Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 1, 5, 7, 13, 15, and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over RAHMAN et al. (US 20210337525 A1, hereinafter, "RAHMAN") in view of YU et al. (US 20220132550 A1, hereinafter, "YU") and (ZTE: "Remaining issues on multi-beam enhancements", 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 Meeting #108-e; R1-2101185; March 3, 2022; 18 pages, hereinafter, "ZTE").
Regarding claim 1, RAHMAN teaches a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication (paragraph 0066; figure 3, UE: 116), comprising:
at least one memory (paragraph 0066; figure 3, memory: 360);
and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the UE (paragraph 0066; figure 3, processor: 340) to:
receive configuration information indicating a configured grant (CG) type 1 physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission,
RAHMAN writes, “The UE can be configured to receive a common beam (TCI state) indication/update indicating the common beam for the transmission of configured grant Type 1 or Typ2 PUSCH and/or PUCCH. This common beam indication can be via a dedicated DCI (UL-TCI-DCI) and/or another DCI activating/releasing PUSCH transmission (configured grant Type 2). The details about this common beam indication are analogous to some embodiments (e.g., embodiment I.7 through I.11/I.11A/I.11B) of this disclosure” (paragraph 0285).
wherein the configuration information includes, to indicate at least one common beam applicable for uplink transmission in a slot associated with the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission, at least one of the following:
RAHMAN writes, “The UE can be configured to receive a common beam (TCI state) indication/update indicating the common beam for the transmission of configured grant Type 1 or Typ2 PUSCH and/or PUCCH. This common beam indication can be via a dedicated DCI (UL-TCI-DCI) and/or another DCI activating/releasing PUSCH transmission (configured grant Type 2). The details about this common beam indication are analogous to some embodiments (e.g., embodiment I.7 through I.11/I.11A/I.11B) of this disclosure” (paragraph 0285).
and transmit the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission in the slot based on the configuration information.
RAHMAN writes, “The UE then uses the indicated beam (TCI state) in UL-TCI-DCI to transmit UL control (PUCCH) and/or UL data (PUSCH, according to the UL grant) in the granted slot(s)” (paragraph 0224).
RAHMAN fails to explicitly disclose information regarding, “first indication information indicating association of the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission with at least a part of at least one common beam or association of the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission with at least a part of a plurality of sounding reference signal (SRS) resource sets configured for CG type 1 PUSCH transmission;” and “or second indication information including at most two SRS resource indicator values;”
However, in analogous art, YU teaches first indication information indicating association of the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission with at least a part of at least one common beam or association of the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission with at least a part of a plurality of sounding reference signal (SRS) resource sets configured for CG type 1 PUSCH transmission;
YU writes, “The beam indication for UL channels/signals may be a beam indication for a UL Sounding Reference Signal (SRS). For periodic SRS, the spatial transmission property (e.g., beam indication for UL) may be configured by RRC. For an SP/aperiodic (AP) SRS, the spatial transmission property may be provided and/or updated by MAC-CE signaling” (paragraph 0043). YU notes, “The beam indication for UL channels/signals may be a beam indication for a PUSCH” (paragraph 0045). YU adds, “The configured grant (CG) PUSCH transmission may be configured with a UL common beam (index) by RRC, for example, type-1 CG” (paragraph 0057). YU continues, “The beam information may be provided in the form of spatial relation information such as NR UL in the 3GPP TS 38.213/214 V16.2.0. The beam information may be provided in the form of a TRP-related index (value), e.g., CORESETPoolIndex. The beam information may be provided in the form of a panel-related index (value) (e.g., panel index, antenna group index, or an associated DL/UL resource set index (e.g., CSI-RS resource set, or SRS resource set))” (paragraph 0058).
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 method and invention of RAHMAN to include aspects described by YU that is “related to wireless communication, and more particularly, to a method and a user equipment (UE) for beam indication for uplink (UL) transmission in next generation wireless communication networks.” YU provides the motivation for modification by indicating further improvements in radio access including beam indication for UL transmission.
RAHMAN and YU fail to explicitly disclose information regarding, “or second indication information including at most two SRS resource indicator values;”
However, in analogous art, ZTE teaches or second indication information including at most two SRS resource indicator values;
ZTE writes, “...the UE determines its PUSCH transmission precoder(s) based on SRI(s), TPMI(s) and the transmission rank, where the SRT(s), TPMI(s) and the transmission rank are given by DCT fields of one or two SRS resource indicators and one or two Precoding information and number of layers in clause 7.3.1.1.2 and 7.3.1.1.3 of [5, TS 38.212] for DCI format 0_1 and 0_2 or given by srs-Resourcelndicator and precodingAndNumberOfLayers according to clause 6.1.2.3 or given by srs-Resourcelndicator, srs-Resourcelndicator2, precodingAndNumberOfLayers, and precodingAndNumberOfLayers2 according to clause 6.1.2.3” (page 6, section 6.1.1.1, paragraph 1).
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 method and invention of RAHMAN and YU to include aspects described by ZTE that provides insight “for the remaining issues on unified TCI framework, L1/L2-centric inter-cell mobility, and UL fast panel selection.” ZTE provides the motivation for modification by stating the objective of the meeting is to "achieve a flexible beam update scheme for DL/UL data and control transmission/reception with low signalling overhead and latency" (page 1, section 2.1, paragraph 1).
