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 1-30 are pending.
Priority
The applicant’s claim for priority as a 371 national stage of PCT Application No. PCT/CN2023/084718, filed March 29, 2023, which claims priority to International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2022/090376, filed April 29, 2022, and International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2022/090414, filed April 29, 2022, is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 08/14/2024 and 05/01/2026 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 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, 2, 4-7, 10, 11, 13, 15-17, 19-22, 25, 26, 28, and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Uesaka et al. (US 2022/0386375), hereinafter “Uesaka”, in view of Geirhofer et al. (US 9,155,098), hereinafter “Geirhofer”.
Regarding claims 1, 16, Uesaka teaches:
An apparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE), or a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising:
a memory (see Uesaka, Fig. 3, par. [0079]: The hardware 80 of the WD 22 further includes processing circuitry 84. The processing circuitry 84 may include a processor 86 and memory 88); and
one or more processors, coupled to the memory (see Uesaka, Fig. 3, par. [0079]: The hardware 80 of the WD 22 further includes processing circuitry 84. The processing circuitry 84 may include a processor 86 and memory 88), configured to:
receive, from a network entity, a configuration associated with channel measurement resources (CMRs) (see Uesaka, par. [0098]: the WD 22 is configured with the CSI measurement resources and is also configured with the semi-persistent CSI reporting. Both the CSI measurement resources configuration and the semi-persistent CSI reporting configuration may be configured by higher layer signaling, e.g., radio resource control (RRC) signaling; in this case, CSI measurement resources configuration by higher layer signaling corresponds to receiving configuration associated with CMRs from a network entity);
perform downlink channel measurements associated with the CMRs (see Uesaka, Fig. 10, par. [0099]: Before the transmission of the HARQ-ACK, the WD 22 may perform CCA to be able to transmit UL signals. In the case of CCA success, the WD 22 may transmit the HARQ-ACK on the scheduled slot and start CSI measurement and report processing, and see pars. [0096-0097]: at least one WD 22 operates in a coverage area 18 served or managed by a network node 16 and configured with the channel state information (CSI) resources for CSI measurement),
store the downlink channel measurements for a period of time at the UE (see Uesaka, Fig. 16, par. [0113]: If the last CSI report before the reception of the deactivation command cannot be transmitted by the WD 22 due to the UL CCA failure, the WD 22 keeps the outstanding CSI (i.e., the CSI not transmitted) and starts the timer T3 and/or counter C3, and see par. [0114]: When the timer T3 is expired or the maximum value of the counter is reached, the WD 22 may drop the stored CSI report; in this case, keeping outstanding CSI corresponds to storing downlink channel measurements); and
transmit, to the network entity and based at least in part on a request, at least a portion of the downlink channel measurements (see Uesaka, Fig. 13, par. [0106]: During the period of T4, if the network node 16 requests the CSI reporting, e.g., transmits a CSI request with DCI on the PDCCH, then the WD 22 may transmit the stored CSI reports).
However, Uesaka does not teach:
wherein the downlink channel measurements are associated with one or more time instances;
Geirhofer, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the downlink channel measurements are associated with one or more time instances (see Geirhofer, col. 11, lines 15-22: a number of channel measurement resources and interference measurement resources included in the channel state information feedback reports may be limited to reduce the complexity of measuring CSI and generating a feedback report. Specifically, in one configuration, the CSI process includes at maximum number of channel measurement resources and interference measurement resources in the same subframe; in this case, channel measurement resources being associated with subframe corresponds to being associated with one or more time instances);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the downlink channel measurements of Uesaka with the association with time instances of Geirhofer with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of reducing complexity of measuring and reducing processing overhead (see Geirhofer, col. 11, lines 15-27).
