DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
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.
Claim Objections
2. Claims 1, 51 and 56 are objected to because of the following informalities: Preamble of Claim 1 discloses a method of operating an infrastructure
equipment forming part of a wireless communications network, the infrastructure
equipment being configured to transmit signals to and/or to receive signals from a
communications device and/or to transmit signals to and/or receive signals from a
reconfigurable intelligent surface, RIS, the method comprising……., there should be a
colon (:) after the underlined comprising. Appropriate correction is required.
Preamble of Claim 51 discloses an infrastructure equipment forming part of a wireless communications network, the infrastructure equipment comprising……., there should be a colon (:) after the underlined comprising. Appropriate correction is required.
Preamble of Claim 56 discloses a communications device comprising……., there should be a colon (:) after the underlined comprising. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
3. 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.
4. Claim 56 is 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.
Independent Claim 56 recites the limitation ‘…..to transmit the signal to or receive the signal from the infrastructure equipment via the one or more selected beams’. There is insufficient antecedent for the underlined limitation(s).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. 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.
6. Claims 1-13, 15, 17, 21-23, 51 and 56 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Publication No.: US 2023/0208479 A1 to Wang et al. (Wang), in view of Publication No.: US 2025/0233622 A1 to Elshafie et al. (Elshafie).
As to Claim 1, Wang discloses a method of operating an infrastructure equipment forming part of a wireless communications network, the infrastructure equipment being configured to transmit signals to and/or to receive signals from a communications device and/or to transmit signals to and/or receive signals from a reconfigurable intelligent surface, RIS, the method comprising, during an operational phase,
determining a signature value associated with the communications device (‘in implementations, the base station 120 configures the RIS 406 to direct how the signal ray 191 transforms into the signal ray 192 for downlink communications. Alternatively, or additionally, for uplink communications, the base station 120 directs how the RIS 406 transforms signal ray 192 into signal ray 191. For example, the base station 120 analyzes link quality parameters (NOTE: link quality parameters is interpreted as signature value) (e.g., downlink quality parameters, uplink quality parameters, historical link quality parameters) to identify channel impairments. By way of example, and not of limitation, various link quality parameters that do not meet an acceptable performance level can indicate channel impairments, such as by a delay spread between a first received signal and a last received signal (e.g., received multi-path rays) exceeding an acceptable delay spread threshold, or by an average time-delay (of the multi-path rays) exceeding an acceptable average time-delay threshold and/or absorption by an object that blocks a ray’, ¶ 0059; see also ¶ 0028),
wherein at least one of the plurality of beams is a direct beam between the infrastructure equipment and the communications device and at least one other of the plurality of beams is a beam between the communications device and the RIS (‘as part of communicating with the UE 110 through wireless link 131, the base station 121 beams a downlink wireless signal intended for the UE 110. A first ray of the downlink wireless signal (e.g., signal ray 191) propagates towards the UE 110 in a line-of-sight manner, and a second ray of the downlink wireless signal (e.g., signal ray 192) propagates towards the APD 180. The signal ray 192 strikes the surface of the APD 180 and transforms into signal ray 193 that propagates towards the UE 110. In aspects, the signal ray 192 strikes the surface of an RIS of the APD 180’, ¶ 0033), and
wherein each of the at least one of the plurality of beams between the communications device and the RIS are generated at the RIS through controlling, by the infrastructure equipment, a configuration of the RIS (‘as part of communicating with the UE 110 through wireless link 131, the base station 121 beams a downlink wireless signal intended for the UE 110. A first ray of the downlink wireless signal (e.g., signal ray 191) propagates towards the UE 110 in a line-of-sight manner, and a second ray of the downlink wireless signal (e.g., signal ray 192) propagates towards the APD 180. The signal ray 192 strikes the surface of the APD 180 and transforms into signal ray 193 that propagates towards the UE 110. In aspects, the signal ray 192 strikes the surface of an RIS of the APD 180’, ¶ 0033).