Regarding claim 5, RAHMAN, YU, and ZTE teach the UE of Claim 1, wherein the first indication information indicates the association of the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission with the at least a part of the plurality of SRS resource sets by indicating one of the following:
Additionally, YU teaches the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission is associated with a first SRS resource set of the plurality of SRS resource sets, wherein beams of the first SRS resource set and a common beam used for the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission of the at least one common beam are associated with a same transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state group or a beam of the first SRS resource set is same as a common beam used for the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission of the at least one common beam; the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission is associated with a second SRS resource set of the plurality of SRS resource sets, wherein beams of the second SRS resource set and a common beam used for the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission of the at least one common beam are associated with a same TCI state group, or a beam of the second SRS resource set is same as a common beam used for the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission of the at least one common beam; the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission is associated with at least two SRS resource sets of the plurality of SRS resource sets, wherein a first occasion of the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission is associated with a first SRS resource set, and for each occasion of the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission, beams of a SRS resource set associated with the occasion and a common beam used for the occasion of the at least one common beam are associated with a same TCI state group, or a beam of a SRS resource set associated with the occasion is same as a common beam used for the occasion of the at least one common beam; or the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission is associated with at least two SRS resource sets of the plurality of SRS resource sets, wherein a first occasion of the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission is associated with a second SRS resource set, and for each occasion of the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission, beams of a SRS resource set associated with the occasion and a common beam used for the occasion of the at least one common beam are associated with a same TCI state group or a beam of a SRS resource set associated with the occasion is same as a common beam used for the occasion of the at least one common beam.
YU writes, “The beam indication for UL channels/signals may be a beam indication for a UL Sounding Reference Signal (SRS). For periodic SRS, the spatial transmission property (e.g., beam indication for UL) may be configured by RRC. For an SP/aperiodic (AP) SRS, the spatial transmission property may be provided and/or updated by MAC-CE signaling” (paragraph 0043). YU notes, “The beam indication for UL channels/signals may be a beam indication for a PUSCH” (paragraph 0045). YU adds, “The configured grant (CG) PUSCH transmission may be configured with a UL common beam (index) by RRC, for example, type-1 CG” (paragraph 0057). YU continues, “The beam information may be provided in the form of spatial relation information such as NR UL in the 3GPP TS 38.213/214 V16.2.0. The beam information may be provided in the form of a TRP-related index (value), e.g., CORESETPoolIndex. The beam information may be provided in the form of a panel-related index (value) (e.g., panel index, antenna group index, or an associated DL/UL resource set index (e.g., CSI-RS resource set, or SRS resource set))” (paragraph 0058).
Regarding claim 7, RAHMAN, YU, and ZTE teach the UE of claim 1,
Additionally, YU teaches wherein, when only one common beam is applicable for uplink transmission in the slot, the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission is associated with the one common beam and one SRS resource set of the plurality of SRS resource sets,
YU writes, “The beam indication for UL channels/signals may be a beam indication for a UL Sounding Reference Signal (SRS). For periodic SRS, the spatial transmission property (e.g., beam indication for UL) may be configured by RRC. For an SP/aperiodic (AP) SRS, the spatial transmission property may be provided and/or updated by MAC-CE signaling” (paragraph 0043). YU notes, “The beam indication for UL channels/signals may be a beam indication for a PUSCH” (paragraph 0045). YU adds, “The configured grant (CG) PUSCH transmission may be configured with a UL common beam (index) by RRC, for example, type-1 CG” (paragraph 0057). YU continues, “The beam information may be provided in the form of spatial relation information such as NR UL in the 3GPP TS 38.213/214 V16.2.0. The beam information may be provided in the form of a TRP-related index (value), e.g., CORESETPoolIndex. The beam information may be provided in the form of a panel-related index (value) (e.g., panel index, antenna group index, or an associated DL/UL resource set index (e.g., CSI-RS resource set, or SRS resource set))” (paragraph 0058).
wherein beams of the SRS resource set and the one common beam are associated with a same transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state group, or a beam of the SRS resource set of the plurality of SRS resource sets is same as the one common beam.
YU writes, “The beam indication for UL channels/signals may be a beam indication for a UL Sounding Reference Signal (SRS). For periodic SRS, the spatial transmission property (e.g., beam indication for UL) may be configured by RRC. For an SP/aperiodic (AP) SRS, the spatial transmission property may be provided and/or updated by MAC-CE signaling” (paragraph 0043). YU notes, “The beam indication for UL channels/signals may be a beam indication for a PUSCH” (paragraph 0045). YU adds, “The configured grant (CG) PUSCH transmission may be configured with a UL common beam (index) by RRC, for example, type-1 CG” (paragraph 0057). YU continues, “The beam information may be provided in the form of spatial relation information such as NR UL in the 3GPP TS 38.213/214 V16.2.0. The beam information may be provided in the form of a TRP-related index (value), e.g., CORESETPoolIndex. The beam information may be provided in the form of a panel-related index (value) (e.g., panel index, antenna group index, or an associated DL/UL resource set index (e.g., CSI-RS resource set, or SRS resource set))” (paragraph 0058).
Claim 13 is an apparatus claim corresponding to the apparatus claim 1 that has already been rejected above. The applicant’s attention is directed to the rejection of claim 1. Claim 13 is rejected under the same rational as claim 1.