Regarding claims 2, 17, the combination of Uesaka in view of Geirhofer teaches the apparatus or method. Uesaka further teaches:
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
receive, from the network entity and prior to an expiry of the period of time, the request for transmitting at least the portion of the downlink channel measurements (see Uesaka, Fig. 16, par. [0113]: If the network node 16 requests the CSI report while the timer T3 and/or counter C3 is running, the WD 22 may transmit the outstanding CSI (i.e., the stored CSI report)).
Regarding claims 4, 19, the combination of Uesaka in view of Geirhofer teaches the apparatus or method.
Uesaka does not teach, but Geirhofer teaches:
wherein the request indicates one or more of: a quantity of consecutive measurement occasions associated with the CMRs for the downlink channel measurements (optional limitation), CMR identifiers associated with the CMRs for the downlink channel measurements (see Geirhofer, col. 17, lines 28-37: the eNodeB may dynamically signal CSI requests to the UE. This signaling may include an index value identifying the desired CSI process during a given subframe. The total number of active CSI processes (i.e., or pending CSI requests) may not exceed the UE capability. Each CSI process configuration may identify one or more channel measurement resources and interference measurement resources. The UE may determine the CSI feedback based on both the channel measurement resources and interference measurement resources identified in the CSI process configuration; in this case, CSI requests including CSI process configuration identifying one or more channel measurement resources corresponds to the request indicating CMR identifiers which are used for CSI feedback (i.e. for downlink channel measurements)), or the time period associated with the downlink channel measurements (optional limitation).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the request of Uesaka with the association with CMR identifiers of Geirhofer with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of reducing complexity of measuring and reducing processing overhead (see Geirhofer, col. 11, lines 15-27).
Regarding claims 5, 20, the combination of Uesaka in view of Geirhofer teaches the apparatus or method.
Uesaka does not teach, but Geirhofer teaches:
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
transmit, to the network entity, a UE capability report (see Geirhofer, col. 17, lines 17-21: The UE transmits the capability to an eNodeB in block 804. The capability may be transmitted via a UE capability parameter in a specific capability signaling message or may be included in other messages transmitted to the eNodeB), wherein at least the portion of the downlink channel measurements is transmitted to the network entity based at least in part on the UE capability report (see Geirhofer, col. 17, lines 28-37: the eNodeB may dynamically signal CSI requests to the UE. This signaling may include an index value identifying the desired CSI process during a given subframe. The total number of active CSI processes (i.e., or pending CSI requests) may not exceed the UE capability. Each CSI process configuration may identify one or more channel measurement resources and interference measurement resources. The UE may determine the CSI feedback based on both the channel measurement resources and interference measurement resources identified in the CSI process configuration; in this case, CSI processes, and therefore CSI feedback, is limited by UE capability, corresponding to transmitting downlink channel measurements based on the UE capability report).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the apparatus or method of Uesaka with the UE capability report of Geirhofer with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of reducing complexity of measuring and reducing processing overhead (see Geirhofer, col. 11, lines 15-27).
Regarding claims 6, 21, the combination of Uesaka in view of Geirhofer teaches the apparatus or method.
Uesaka does not teach, but Geirhofer teaches:
wherein the UE capability report indicates one or more of: a maximum quantity of consecutive measurement occasions associated with the CMRs that the UE is able to store (optional limitation), a maximum quantity of CMRs associated with a set of CMRs that the UE is able to store (see Geirhofer col. 17, lines 12-17: a UE determines a UE capability corresponding to a maximum number of supported channel state information processes. The maximum number of supported channel state information processes may be selected by the UE and may depend on implementation constraints or other factors, and see col. 11, lines 15-22: a number of channel measurement resources and interference measurement resources included in the channel state information feedback reports may be limited to reduce the complexity of measuring CSI and generating a feedback report. Specifically, in one configuration, the CSI process includes at maximum number of channel measurement resources and interference measurement resources in the same subframe; in this case, the UE capability indicating the maximum number of channel measurement resources and interference measurement resources in the same subframe corresponds to the maximum quantity of CMRs that the UE is able to store), or a maximum quantity of slots, symbols, or absolute time units that the UE is able to store (optional limitation).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the apparatus or method of Uesaka with the association with UE capability report of Geirhofer with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of reducing complexity of measuring and reducing processing overhead (see Geirhofer, col. 11, lines 15-27).