Wang does not expressly disclose selecting, based on the signature value, one or more of a plurality of beams for the transmission of a signal between the infrastructure equipment and the communications device, each of the plurality of beams being associated with one of a plurality of possible signature values, and transmitting the signal to or receiving the signal from the communications device via the one or more selected beams.
However, Elshafie discloses selecting, based on the signature value, one or more of a plurality of beams for the transmission of a signal between the infrastructure equipment and the communications device, each of the plurality of beams being associated with one of a plurality of possible signature values (‘the sidelink UE may then transmit a beam training sequence to the RIS for beam training the RIS to identify a beam index, of multiple beam indices, that satisfies one or more beam selection criteria. In some examples, the beam training sequence is a sequence of reference signals. The beam index may satisfy the beam selection criteria based on the beam index being associated with a highest spectral efficiency, a highest reference signal received power (RSRP), a highest reference signal received quality (RSRQ), or a lowest signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR)’, ¶ 0039), and
transmitting the signal to or receiving the signal from the communications device via the one or more selected beams (‘the UE 104 may include a RIS reservation component 198 configured to receive a reservation confirmation message indicating an assignment of a RIS to the first SL UE; receive a communication window message indicating a period of time associated with the assignment; transmit, within the period of time, a beam training sequence for beam training the RIS to identify a beam index, of multiple beam indices, that satisfies one or more beam selection criteria; and transmit, within the period of time via a beam associated with the beam index, data intended for transmission to a second SL UE via the RIS’, ¶ 0056).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide ‘selecting, based on the signature value, one or more of a plurality of beams for the transmission of a signal between the infrastructure equipment and the communications device, each of the plurality of beams being associated with one of a plurality of possible signature values, and transmitting the signal to or receiving the signal from the communications device via the one or more selected beams’ as disclosed by Elshafie into Wang so as to effectively reserve a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) for sidelink communications between plurality of sidelink user equipments, Elshafie ¶ 0006.
As to Claim 2, Wang further discloses wherein the signature value is a channel estimation of a communications channel between the infrastructure equipment and the communications device (‘for example, a base station generates uplink quality parameters based on uplink wireless signals received from a UE and/or receives downlink quality parameters generated by the UE. In aspects, the UE receives the uplink quality parameters from the base station. These link quality parameters allow a base station (and UE) to monitor how well the UE receives (downlink) signals and/or how well the base station receives (uplink) signals’, ¶ 0026).
As to Claim 3, Wang further discloses wherein the channel estimation is performed by the infrastructure equipment based on signals received by the infrastructure equipment from the communications device (‘a base station and user equipment (UE) frequently provide one another with feedback on received signals through various link quality parameters, such as a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), power information, signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) information, reference signal receive power (RSRP), channel quality indicator (CQI) information, channel state information (CSI), Doppler feedback, BLock Error Rate (BLER), Quality of Service (QoS), Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) information (e.g., first transmission error rate, second transmission error rate, maximum retransmissions), uplink SINR, timing measurements, error metrics, etc’, ¶ 0026).
As to Claim 4, Wang further discloses wherein the signals, received from the communications device and based on which the channel estimation is performed by the infrastructure equipment, are reference signals and/or random access signals (‘a base station and user equipment (UE) frequently provide one another with feedback on received signals through various link quality parameters, such as a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), power information, signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) information, reference signal receive power (RSRP), channel quality indicator (CQI) information, channel state information (CSI), Doppler feedback, BLock Error Rate (BLER), Quality of Service (QoS), Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) information (e.g., first transmission error rate, second transmission error rate, maximum retransmissions), uplink SINR, timing measurements, error metrics, etc’, ¶ 0026).