Additionally, RAHMAN teaches a base station (BS) for wireless communication (paragraph 0056; figure 2, gNB: 102), comprising:
at least one memory (paragraph 0062; figure 2, memory: 230);
and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the BS (paragraph 0062; figure 2, controller/processor: 225) to:
Claims 15 and 17 are method and processor claims corresponding to the apparatus claim 1 that has already been rejected above. The applicant’s attention is directed to the rejection of claim 1. Claims 15 and 17 are rejected under the same rational as claim 1.
Claim(s) 2-3, 14, 16, and 18-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over RAHMAN, YU, and ZTE as applied to claims 1, 13, 15, and 20 above, and further in view of HUANG et al. (US 20200244334 A1, hereinafter, "HUANG") and FAN et al. (US 20240298192 A1, hereinafter, "FAN").
Regarding claim 2, RAHMAN, YU, and ZTE teach the UE of Claim 1,
Additionally, YU teaches the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission is associated with one or more common beams of the at least two common beams and one or more SRS resource sets of the plurality SRS resource sets according to the first indication information.
YU writes, “The beam indication for UL channels/signals may be a beam indication for a UL Sounding Reference Signal (SRS). For periodic SRS, the spatial transmission property (e.g., beam indication for UL) may be configured by RRC. For an SP/aperiodic (AP) SRS, the spatial transmission property may be provided and/or updated by MAC-CE signaling” (paragraph 0043). YU notes, “The beam indication for UL channels/signals may be a beam indication for a PUSCH” (paragraph 0045). YU adds, “The configured grant (CG) PUSCH transmission may be configured with a UL common beam (index) by RRC, for example, type-1 CG” (paragraph 0057). YU continues, “The beam information may be provided in the form of spatial relation information such as NR UL in the 3GPP TS 38.213/214 V16.2.0. The beam information may be provided in the form of a TRP-related index (value), e.g., CORESETPoolIndex. The beam information may be provided in the form of a panel-related index (value) (e.g., panel index, antenna group index, or an associated DL/UL resource set index (e.g., CSI-RS resource set, or SRS resource set))” (paragraph 0058).
RAHMAN, YU, and ZTE fail to explicitly disclose information regarding, “wherein, when the configuration information includes at least the first indication information and the second indication information having no SRS resource indicator value,” and “and at least two common beams are applicable for uplink transmission in the slot,”
However, in analogous art, HUANG teaches wherein, when the configuration information includes at least the first indication information and the second indication information having no SRS resource indicator value,
HUANG writes, “Alternatively the indication information can include two components, i.e., first indication information and second indication information, and the network device can transmit the first indication information and the second indication information to the user equipment concurrently or sequentially, where firstly the first indication information and the second indication information, or firstly the second indication information and the first indication information can be transmitted. The first indication information can be the code state 0 in Table 6, and the second indication information can be one of the code states 001 to 010 in Table 1” (paragraph 0103; Table 1). As HUANG specifies in Table 1 the code state 001 characterizes SRI=0. Therefore, HUANG indicates the second indication information may have no SRS resource indicator value.
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 method and invention of RAHMAN, YU, and ZTE to include aspects described by HUANG that “relates to the field of communications, and particularly to a method for managing an Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) channel beam, a network device, and user equipment.” HUANG provides the motivation for modification by stating, "One or more of the technical solutions according to the embodiments of the invention have at least the following technical effects or advantages: the base station transmits indication information of transmitting beams to be used over an SRS resource to the user equipment so that the network can control transmitting beams of the user equipment, and receiving beams of the base station to be swept" (paragraph 0084).
RAHMAN, YU, ZTE, and HUANG fail to explicitly disclose information regarding, “and at least two common beams are applicable for uplink transmission in the slot,”
However, in analogous art, FAN teaches and at least two common beams are applicable for uplink transmission in the slot,
FAN writes, “The terminal device receives first configuration information from a network device, where the first configuration information is used to configure M common beams of a same type, and M is an integer greater than 1; the terminal device receives first indication information from the network device, where the first indication information is used to activate N common beams in the M common beams of the same type, and indicates that the N common beams are grouped into a first common beam group and a second common beam group, and N is an integer greater than 1 and less than or equal to M; the terminal device receives second indication information from the network device, where the second indication information indicates two common beams, and the two common beams respectively belong to the first common beam group and the second common beam group, or the two common beams both belong to the first common beam group, or the two common beams both belong to the second common beam group; and the terminal device communicates with the network device by using at least one of the two common beams based on a common beam group to which the two common beams belong” (paragraph 0007).
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 method and invention of RAHMAN, YU, ZTE, and HUANG to include aspects described by FAN that “relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a beam indication method and an apparatus.” FAN provides the motivation for modification by providing "[a] beam indication method and an apparatus...so that a common beam indicated by a network device can be accurately distinguished. This can ensure transmission between the network device and a terminal device" (paragraph 0006).
Regarding claim 3, RAHMAN, YU, and ZTE teach the UE of Claim 1,
Additionally, YU teaches the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission is associated with one common beam of the at least two common beams and one SRS resource set of the plurality SRS resource sets according to the first indication information and the third indication information.