Regarding claims 7, 22, the combination of Uesaka in view of Geirhofer teaches the apparatus or method. Uesaka further teaches:
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
discard the downlink channel measurements after an expiry of the period of time (see Uesaka, Fig. 16, par. [0113]: If the last CSI report before the reception of the deactivation command cannot be transmitted by the WD 22 due to the UL CCA failure, the WD 22 keeps the outstanding CSI (i.e., the CSI not transmitted) and starts the timer T3 and/or counter C3, and see par. [0114]: When the timer T3 is expired or the maximum value of the counter is reached, the WD 22 may drop the stored CSI report).
Regarding claims 10, 25, Uesaka teaches:
An apparatus for wireless communication at a network entity, comprising:
a memory (see Uesaka, Fig. 3, par. [0075]: the hardware 58 of the network node 16 further includes processing circuitry 68. The processing circuitry 68 may include a processor 70 and a memory 72); and
one or more processors, coupled to the memory (see Uesaka, Fig. 3, par. [0075]: the hardware 58 of the network node 16 further includes processing circuitry 68. The processing circuitry 68 may include a processor 70 and a memory 72), configured to:
transmit, to a user equipment (UE), a configuration associated with channel measurement resources (CMRs) (see Uesaka, par. [0098]: the WD 22 is configured with the CSI measurement resources and is also configured with the semi-persistent CSI reporting. Both the CSI measurement resources configuration and the semi-persistent CSI reporting configuration may be configured by higher layer signaling, e.g., radio resource control (RRC) signaling; in this case, CSI measurement resources configuration by higher layer signaling corresponds to transmitting configuration associated with CMRs from a network entity); and
receive, from the UE and based at least in part on a request, at least a portion of downlink channel measurements stored for a period of time at the UE (see Uesaka, Fig. 13, par. [0106]: During the period of T4, if the network node 16 requests the CSI reporting, e.g., transmits a CSI request with DCI on the PDCCH, then the WD 22 may transmit the stored CSI reports, and see Fig. 16, par. [0113]: If the last CSI report before the reception of the deactivation command cannot be transmitted by the WD 22 due to the UL CCA failure, the WD 22 keeps the outstanding CSI (i.e., the CSI not transmitted) and starts the timer T3 and/or counter C3, and see par. [0114]: When the timer T3 is expired or the maximum value of the counter is reached, the WD 22 may drop the stored CSI report),
However, Uesaka does not teach:
wherein the downlink channel measurements are associated with the CMRs and with one or more time instances.
Geirhofer, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the downlink channel measurements are associated with the CMRs and with one or more time instances (see Geirhofer, col. 11, lines 15-22: a number of channel measurement resources and interference measurement resources included in the channel state information feedback reports may be limited to reduce the complexity of measuring CSI and generating a feedback report. Specifically, in one configuration, the CSI process includes at maximum number of channel measurement resources and interference measurement resources in the same subframe; in this case, channel measurement resources being associated with subframe corresponds to being associated with one or more time instances).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the downlink channel measurements of Uesaka with the association with time instances of Geirhofer with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of reducing complexity of measuring and reducing processing overhead (see Geirhofer, col. 11, lines 15-27).
Regarding claims 11, 26, the combination of Uesaka in view of Geirhofer teaches the apparatus or method. Uesaka further teaches:
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
transmit, to the UE and prior to an expiry of the period of time, the request for transmitting at least the portion of the downlink channel measurements (see Uesaka, Fig. 16, par. [0113]: If the network node 16 requests the CSI report while the timer T3 and/or counter C3 is running, the WD 22 may transmit the outstanding CSI (i.e., the stored CSI report)).
