI states for uplink beam updates (Qualcomm, section 20, using TCI signaling for uplink beam configuration).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Matsumura1 to include the limitations of wherein the signaling indicates the UE supports UL TCI states for uplink beam updates as taught by Qualcomm. Beamforming is performed in the art to set up communication in the network for UE that is adjusted for network metrics.
As to claim 14, the claim is rejected as applied to claim 3 above by Matsumura1 in view of Qualcomm.
As to claim 24, the claim is rejected as applied to claim 3 above by Matsumura1 in view of Qualcomm.
Claims 4, 11, 15 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumura1 in view of Matsumura et al, application no. 2022/0216929, hereinafter known as Matsumura2.
As to claim 4, Matsumura1 discloses the method of claim 1. Matsumura1 does not expressly disclose however Matsumura1 discloses wherein the UE capability indicates the UE supports UL TCI states for PL RS updates (Matsumura2, [0280], indicating PL RS using TCI by UE).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Matsumura1 to include the limitations of wherein the signaling indicates the UE supports UL TCI states for path loss reference signal (PL RS) updates as taught by Matsumura2. Path loss indication is used by the network to provision communication resources to the UE taking into account network conditions.
As to claim 11, Matsumura1 discloses the method of claim 1. Matsumura1 does not expressly disclose however Matsumura1 discloses wherein sending the uplink transmission in accordance with the uplink TCI alternately includes sending the uplink transmission based on an update to power control parameters derived from a path loss reference signal (PL RS) (Matsumura2, [0255], UE sending update of the power control based on PL RS for sending communications by the UE).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Matsumura1 to include the limitations of wherein sending the uplink transmission in accordance with the uplink TCI alternately includes sending the uplink transmission based on an update to power control parameters derived from a path loss reference signal as taught by Matsumura2. Power control indication is used by the network to provision communication resources to the UE taking into account network conditions such as PL RS to ensure the message is completed correctly.
As to claims 15 and 22, the claims are rejected as applied to claims 4 and 11 respectively above by Matsumura1 in view of Matsumura2.
Claims 10 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Matsumura1 in view of Jung et al, application no. 2020/0145062 hereinafter known as Jung.
As to claim 10, Matsumura1 disclose the method of claim 1. Matsumura1 dicloses uplink TCI processing by the UE (Matsumura1, [0113]-[0116], [0234], using the TCI state indication for uplink transmission by the UE). Matsumura1 does not disclose processing TCI states after TCI have been enabled however Jung discloses wherein the UE does not process UL TCI until the signaling indicating UL TCI states have been enabled for the UE (Jung, figure 4, step 408, UE communicating with UL TCI after being configured by the network at step 402).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Matsumura1 to include the limitations of wherein the UE does not process UL TCI until the signaling indicating UL TCI states have been enabled for the UE as taught by Jung. Use of communication resources after the resources are enabled are well known in the art.
As to claims 21, the claim is rejected as applied to claim 10 above by Matsumura1 in view of Jung.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 2, 8-10, 12, 13, 19-21, 23, 27 and 28 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GAUTAM SHARMA whose telephone number is (571)270-7182. The examiner can normally be reached 11am-8pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Hassan Phillips can be reached at 571-272-3940. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/GAUTAM SHARMA/ Examiner, Art Unit 2467
/HASSAN A PHILLIPS/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2467
Prosecution Insights