YU writes, “The beam indication for UL channels/signals may be a beam indication for a UL Sounding Reference Signal (SRS). For periodic SRS, the spatial transmission property (e.g., beam indication for UL) may be configured by RRC. For an SP/aperiodic (AP) SRS, the spatial transmission property may be provided and/or updated by MAC-CE signaling” (paragraph 0043). YU notes, “The beam indication for UL channels/signals may be a beam indication for a PUSCH” (paragraph 0045). YU adds, “The configured grant (CG) PUSCH transmission may be configured with a UL common beam (index) by RRC, for example, type-1 CG” (paragraph 0057). YU continues, “The beam information may be provided in the form of spatial relation information such as NR UL in the 3GPP TS 38.213/214 V16.2.0. The beam information may be provided in the form of a TRP-related index (value), e.g., CORESETPoolIndex. The beam information may be provided in the form of a panel-related index (value) (e.g., panel index, antenna group index, or an associated DL/UL resource set index (e.g., CSI-RS resource set, or SRS resource set))” (paragraph 0058).
RAHMAN, YU, and ZTE fail to explicitly disclose information regarding, “wherein, when the configuration information includes at least the first indication information and the second indication information having one SRS resource indicator value,” and “and at least two common beams are applicable for uplink transmission in the slot;”
However, in analogous art, HUANG teaches wherein, when the configuration information includes at least the first indication information and the second indication information having one SRS resource indicator value,
HUANG writes, “Alternatively the indication information can include two components, i.e., first indication information and second indication information, and the network device can transmit the first indication information and the second indication information to the user equipment concurrently or sequentially, where firstly the first indication information and the second indication information, or firstly the second indication information and the first indication information can be transmitted. The first indication information can be the code state 0 in Table 6, and the second indication information can be one of the code states 001 to 010 in Table 1” (paragraph 0103; Table 1). As HUANG specifies in Table 1 the code state 010 characterizes SRI=1. Therefore, HUANG indicates the second indication information may have one SRS resource indicator value.
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 method and invention of RAHMAN, YU, and ZTE to include aspects described by HUANG that “relates to the field of communications, and particularly to a method for managing an Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) channel beam, a network device, and user equipment.” HUANG provides the motivation for modification by stating, "One or more of the technical solutions according to the embodiments of the invention have at least the following technical effects or advantages: the base station transmits indication information of transmitting beams to be used over an SRS resource to the user equipment so that the network can control transmitting beams of the user equipment, and receiving beams of the base station to be swept" (paragraph 0084).
RAHMAN, YU, ZTE, and HUANG fail to explicitly disclose information regarding, “and at least two common beams are applicable for uplink transmission in the slot,”
However, in analogous art, FAN teaches and at least two common beams are applicable for uplink transmission in the slot,
FAN writes, “The terminal device receives first configuration information from a network device, where the first configuration information is used to configure M common beams of a same type, and M is an integer greater than 1; the terminal device receives first indication information from the network device, where the first indication information is used to activate N common beams in the M common beams of the same type, and indicates that the N common beams are grouped into a first common beam group and a second common beam group, and N is an integer greater than 1 and less than or equal to M; the terminal device receives second indication information from the network device, where the second indication information indicates two common beams, and the two common beams respectively belong to the first common beam group and the second common beam group, or the two common beams both belong to the first common beam group, or the two common beams both belong to the second common beam group; and the terminal device communicates with the network device by using at least one of the two common beams based on a common beam group to which the two common beams belong” (paragraph 0007).
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 method and invention of RAHMAN, YU, ZTE, and HUANG to include aspects described by FAN that “relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a beam indication method and an apparatus.” FAN provides the motivation for modification by providing "[a] beam indication method and an apparatus...so that a common beam indicated by a network device can be accurately distinguished. This can ensure transmission between the network device and a terminal device" (paragraph 0006).
Claims 14, 16, and 18 are apparatus, method, and processor claims corresponding to the apparatus claim 2 that has already been rejected above. The applicant’s attention is directed to the rejection of claim 2. Claims 14, 16, and 18 are rejected under the same rational as claim 2.
Claim 19 is a processor claim corresponding to the apparatus claim 3 that has already been rejected above. The applicant’s attention is directed to the rejection of claim 3. Claim 19 is rejected under the same rational as claim 3.
Claim(s) 4, 6, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over RAHMAN, YU, and ZTE as applied to claims 1 and 17 above, and further in view of FAN.
Regarding claim 4, RAHMAN, YU, and ZTE teach the UE of Claim 1,
Additionally, ZTE teaches wherein, when the configuration information includes at least the first indication information and the second indication information having two SRS resource indicator values,
ZTE writes, “...the UE determines its PUSCH transmission precoder(s) based on SRI(s), TPMI(s) and the transmission rank, where the SRT(s), TPMI(s) and the transmission rank are given by DCT fields of one or two SRS resource indicators and one or two Precoding information and number of layers in clause 7.3.1.1.2 and 7.3.1.1.3 of [5, TS 38.212] for DCI format 0_1 and 0_2 or given by srs-Resourcelndicator and precodingAndNumberOfLayers according to clause 6.1.2.3 or given by srs-Resourcelndicator, srs-Resourcelndicator2, precodingAndNumberOfLayers, and precodingAndNumberOfLayers2 according to clause 6.1.2.3” (page 6, section 6.1.1.1, paragraph 1).
Additionally, YU teaches the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission is associated with one or more common beams of the two common beams and one or more SRS resource sets of the plurality of SRS resource sets according to the first indication information.