Regarding claims 13, 28, the combination of Uesaka in view of Geirhofer teaches the apparatus or method.
Uesaka does not teach, but Geirhofer teaches:
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
receive, from the UE, a UE capability report (see Geirhofer, col. 17, lines 17-21: The UE transmits the capability to an eNodeB in block 804. The capability may be transmitted via a UE capability parameter in a specific capability signaling message or may be included in other messages transmitted to the eNodeB), wherein at least the portion of the downlink channel measurements is based at least in part on the UE capability report (see Geirhofer, col. 17, lines 28-37: the eNodeB may dynamically signal CSI requests to the UE. This signaling may include an index value identifying the desired CSI process during a given subframe. The total number of active CSI processes (i.e., or pending CSI requests) may not exceed the UE capability. Each CSI process configuration may identify one or more channel measurement resources and interference measurement resources. The UE may determine the CSI feedback based on both the channel measurement resources and interference measurement resources identified in the CSI process configuration; in this case, CSI processes, and therefore CSI feedback, is limited by UE capability, corresponding to transmitting downlink channel measurements based on the UE capability report).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the apparatus or method of Uesaka with the UE capability report of Geirhofer with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of reducing complexity of measuring and reducing processing overhead (see Geirhofer, col. 11, lines 15-27).
Regarding claims 15, 30, the combination of Uesaka in view of Geirhofer teaches the apparatus or method. Uesaka further teaches:
wherein at least the portion of the downlink channel measurements is associated with an aperiodic channel state information measurement reporting (see Uesaka, pars. [0017-0018]: The CSI reporting is configured as periodic, aperiodic, or semi-persistent. For periodic reporting, the WD transmits CSI on the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) according to the periodicity configured by the network. For the aperiodic CSI reporting, the WD transmits CSI on the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) only once after the WD receives a CSI request in downlink control information (DCI)).
Claims 3, 12, 14, 18, 27, and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Uesaka in view of Geirhofer, as applied to claims 1, 2, 4-7, 10, 11, 13, 15-17, 19-22, 25, 26, 28, and 30 above, and further in view of Sadeghi et al. (US 2022/0060921), hereinafter “Sadeghi”.
Regarding claims 3, 18, the combination of Uesaka in view of Geirhofer teaches the apparatus or method.
However, the combination of Uesaka in view of Geirhofer does not teach:
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
transmit, to the network entity and prior to an expiry of the period of time, the request for transmitting at least the portion of the downlink channel measurements.
Sadeghi, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
transmit, to the network entity and prior to an expiry of the period of time, the request for transmitting at least the portion of the downlink channel measurements (see Sadeghi, par. [0193]: a WTRU may be configured with resources which it may use when a measurement report has been triggered. In another example, a WTRU may indicate in an UL scheduling request message that the purpose of the UL transmission may be for reporting event-triggered measurements, and see par. [0197]: In response to an event which may relate to a measurement such as a measurement type described herein, a WTRU may transmit a report or measurement report, for example, to an eNode-B, and see par. [0204]: In a report which may be triggered by one measurement, a WTRU may (and/or may be configured to) report one or more other measurements. A measurement event for one measurement may trigger a WTRU to perform and/or report another measurement. For example, a WTRU may be configured with a set of subframes on which to take interference measurements. The WTRU may measure interference on a first subframe. Upon (or as a result of) comparing it to a threshold, the WTRU may be triggered to measure and/or report interference from one or more other subframes in the configured set of subframes, and see par. [0115]: Following the start of a measurement period and/or during (or during the length of) a measurement period for a certain measurement, a WTRU may begin making the measurements or may continue to make the measurements. The WTRU may combine the new measurements of a certain type with previous (for example, stored) values of the same type, for example the WTRU may use the new measurements in a filtered or averaged version of the measurement; in this case, transmitting a request for reporting measurements, including measurements from other subframes which may be combined with stored measurements corresponds to transmitting the request prior to an expiry of the period of time associated with stored measurements).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the apparatus or method of the combination of Uesaka in view of Geirhofer with the transmitting the request of Sadeghi with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of more efficient measurement reporting (see Sadeghi, par. [0091]).