As to Claim 5, Wang further discloses wherein the channel estimation is performed by the communications device based on signals transmitted by the infrastructure equipment to the communications device (‘in another aspect, the UE 110 uses the link quality measurement to determine when to request the use of an APD in the communication path. For example, the UE 110 identifies when signal quality has degraded below an acceptable performance threshold by analyzing the link quality parameters. The UE 110 then generates and sends a request to the base station 120, such as a request to utilize an APD in the communication path and/or a request to reconfigure an existing APD’, ¶ 0077).
As to Claim 6, Wang further discloses receiving, from the communications device, an indication of the channel estimation performed by the communications device (‘in aspects, a base station receives, from a user equipment (UE), at least one link quality parameter that is indicative of a channel impairment. The base station then identifies, using the at least one link quality parameter, a surface configuration for a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) of an adaptive phase-changing device (APD) and transmits a first indication of the surface configuration using an adaptive phase-changing device control channel (APD control channel)’, ¶ 0002).
As to Claim 7, Wang does not expressly disclose wherein the indication of the channel estimation performed by the communications device is carried in Uplink Control Information, UCI, received from the communication device.
However, Elshafie discloses wherein the indication of the channel estimation performed by the communications device is carried in Uplink Control Information, UCI, received from the communication device (‘Fig. 2D illustrates an example of various UL channels within a subframe of a frame. The PUCCH may be located as indicated in one configuration. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as scheduling requests, a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), a rank indicator (RI), and hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgment/negative acknowledgment (ACK/NACK) feedback’, ¶ 0064).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide ‘wherein the indication of the channel estimation performed by the communications device is carried in Uplink Control Information, UCI, received from the communication device’ as disclosed by Elshafie into Wang so as to effectively reserve a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) for sidelink communications between plurality of sidelink user equipments, Elshafie ¶ 0006.
As to Claim 8, Wang does not expressly disclose wherein the indication of the channel estimation performed by the communications device is received in a Physical Uplink Control Channel, PUCCH, from the communication device.
However, Elshafie discloses wherein the indication of the channel estimation performed by the communications device is received in a Physical Uplink Control Channel, PUCCH, from the communication device (‘Fig. 2D illustrates an example of various UL channels within a subframe of a frame. The PUCCH may be located as indicated in one configuration. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as scheduling requests, a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), a rank indicator (RI), and hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgment/negative acknowledgment (ACK/NACK) feedback’, ¶ 0064).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide ‘wherein the indication of the channel estimation performed by the communications device is received in a Physical Uplink Control Channel, PUCCH, from the communication device’ as disclosed by Elshafie into Wang so as to effectively reserve a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) for sidelink communications between plurality of sidelink user equipments, Elshafie ¶ 0006.
As to Claim 9, Wang further discloses wherein the indication of the channel estimation performed by the communications device is received as a quantized indication of the channel estimation (‘in aspects, a base station receives, from a user equipment (UE), at least one link quality parameter that is indicative of a channel impairment. The base station then identifies, using the at least one link quality parameter, a surface configuration for a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) of an adaptive phase-changing device (APD) and transmits a first indication of the surface configuration using an adaptive phase-changing device control channel (APD control channel)’, ¶ 0002).
As to Claim 10, Wang does not expressly disclose wherein the signals transmitted by the infrastructure equipment to the communications device for the communication device to perform the channel estimation are channel state information reference signals and/or demodulation reference signals.
However, Elshafie discloses wherein the signals transmitted by the infrastructure equipment to the communications device for the communication device to perform the channel estimation are channel state information reference signals and/or demodulation reference signals (‘the receiver 710 may receive one or more of reference signals (for example, periodically configured channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs), aperiodically configured CSI-RSs, or multi-beam-specific reference signals), synchronization signals (for example, synchronization signal blocks (SSBs)), control information and data information, such as in the form of packets, from one or more other wireless communications devices via various channels including control channels (for example, a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)’, ¶ 0100).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide ‘wherein the signals transmitted by the infrastructure equipment to the communications device for the communication device to perform the channel estimation are channel state information reference signals and/or demodulation reference signals’ as disclosed by Elshafie into Wang so as to effectively reserve a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) for sidelink communications between plurality of sidelink user equipments, Elshafie ¶ 0006.