YU writes, “The beam indication for UL channels/signals may be a beam indication for a UL Sounding Reference Signal (SRS). For periodic SRS, the spatial transmission property (e.g., beam indication for UL) may be configured by RRC. For an SP/aperiodic (AP) SRS, the spatial transmission property may be provided and/or updated by MAC-CE signaling” (paragraph 0043). YU notes, “The beam indication for UL channels/signals may be a beam indication for a PUSCH” (paragraph 0045). YU adds, “The configured grant (CG) PUSCH transmission may be configured with a UL common beam (index) by RRC, for example, type-1 CG” (paragraph 0057). YU continues, “The beam information may be provided in the form of spatial relation information such as NR UL in the 3GPP TS 38.213/214 V16.2.0. The beam information may be provided in the form of a TRP-related index (value), e.g., CORESETPoolIndex. The beam information may be provided in the form of a panel-related index (value) (e.g., panel index, antenna group index, or an associated DL/UL resource set index (e.g., CSI-RS resource set, or SRS resource set))” (paragraph 0058).
RAHMAN, YU, and ZTE fail to explicitly disclose information regarding, “and two common beams are applicable for uplink transmission in the slot,”
However, in analogous art, FAN teaches and two common beams are applicable for uplink transmission in the slot,
FAN writes, “The terminal device receives first configuration information from a network device, where the first configuration information is used to configure M common beams of a same type, and M is an integer greater than 1; the terminal device receives first indication information from the network device, where the first indication information is used to activate N common beams in the M common beams of the same type, and indicates that the N common beams are grouped into a first common beam group and a second common beam group, and N is an integer greater than 1 and less than or equal to M; the terminal device receives second indication information from the network device, where the second indication information indicates two common beams, and the two common beams respectively belong to the first common beam group and the second common beam group, or the two common beams both belong to the first common beam group, or the two common beams both belong to the second common beam group; and the terminal device communicates with the network device by using at least one of the two common beams based on a common beam group to which the two common beams belong” (paragraph 0007).
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 method and invention of RAHMAN, YU, and ZTE to include aspects described by FAN that “relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a beam indication method and an apparatus.” FAN provides the motivation for modification by providing "[a] beam indication method and an apparatus...so that a common beam indicated by a network device can be accurately distinguished. This can ensure transmission between the network device and a terminal device" (paragraph 0006).
Regarding claim 6, RAHMAN, YU, and ZTE teach the UE of Claim 1, wherein the first indication information indicates the association of the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission with the at least a part of at least one common beam by indicating one of the following:
RAHMAN, YU, and ZTE fail to explicitly disclose information regarding, “the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission is associated with a first common beam of the at least one common beam;” and “the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission is associated with a second common beam of the at least one common beam, or the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission is associated with at least two common beams, wherein a first occasion of the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission is associated with a first common beam of the at least two common beams.”
However, in analogous art, FAN teaches the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission is associated with a first common beam of the at least one common beam;
FAN writes, “The terminal device receives first configuration information from a network device, where the first configuration information is used to configure M common beams of a same type, and M is an integer greater than 1; the terminal device receives first indication information from the network device, where the first indication information is used to activate N common beams in the M common beams of the same type, and indicates that the N common beams are grouped into a first common beam group and a second common beam group, and N is an integer greater than 1 and less than or equal to M; the terminal device receives second indication information from the network device, where the second indication information indicates two common beams, and the two common beams respectively belong to the first common beam group and the second common beam group, or the two common beams both belong to the first common beam group, or the two common beams both belong to the second common beam group; and the terminal device communicates with the network device by using at least one of the two common beams based on a common beam group to which the two common beams belong” (paragraph 0007).
the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission is associated with a second common beam of the at least one common beam, or the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission is associated with at least two common beams, wherein a first occasion of the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission is associated with a first common beam of the at least two common beams.
FAN writes, “The terminal device receives first configuration information from a network device, where the first configuration information is used to configure M common beams of a same type, and M is an integer greater than 1; the terminal device receives first indication information from the network device, where the first indication information is used to activate N common beams in the M common beams of the same type, and indicates that the N common beams are grouped into a first common beam group and a second common beam group, and N is an integer greater than 1 and less than or equal to M; the terminal device receives second indication information from the network device, where the second indication information indicates two common beams, and the two common beams respectively belong to the first common beam group and the second common beam group, or the two common beams both belong to the first common beam group, or the two common beams both belong to the second common beam group; and the terminal device communicates with the network device by using at least one of the two common beams based on a common beam group to which the two common beams belong” (paragraph 0007).
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 method and invention of RAHMAN, YU, and ZTE to include aspects described by FAN that “relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a beam indication method and an apparatus.” FAN provides the motivation for modification by providing "[a] beam indication method and an apparatus...so that a common beam indicated by a network device can be accurately distinguished. This can ensure transmission between the network device and a terminal device" (paragraph 0006).
Claim 20 is a processor claim corresponding to the apparatus claim 4 that has already been rejected above. The applicant’s attention is directed to the rejection of claim 4. Claim 20 is rejected under the same rational as claim 4.
Claim(s) 10 and 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over RAHMAN, YU, and ZTE as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of FAN and LI et al. (US 20230084145 A1, hereinafter, "LI").