Regarding claims 12, 27, the combination of Uesaka in view of Geirhofer teaches the apparatus or method.
However, the combination of Uesaka in view of Geirhofer does not teach:
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
receive, from the UE and prior to an expiry of the period of time, the request for transmitting at least the portion of the downlink channel measurements.
Sadeghi, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
receive, from the UE and prior to an expiry of the period of time, the request for transmitting at least the portion of the downlink channel measurements (see Sadeghi, par. [0193]: a WTRU may be configured with resources which it may use when a measurement report has been triggered. In another example, a WTRU may indicate in an UL scheduling request message that the purpose of the UL transmission may be for reporting event-triggered measurements, and see par. [0197]: In response to an event which may relate to a measurement such as a measurement type described herein, a WTRU may transmit a report or measurement report, for example, to an eNode-B, and see par. [0204]: In a report which may be triggered by one measurement, a WTRU may (and/or may be configured to) report one or more other measurements. A measurement event for one measurement may trigger a WTRU to perform and/or report another measurement. For example, a WTRU may be configured with a set of subframes on which to take interference measurements. The WTRU may measure interference on a first subframe. Upon (or as a result of) comparing it to a threshold, the WTRU may be triggered to measure and/or report interference from one or more other subframes in the configured set of subframes, and see par. [0115]: Following the start of a measurement period and/or during (or during the length of) a measurement period for a certain measurement, a WTRU may begin making the measurements or may continue to make the measurements. The WTRU may combine the new measurements of a certain type with previous (for example, stored) values of the same type, for example the WTRU may use the new measurements in a filtered or averaged version of the measurement; in this case, receiving a request for reporting measurements, including measurements from other subframes which may be combined with stored measurements corresponds to transmitting the request prior to an expiry of the period of time associated with stored measurements).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the apparatus or method of the combination of Uesaka in view of Geirhofer with the receiving the request of Sadeghi with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of more efficient measurement reporting (see Sadeghi, par. [0091]).
Regarding claims 14, 29, the combination of Uesaka in view of Geirhofer teaches the apparatus or method.
However, the combination of Uesaka in view of Geirhofer does not teach:
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
receive, from the UE, predicted future downlink channel measurements, wherein the predicted future downlink channel measurements are based at least in part on the downlink channel measurements ; and
receive, from the UE and based at least in part on a difference between additional downlink channel measurements and the predicted future downlink channel measurements satisfying a threshold, the request for transmitting at least the portion of the downlink channel measurements.
Sadeghi, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
receive, from the UE, predicted future downlink channel measurements, wherein the predicted future downlink channel measurements are based at least in part on the downlink channel measurements (see Sadeghi, par. [0192]: The WTRU may report a measurement or measurement parameter for one or more measurement types when triggered, for example by an event which may be based on the measurement value or a change in the measurement value, and see par. [0197]: In response to an event which may relate to a measurement such as a measurement type described herein, a WTRU may transmit a report or measurement report, for example, to an eNode-B, and see par. [0199]: A report may be triggered when a measurement may be (or may become) greater than (or less than) a configurable (or configured) threshold value. A report may be triggered when a measurement in an occasion (or set of occasions) may be (or may become) offset greater than (or offset less than) a measurement (for example, of the same type) in another occasion (or set of occasions) that may or may not have been previously reported; in this case, receiving reported measurements which may become greater than a configurable threshold value corresponds to receiving predicted future downlink channel measurements); and