As to Claim 11, Wang further discloses wherein the signature value is a measured strength of one or more signals received by the communications device from the infrastructure equipment and/or measured strength of one or more signals received by the communications device from one or more other infrastructure equipment (‘as one example, the base station analyzes link quality parameters to determine a received signal strength to determine a path loss between the base station and the UE based on the current position of the APD. If the path loss exceeds an acceptable performance threshold level, then the base station determines to move the APD from a first location to a second location, from a first orientation to a second orientation, and so forth’, ¶ 0124).
As to Claim 12, Wang further discloses receiving, from the communications device, a measurement report comprising an indication of the measured strength of the one or more signals received by the communications device from the infrastructure equipment and/or the measured strength of the one or more signals received by the communications device from the one or more other infrastructure equipment (‘a base station and user equipment (UE) frequently provide one another with feedback on received signals through various link quality parameters, such as a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), power information, signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) information, reference signal receive power (RSRP), channel quality indicator (CQI) information, channel state information (CSI), Doppler feedback, Block Error Rate (BLER), Quality of Service (QoS), Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) information (e.g., first transmission error rate, second transmission error rate, maximum retransmissions), uplink SINR, timing measurements, error metrics, etc. For example, a base station generates uplink quality parameters based on uplink wireless signals received from a UE and/or receives downlink quality parameters generated by the UE. In aspects, the UE receives the uplink quality parameters from the base station. These link quality parameters allow a base station (and UE) to monitor how well the UE receives (downlink) signals and/or how well the base station receives (uplink) signals’, ¶ 0026).
As to Claim 13, Wang further discloses wherein the signature value is the measured strength of the one or more signals received by the communications device from the one or more other infrastructure equipment relative to the measured strength of the one or more signals received by the communications device from the infrastructure equipment (‘in some scenarios, the base station determines, using the link quality parameters or a UE report of its position, an estimated UE-location of the UE 110, and accesses and analyzes historical records that indicate signal measurements and/or link quality parameters reported by the same or other UEs within a pre-determined distance of the estimated UE-location. The base station can obtain any type or combination link quality parameter(s), such as downlink/uplink RSSI, power information, SINR information, CQI, CSI, Doppler feedback, BLER, QoS, HARQ information, timing measurements, error metrics, etc. At times, the base station obtains a surface configuration, such as from historical records that include surface-configuration information used by various APDs within the pre-determined distance of the estimated UE-location’, ¶ 0090).
As to Claim 15, Wang does not expressly disclose wherein the signature value is a measured strength of one or more sidelink signals received by the communications device from one or more nodes of the wireless communications network.
However, Elshafie discloses wherein the signature value is a measured strength of one or more sidelink signals received by the communications device from one or more nodes of the wireless communications network (‘the sidelink UE may then transmit a beam training sequence to the RIS for beam training the RIS to identify a beam index, of multiple beam indices, that satisfies one or more beam selection criteria. In some examples, the beam training sequence is a sequence of reference signals. The beam index may satisfy the beam selection criteria based on the beam index being associated with a highest spectral efficiency, a highest reference signal received power (RSRP), a highest reference signal received quality (RSRQ), or a lowest signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR)’, ¶ 0039).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide ‘wherein the signature value is a measured strength of one or more sidelink signals received by the communications device from one or more nodes of the wireless communications network’ as disclosed by Elshafie into Wang so as to effectively reserve a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) for sidelink communications between plurality of sidelink user equipments, Elshafie ¶ 0006.