Regarding claim 10, RAHMAN, YU, and ZTE teach the UE of Claim 1,
Additionally, YU teaches wherein for each occasion of the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission, beams of a SRS resource set associated with the occasion and a common beam used for the occasion of the two common beams are associated with a same transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state group or a beam of a SRS resource set associated with the occasion is same as a common beam used for the occasion of the two common beams.
YU writes, “The beam indication for UL channels/signals may be a beam indication for a UL Sounding Reference Signal (SRS). For periodic SRS, the spatial transmission property (e.g., beam indication for UL) may be configured by RRC. For an SP/aperiodic (AP) SRS, the spatial transmission property may be provided and/or updated by MAC-CE signaling” (paragraph 0043). YU notes, “The beam indication for UL channels/signals may be a beam indication for a PUSCH” (paragraph 0045). YU adds, “The configured grant (CG) PUSCH transmission may be configured with a UL common beam (index) by RRC, for example, type-1 CG” (paragraph 0057). YU continues, “The beam information may be provided in the form of spatial relation information such as NR UL in the 3GPP TS 38.213/214 V16.2.0. The beam information may be provided in the form of a TRP-related index (value), e.g., CORESETPoolIndex. The beam information may be provided in the form of a panel-related index (value) (e.g., panel index, antenna group index, or an associated DL/UL resource set index (e.g., CSI-RS resource set, or SRS resource set))” (paragraph 0058).
Additionally, ZTE teaches and associated with two SRS resource sets of the plurality of SRS resource sets,
ZTE writes, “...the UE determines its PUSCH transmission precoder(s) based on SRI(s), TPMI(s) and the transmission rank, where the SRT(s), TPMI(s) and the transmission rank are given by DCT fields of one or two SRS resource indicators and one or two Precoding information and number of layers in clause 7.3.1.1.2 and 7.3.1.1.3 of [5, TS 38.212] for DCI format 0_1 and 0_2 or given by srs-Resourcelndicator and precodingAndNumberOfLayers according to clause 6.1.2.3 or given by srs-Resourcelndicator, srs-Resourcelndicator2, precodingAndNumberOfLayers, and precodingAndNumberOfLayers2 according to clause 6.1.2.3” (page 6, section 6.1.1.1, paragraph 1).
RAHMAN, YU, and ZTE fail to explicitly disclose information regarding, “wherein the configuration information includes the second indication information having two SRS resource indicator values and no first indication information,” and “and two common beams are applicable for uplink transmission in the slot, the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission is associated with the two common beams”
However, in analogous art, LI teaches wherein the configuration information includes the second indication information having two SRS resource indicator values and no first indication information,
LI writes, “The network device 102 may indicate only the second indication information to the terminal device 106…” (paragraph 0258).
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 method and invention of RAHMAN, YU, and ZTE to include aspects described by LI that “relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a communication method and apparatus.” LI provides the motivation for modification by stating, "In the foregoing technical solution, when failing to decode the data carried on the first PDSCH, the terminal device may send the SRS to the network device by using the first time-frequency resource, so that the network device can determine, by monitoring whether the terminal device sends the SRS, a result of decoding the first PDSCH by the terminal device, and the network device can adjust a retransmission parameter of the first PDSCH based on a result of measuring the SRS. In this way, a success probability of retransmitting the first PDSCH is increased and resource utilization efficiency is improved. In the foregoing technical solution, after failing to decode the first PDSCH, the terminal device directly sends the SRS to the network device by using the first time-frequency resource, to reduce an interaction procedure, in the conventional technology, from a moment at which the terminal device fails to decode the first PDSCH to a moment at which the terminal device sends the SRS to the network device. Therefore, in the foregoing technical solution, in addition to improving communication reliability, a communication latency is reduced, thereby reducing air interface resources. Further, when successfully decoding the data carried on the first PDSCH, the terminal device may choose to feed back acknowledgement information to the network device, so that the network device that receives the acknowledgement information can determine that the terminal device successfully decodes the first PDSCH; or the terminal device may choose not to send the feedback information or the SRS to the network device. In this manner, it is implicitly indicated that the first PDSCH is successfully decoded, and does not need to be retransmitted" (paragraph 0010).
RAHMAN, YU, ZTE, and FAN fail to explicitly disclose information regarding, “and two common beams are applicable for uplink transmission in the slot, the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission is associated with the two common beams”
However, in analogous art, FAN teaches and two common beams are applicable for uplink transmission in the slot, the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission is associated with the two common beams
FAN writes, “...the terminal device receives second indication information from the network device, where the second indication information indicates two common beams, and the two common beams respectively belong to the first common beam group and the second common beam group, or the two common beams both belong to the first common beam group, or the two common beams both belong to the second common beam group; and the terminal device communicates with the network device by using at least one of the two common beams based on a common beam group to which the two common beams belong” (paragraph 0007).
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 method and invention of RAHMAN, YU, ZTE, and LI to include aspects described by FAN that “relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a beam indication method and an apparatus.” FAN provides the motivation for modification by providing "[a] beam indication method and an apparatus...so that a common beam indicated by a network device can be accurately distinguished. This can ensure transmission between the network device and a terminal device" (paragraph 0006).