receive, from the UE and based at least in part on a difference between additional downlink channel measurements and the predicted future downlink channel measurements satisfying a threshold, the request for transmitting at least the portion of the downlink channel measurements (see Sadeghi, par. [0193]: a WTRU may be configured with resources which it may use when a measurement report has been triggered. In another example, a WTRU may indicate in an UL scheduling request message that the purpose of the UL transmission may be for reporting event-triggered measurements, and see par. [0197]: In response to an event which may relate to a measurement such as a measurement type described herein, a WTRU may transmit a report or measurement report, for example, to an eNode-B, and see par. [0199]: A report may be triggered when a measurement may be (or may become) greater than (or less than) a configurable (or configured) threshold value. A report may be triggered when a measurement in an occasion (or set of occasions) may be (or may become) offset greater than (or offset less than) a measurement (for example, of the same type) in another occasion (or set of occasions) that may or may not have been previously reported, and see par. [0183]: Examples of the thresholds triggering measurement feedback include at least one of: a minimum (or maximum) value has been achieved, an offset change in value is observed over adjacent measurement opportunities, an offset difference between two LAA channels and/or cells has been measured (for example, an offset difference between a measurement cell and a serving cell); in this case, receiving a scheduling request for reporting measurements which may become greater than a threshold based on an offset change over adjacent measurements corresponds to receiving the request based on a difference between additional measurements and predicted measurements satisfying a threshold).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the apparatus or method of the combination of Uesaka in view of Geirhofer with the receiving predicted future downlink channel measurements and receiving the request of Sadeghi with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of more efficient measurement reporting (see Sadeghi, par. [0091]).
Claims 8, 9, 23, and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Uesaka in view of Geirhofer, as applied to claims 1, 2, 4-7, 10, 11, 13, 15-17, 19-22, 25, 26, 28, and 30 above, and further in view of Liu et al. (US 2022/0345188), hereinafter “Liu”, and further in view of Sadeghi.
Regarding claims 8, 23, the combination of Uesaka in view of Geirhofer teaches the apparatus or method.
However, the combination of Uesaka in view of Geirhofer does not teach:
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
determine predicted future downlink channel measurements based at least in part on the downlink channel measurements; and
transmit, to the network entity, the predicted future downlink channel measurements.
Liu, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
determine predicted future downlink channel measurements based at least in part on the downlink channel measurements (see Liu, Fig. 10, pars. [0136-0139]: S102: The second node determines the first CSI based on the first packet. The first CSI indicates a state of a channel from the first node to the second node. When the first node is a main control node (for example, an AP) and the second node is a measurement node (for example, a STA), the first CSI indicates a channel condition of a downlink. For example, the second node determines the first CSI based on a preamble part of the first packet and a locally stored known sequence. S103: If a change amount of the first CSI relative to preset CSI exceeds the threshold, the second node sends the second packet to the first node; in this case, determining a change amount of CSI corresponds to determining predicted future downlink channel measurements);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the apparatus or method of the combination of Uesaka in view of Geirhofer with the predicted future downlink channel measurements of Liu with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of saving transmission resources, reducing interference, and reducing power consumption (see Liu, par. [0008]).
However, the combination of Uesaka in view of Geirhofer, and further in view of Liu, does not teach:
transmit, to the network entity, the predicted future downlink channel measurements.
Sadeghi, in the same field of endeavor, teaches:
transmit, to the network entity, the predicted future downlink channel measurements (see Sadeghi, par. [0192]: The WTRU may report a measurement or measurement parameter for one or more measurement types when triggered, for example by an event which may be based on the measurement value or a change in the measurement value, and see par. [0197]: In response to an event which may relate to a measurement such as a measurement type described herein, a WTRU may transmit a report or measurement report, for example, to an eNode-B, and see par. [0199]: A report may be triggered when a measurement may be (or may become) greater than (or less than) a configurable (or configured) threshold value. A report may be triggered when a measurement in an occasion (or set of occasions) may be (or may become) offset greater than (or offset less than) a measurement (for example, of the same type) in another occasion (or set of occasions) that may or may not have been previously reported; in this case, reporting measurements which may become greater than a configurable threshold value corresponds to transmitting predicted future downlink channel measurements).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the apparatus or method of the combination of Uesaka in view of Geirhofer, and further in view of Liu, with the transmitting the predicted measurements of Sadeghi with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of more efficient measurement reporting (see Sadeghi, par. [0091]).