As to Claim 17, Wang further discloses wherein the signature value is associated with a time of arrival at the communications device of signals received by the communications device from the infrastructure equipment and/or signals received by the communications device from one or more other infrastructure equipment (‘as another example, the link quality parameters can be used to obtain an estimated UE-location, such as through power levels and/or timing information (e.g., time of arrival). Alternatively, or additionally, the base station uses multi-lateration and/or communicates with other base stations to obtain an estimated UE-location. In some aspects, the base station receives the estimated UE-location from the UE 110, such as by using a low-band channel (e.g., 700 MHz, 800 MHz). The base station 120 then uses the estimated UE-location to access historical records that indicate a history of channel impairment(s) at the estimated UE-location. In response to identifying the channel impairments, the base station 120 selects a surface configuration for the RIS 406 that transforms at least a portion of a first wireless signal (e.g., signal ray 191) into a second wireless signal (e.g., signal ray 192) to mitigate the channel impairments by improving a received signal quality’, ¶ 0059).
As to Claim 21, Wang further discloses wherein the signature value is a geographic location of the communications device (‘For example, the base station 120 receives downlink quality parameters from the UE 110 and/or generates uplink quality parameters that indicate various signal and/or location characteristics about the UE, such as downlink/uplink RSSI, power information, SINR information, CQI, CSI, Doppler feedback, BLER, QoS, HARQ information, timing measurements, error metrics, etc’, ¶ 0076).
As to Claim 22, Wang further discloses wherein the signature value is a set of samples taken by the infrastructure equipment based on signals received by the infrastructure equipment from the communications device (‘as another example, the link quality parameters can be used to obtain an estimated UE-location, such as through power levels and/or timing information (e.g., time of arrival). Alternatively, or additionally, the base station uses multi-lateration and/or communicates with other base stations to obtain an estimated UE-location. In some aspects, the base station receives the estimated UE-location from the UE 110, such as by using a low-band channel (e.g., 700 MHz, 800 MHz). The base station 120 then uses the estimated UE-location to access historical records that indicate a history of channel impairment(s) at the estimated UE-location. In response to identifying the channel impairments, the base station 120 selects a surface configuration for the RIS 406 that transforms at least a portion of a first wireless signal (e.g., signal ray 191) into a second wireless signal (e.g., signal ray 192) to mitigate the channel impairments by improving a received signal quality’, ¶ 0059).
As to Claim 23, Wang further discloses wherein the signature value is a set of samples taken by the communications device based on signals received by the communications device from the infrastructure equipment, and the method comprises receiving, from the communications device, an indication of the set of samples (‘as another example, the link quality parameters can be used to obtain an estimated UE-location, such as through power levels and/or timing information (e.g., time of arrival). Alternatively, or additionally, the base station uses multi-lateration and/or communicates with other base stations to obtain an estimated UE-location. In some aspects, the base station receives the estimated UE-location from the UE 110, such as by using a low-band channel (e.g., 700 MHz, 800 MHz). The base station 120 then uses the estimated UE-location to access historical records that indicate a history of channel impairment(s) at the estimated UE-location. In response to identifying the channel impairments, the base station 120 selects a surface configuration for the RIS 406 that transforms at least a portion of a first wireless signal (e.g., signal ray 191) into a second wireless signal (e.g., signal ray 192) to mitigate the channel impairments by improving a received signal quality’, ¶ 0059).