Regarding claim 12, RAHMAN, YU, and ZTE teach the UE of Claim 1,
Additionally, YU teaches the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission is associated with a first common beam of the at least two common beams and one SRS resource sets of the plurality SRS resource sets,
YU writes, “The beam indication for UL channels/signals may be a beam indication for a UL Sounding Reference Signal (SRS). For periodic SRS, the spatial transmission property (e.g., beam indication for UL) may be configured by RRC. For an SP/aperiodic (AP) SRS, the spatial transmission property may be provided and/or updated by MAC-CE signaling” (paragraph 0043). YU notes, “The beam indication for UL channels/signals may be a beam indication for a PUSCH” (paragraph 0045). YU adds, “The configured grant (CG) PUSCH transmission may be configured with a UL common beam (index) by RRC, for example, type-1 CG” (paragraph 0057). YU continues, “The beam information may be provided in the form of spatial relation information such as NR UL in the 3GPP TS 38.213/214 V16.2.0. The beam information may be provided in the form of a TRP-related index (value), e.g., CORESETPoolIndex. The beam information may be provided in the form of a panel-related index (value) (e.g., panel index, antenna group index, or an associated DL/UL resource set index (e.g., CSI-RS resource set, or SRS resource set))” (paragraph 0058).
wherein beams of the SRS resource set and the first common beam are associated with a same transmission configuration indicator TCI) state group, or a beam of the SRS resource set of the plurality of SRS resource sets is the same as the first common beam.
YU writes, “The beam indication for UL channels/signals may be a beam indication for a UL Sounding Reference Signal (SRS). For periodic SRS, the spatial transmission property (e.g., beam indication for UL) may be configured by RRC. For an SP/aperiodic (AP) SRS, the spatial transmission property may be provided and/or updated by MAC-CE signaling” (paragraph 0043). YU notes, “The beam indication for UL channels/signals may be a beam indication for a PUSCH” (paragraph 0045). YU adds, “The configured grant (CG) PUSCH transmission may be configured with a UL common beam (index) by RRC, for example, type-1 CG” (paragraph 0057). YU continues, “The beam information may be provided in the form of spatial relation information such as NR UL in the 3GPP TS 38.213/214 V16.2.0. The beam information may be provided in the form of a TRP-related index (value), e.g., CORESETPoolIndex. The beam information may be provided in the form of a panel-related index (value) (e.g., panel index, antenna group index, or an associated DL/UL resource set index (e.g., CSI-RS resource set, or SRS resource set))” (paragraph 0058).
RAHMAN, YU, and ZTE fail to explicitly disclose information regarding, “wherein the configuration information includes the second indication information having no SRS resource indicator value and no first indication information,” and “and at least two common beams are applicable for uplink transmission in the slot,”
However, in analogous art, LI teaches wherein the configuration information includes the second indication information having no SRS resource indicator value and no first indication information,
LI writes, “The network device 102 may indicate only the second indication information to the terminal device 106…” (paragraph 0258).
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 method and invention of RAHMAN, YU, and ZTE to include aspects described by LI that “relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a communication method and apparatus.” LI provides the motivation for modification by stating, "In the foregoing technical solution, when failing to decode the data carried on the first PDSCH, the terminal device may send the SRS to the network device by using the first time-frequency resource, so that the network device can determine, by monitoring whether the terminal device sends the SRS, a result of decoding the first PDSCH by the terminal device, and the network device can adjust a retransmission parameter of the first PDSCH based on a result of measuring the SRS. In this way, a success probability of retransmitting the first PDSCH is increased and resource utilization efficiency is improved. In the foregoing technical solution, after failing to decode the first PDSCH, the terminal device directly sends the SRS to the network device by using the first time-frequency resource, to reduce an interaction procedure, in the conventional technology, from a moment at which the terminal device fails to decode the first PDSCH to a moment at which the terminal device sends the SRS to the network device. Therefore, in the foregoing technical solution, in addition to improving communication reliability, a communication latency is reduced, thereby reducing air interface resources. Further, when successfully decoding the data carried on the first PDSCH, the terminal device may choose to feed back acknowledgement information to the network device, so that the network device that receives the acknowledgement information can determine that the terminal device successfully decodes the first PDSCH; or the terminal device may choose not to send the feedback information or the SRS to the network device. In this manner, it is implicitly indicated that the first PDSCH is successfully decoded, and does not need to be retransmitted" (paragraph 0010).
RAHMAN, YU, ZTE, and FAN fail to explicitly disclose information regarding, “and at least two common beams are applicable for uplink transmission in the slot,”
However, in analogous art, FAN teaches and at least two common beams are applicable for uplink transmission in the slot,
FAN writes, “...the terminal device receives second indication information from the network device, where the second indication information indicates two common beams, and the two common beams respectively belong to the first common beam group and the second common beam group, or the two common beams both belong to the first common beam group, or the two common beams both belong to the second common beam group; and the terminal device communicates with the network device by using at least one of the two common beams based on a common beam group to which the two common beams belong” (paragraph 0007).
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 method and invention of RAHMAN, YU, ZTE, and LI to include aspects described by FAN that “relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a beam indication method and an apparatus.” FAN provides the motivation for modification by providing "[a] beam indication method and an apparatus...so that a common beam indicated by a network device can be accurately distinguished. This can ensure transmission between the network device and a terminal device" (paragraph 0006).
Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over RAHMAN, YU, and ZTE as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of LI.