Regarding claims 9, 24, the combination of Uesaka in view of Geirhofer, and further in view of Liu, and further in view of Sadeghi, teaches the apparatus or method.
The combination of Uesaka in view of Geirhofer, and further in view of Liu, does not teach, but Sadeghi teaches:
wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:
determine that a difference between additional downlink channel measurements and the predicted future downlink channel measurements satisfies a threshold (see Sadeghi, par. [0199]: A report may be triggered when a measurement may be (or may become) greater than (or less than) a configurable (or configured) threshold value. A report may be triggered when a measurement in an occasion (or set of occasions) may be (or may become) offset greater than (or offset less than) a measurement (for example, of the same type) in another occasion (or set of occasions) that may or may not have been previously reported, and see par. [0183]: Examples of the thresholds triggering measurement feedback include at least one of: a minimum (or maximum) value has been achieved, an offset change in value is observed over adjacent measurement opportunities, an offset difference between two LAA channels and/or cells has been measured (for example, an offset difference between a measurement cell and a serving cell); in this case, determining that a measurement may become greater than an offset change over adjacent measurements corresponds to determining a difference between additional measurements and predicted measurements satisfies a threshold); and
transmit, to the network entity and based at least in part on the difference satisfying the threshold, the request for transmitting at least the portion of the downlink channel measurements (see Sadeghi, par. [0193]: a WTRU may be configured with resources which it may use when a measurement report has been triggered. In another example, a WTRU may indicate in an UL scheduling request message that the purpose of the UL transmission may be for reporting event-triggered measurements, and see par. [0197]: In response to an event which may relate to a measurement such as a measurement type described herein, a WTRU may transmit a report or measurement report, for example, to an eNode-B, and see par. [0199]: A report may be triggered when a measurement may be (or may become) greater than (or less than) a configurable (or configured) threshold value. A report may be triggered when a measurement in an occasion (or set of occasions) may be (or may become) offset greater than (or offset less than) a measurement (for example, of the same type) in another occasion (or set of occasions) that may or may not have been previously reported; in this case, sending a scheduling request for reporting measurements which may become greater than a threshold based on an offset change over adjacent measurements corresponds to transmitting the request based on a difference between additional measurements and predicted measurements satisfying a threshold).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to have modified the apparatus or method of the combination of Uesaka in view of Geirhofer with the transmitting the request of Sadeghi with a reasonable expectation of success. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification for the benefit of more efficient measurement reporting (see Sadeghi, par. [0091]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Cheema et al. (US 2025/0203399) teaches aspects related to utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) and/or machine learning (ML) prediction models when compensating for channel aging in non-terrestrial networks (NTNs).
Jin et al. (US 2021/0314122) teaches a method for configuring channel state information CSI reporting and a communication apparatus including receiving configuration information for CSI reporting, performing channel measurements, and feeding back CSI.
Lee (US 2018/0206265) teaches a communication device for handling channel status information (CSI) reports for transmission time intervals (TTIs).
Rahman et al. (US 2023/0370139) teaches apparatuses and methods for a channel state information (CSI) reference resource and reporting window, including receiving a configuration indicating (i) a set of time slots that the CSI report is valid for, (ii) a CSI reference resource, and (iii) an uplink (UL) time slot n′.
Zhang et al. (US 2021/0376896) teaches a UE receiving a configuration message including an indicator of a resource for channel measurement and transmitting a report based on the configuration message.
Yin et al. (WO 2022/077288) teaches a method for aperiodic channel state information (A-CSI) feedback is executed by user equipment (UE) and a base station.
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/C.J.B./Examiner, Art Unit 2419
/Nishant Divecha/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2419
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