As to Claim 51, Wang discloses an infrastructure equipment forming part of a wireless communications network, the infrastructure equipment comprising
transceiver circuitry configured to (Fig. 2, ‘LTE transceiver 256’) transmit signals to and/or to receive signals from a communications device and/or to transmit signals to and/or receive signals from a reconfigurable intelligent surface (‘in implementations, the base station 120 configures the RIS 406 to direct how the signal ray 191 transforms into the signal ray 192 for downlink communications. Alternatively, or additionally, for uplink communications, the base station 120 directs how the RIS 406 transforms signal ray 192 into signal ray 191’, ¶ 0059), RIS, and
controller circuitry configured (Fig. 2, ‘processor 262’) in combination with the transceiver circuitry, during an operational phase,
to determine a signature value associated with the communications device (‘in implementations, the base station 120 configures the RIS 406 to direct how the signal ray 191 transforms into the signal ray 192 for downlink communications. Alternatively, or additionally, for uplink communications, the base station 120 directs how the RIS 406 transforms signal ray 192 into signal ray 191. For example, the base station 120 analyzes link quality parameters (NOTE: link quality parameters is interpreted as signature value) (e.g., downlink quality parameters, uplink quality parameters, historical link quality parameters) to identify channel impairments. By way of example, and not of limitation, various link quality parameters that do not meet an acceptable performance level can indicate channel impairments, such as by a delay spread between a first received signal and a last received signal (e.g., received multi-path rays) exceeding an acceptable delay spread threshold, or by an average time-delay (of the multi-path rays) exceeding an acceptable average time-delay threshold and/or absorption by an object that blocks a ray’, ¶ 0059; see also ¶ 0028),
wherein at least one of the plurality of beams is a direct beam between the infrastructure equipment and the communications device and at least one other of the plurality of beams is a beam between the communications device and the RIS (‘as part of communicating with the UE 110 through wireless link 131, the base station 121 beams a downlink wireless signal intended for the UE 110. A first ray of the downlink wireless signal (e.g., signal ray 191) propagates towards the UE 110 in a line-of-sight manner, and a second ray of the downlink wireless signal (e.g., signal ray 192) propagates towards the APD 180. The signal ray 192 strikes the surface of the APD 180 and transforms into signal ray 193 that propagates towards the UE 110. In aspects, the signal ray 192 strikes the surface of an RIS of the APD 180’, ¶ 0033), and
wherein each of the at least one of the plurality of beams between the communications device and the RIS are generated at the RIS through controlling, by the infrastructure equipment, a configuration of the RIS (‘as part of communicating with the UE 110 through wireless link 131, the base station 121 beams a downlink wireless signal intended for the UE 110. A first ray of the downlink wireless signal (e.g., signal ray 191) propagates towards the UE 110 in a line-of-sight manner, and a second ray of the downlink wireless signal (e.g., signal ray 192) propagates towards the APD 180. The signal ray 192 strikes the surface of the APD 180 and transforms into signal ray 193 that propagates towards the UE 110. In aspects, the signal ray 192 strikes the surface of an RIS of the APD 180’, ¶ 0033).
Wang does not expressly disclose to select, based on the signature value, one or more of a plurality of beams for the transmission of a signal between the infrastructure equipment and the communications device, each of the plurality of beams being associated with one of a plurality of possible signature values and to transmit the signal to or to receive the signal from the communications device via the one or more selected beams.
However, Elshafie discloses to select, based on the signature value, one or more of a plurality of beams for the transmission of a signal between the infrastructure equipment and the communications device, each of the plurality of beams being associated with one of a plurality of possible signature values (‘the sidelink UE may then transmit a beam training sequence to the RIS for beam training the RIS to identify a beam index, of multiple beam indices, that satisfies one or more beam selection criteria. In some examples, the beam training sequence is a sequence of reference signals. The beam index may satisfy the beam selection criteria based on the beam index being associated with a highest spectral efficiency, a highest reference signal received power (RSRP), a highest reference signal received quality (RSRQ), or a lowest signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR)’, ¶ 0039) and
to transmit the signal to or to receive the signal from the communications device via the one or more selected beams (‘the UE 104 may include a RIS reservation component 198 configured to receive a reservation confirmation message indicating an assignment of a RIS to the first SL UE; receive a communication window message indicating a period of time associated with the assignment; transmit, within the period of time, a beam training sequence for beam training the RIS to identify a beam index, of multiple beam indices, that satisfies one or more beam selection criteria; and transmit, within the period of time via a beam associated with the beam index, data intended for transmission to a second SL UE via the RIS’, ¶ 0056).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide ‘to select, based on the signature value, one or more of a plurality of beams for the transmission of a signal between the infrastructure equipment and the communications device, each of the plurality of beams being associated with one of a plurality of possible signature values and to transmit the signal to or to receive the signal from the communications device via the one or more selected beams’ as disclosed by Elshafie into Wang so as to effectively reserve a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) for sidelink communications between plurality of sidelink user equipments, Elshafie ¶ 0006.
As to Claim 56, Wang discloses a communications device comprising
transceiver circuitry configured to (Fig. 2, ‘LTE transceiver 206’) transmit signals to and/or to receive signals from an infrastructure equipment and/or to transmit signals to and/or receive signals from a reconfigurable intelligent surface, RIS (‘the base station 120 and the UE 110 communicate using the APD at 755. In one or more implementations, the base station 120 transmits at least a portion of a first downlink wireless signal (e.g., signal ray 191) towards the surface of the APD, and the RIS of the APD transforms the portion of the first downlink wireless signal into a second downlink wireless signal (e.g., signal ray 192) using the surface configuration indicated at 745 and applied at 750’, ¶ 0098), and
controller circuitry configured (Fig. 2, ‘processor 214’) in combination with the transceiver circuitry, during an operational phase,
to determine that one or more of a plurality of beams is to be used for the transmission of a signal between the infrastructure equipment and the communications device, each of the plurality of beams being associated with one of a plurality of possible signature values associated with the communications device (‘as part of communicating with the UE 110 through wireless link 131, the base station 121 beams a downlink wireless signal intended for the UE 110. A first ray of the downlink wireless signal (e.g., signal ray 191) propagates towards the UE 110 in a line-of-sight manner, and a second ray of the downlink wireless signal (e.g., signal ray 192) propagates towards the APD 180. The signal ray 192 strikes the surface of the APD 180 and transforms into signal ray 193 that propagates towards the UE 110. In aspects, the signal ray 192 strikes the surface of an RIS of the APD 180’, ¶ 0033), and
wherein at least one of the plurality of beams is a direct beam between the infrastructure equipment and the communications device and at least one other of the plurality of beams is a beam between the communications device and the RIS (‘as part of communicating with the UE 110 through wireless link 131, the base station 121 beams a downlink wireless signal intended for the UE 110. A first ray of the downlink wireless signal (e.g., signal ray 191) propagates towards the UE 110 in a line-of-sight manner, and a second ray of the downlink wireless signal (e.g., signal ray 192) propagates towards the APD 180. The signal ray 192 strikes the surface of the APD 180 and transforms into signal ray 193 that propagates towards the UE 110. In aspects, the signal ray 192 strikes the surface of an RIS of the APD 180’, ¶ 0033).
Wang does not expressly disclose transmit the signal to or to receive the signal from the infrastructure equipment via the one or more selected beams.
However, Elshafie discloses transmit the signal to or to receive the signal from the infrastructure equipment via the one or more selected beams (‘the UE 104 may include a RIS reservation component 198 configured to receive a reservation confirmation message indicating an assignment of a RIS to the first SL UE; receive a communication window message indicating a period of time associated with the assignment; transmit, within the period of time, a beam training sequence for beam training the RIS to identify a beam index, of multiple beam indices, that satisfies one or more beam selection criteria; and transmit, within the period of time via a beam associated with the beam index, data intended for transmission to a second SL UE via the RIS’, ¶ 0056).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to provide ‘transmit the signal to or to receive the signal from the infrastructure equipment via the one or more selected beams’ as disclosed by Elshafie into Wang so as to effectively reserve a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) for sidelink communications between plurality of sidelink user equipments, Elshafie ¶ 0006.
Conclusion
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GBEMILEKE J ONAMUTI whose telephone number is (571)270-5619. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
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/GBEMILEKE J ONAMUTI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2463
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