Regarding claim 11, RAHMAN, YU, and ZTE teach the UE of Claim 1,
Additionally, YU teaches and one or more common beams are applicable for uplink transmission in the slot, the CG type 1 PUSCH transmission is associated with a first common beam of the one or more common beams,
YU writes, “The beam indication for UL channels/signals may be a beam indication for a UL Sounding Reference Signal (SRS). For periodic SRS, the spatial transmission property (e.g., beam indication for UL) may be configured by RRC. For an SP/aperiodic (AP) SRS, the spatial transmission property may be provided and/or updated by MAC-CE signaling” (paragraph 0043). YU notes, “The beam indication for UL channels/signals may be a beam indication for a PUSCH” (paragraph 0045). YU adds, “The configured grant (CG) PUSCH transmission may be configured with a UL common beam (index) by RRC, for example, type-1 CG” (paragraph 0057). YU continues, “The beam information may be provided in the form of spatial relation information such as NR UL in the 3GPP TS 38.213/214 V16.2.0. The beam information may be provided in the form of a TRP-related index (value), e.g., CORESETPoolIndex. The beam information may be provided in the form of a panel-related index (value) (e.g., panel index, antenna group index, or an associated DL/UL resource set index (e.g., CSI-RS resource set, or SRS resource set))” (paragraph 0058).
wherein beams of the SRS resource set and the first common beam are associated with a same transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state group or a beam of the SRS resource set of the plurality of SRS resource sets is same as the first common beam.
YU writes, “The beam indication for UL channels/signals may be a beam indication for a UL Sounding Reference Signal (SRS). For periodic SRS, the spatial transmission property (e.g., beam indication for UL) may be configured by RRC. For an SP/aperiodic (AP) SRS, the spatial transmission property may be provided and/or updated by MAC-CE signaling” (paragraph 0043). YU notes, “The beam indication for UL channels/signals may be a beam indication for a PUSCH” (paragraph 0045). YU adds, “The configured grant (CG) PUSCH transmission may be configured with a UL common beam (index) by RRC, for example, type-1 CG” (paragraph 0057). YU continues, “The beam information may be provided in the form of spatial relation information such as NR UL in the 3GPP TS 38.213/214 V16.2.0. The beam information may be provided in the form of a TRP-related index (value), e.g., CORESETPoolIndex. The beam information may be provided in the form of a panel-related index (value) (e.g., panel index, antenna group index, or an associated DL/UL resource set index (e.g., CSI-RS resource set, or SRS resource set))” (paragraph 0058).
Additionally, ZTE teaches and is associated with one SRS resource set of the plurality of SRS resource sets,
ZTE writes, “...the UE determines its PUSCH transmission precoder(s) based on SRI(s), TPMI(s) and the transmission rank, where the SRT(s), TPMI(s) and the transmission rank are given by DCT fields of one or two SRS resource indicators and one or two Precoding information and number of layers in clause 7.3.1.1.2 and 7.3.1.1.3 of [5, TS 38.212] for DCI format 0_1 and 0_2 or given by srs-Resourcelndicator and precodingAndNumberOfLayers according to clause 6.1.2.3 or given by srs-Resourcelndicator, srs-Resourcelndicator2, precodingAndNumberOfLayers, and precodingAndNumberOfLayers2 according to clause 6.1.2.3” (page 6, section 6.1.1.1, paragraph 1).
RAHMAN, YU, and ZTE fail to explicitly disclose information regarding, “wherein the configuration information includes the second indication information having one SRS resource indicator value and no first indication information,”
However, in analogous art, LI teaches wherein the configuration information includes the second indication information having one SRS resource indicator value and no first indication information,
LI writes, “The network device 102 may indicate only the second indication information to the terminal device 106…” (paragraph 0258).
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 method and invention of RAHMAN, YU, and ZTE to include aspects described by LI that “relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a communication method and apparatus.” LI provides the motivation for modification by stating, "In the foregoing technical solution, when failing to decode the data carried on the first PDSCH, the terminal device may send the SRS to the network device by using the first time-frequency resource, so that the network device can determine, by monitoring whether the terminal device sends the SRS, a result of decoding the first PDSCH by the terminal device, and the network device can adjust a retransmission parameter of the first PDSCH based on a result of measuring the SRS. In this way, a success probability of retransmitting the first PDSCH is increased and resource utilization efficiency is improved. In the foregoing technical solution, after failing to decode the first PDSCH, the terminal device directly sends the SRS to the network device by using the first time-frequency resource, to reduce an interaction procedure, in the conventional technology, from a moment at which the terminal device fails to decode the first PDSCH to a moment at which the terminal device sends the SRS to the network device. Therefore, in the foregoing technical solution, in addition to improving communication reliability, a communication latency is reduced, thereby reducing air interface resources. Further, when successfully decoding the data carried on the first PDSCH, the terminal device may choose to feed back acknowledgement information to the network device, so that the network device that receives the acknowledgement information can determine that the terminal device successfully decodes the first PDSCH; or the terminal device may choose not to send the feedback information or the SRS to the network device. In this manner, it is implicitly indicated that the first PDSCH is successfully decoded, and does not need to be retransmitted" (paragraph 0010).
Claims 8-9 have been canceled by the applicant, respectfully.
Conclusion
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/Christopher A. Reyes/Examiner, Art Unit 2475 8/20/2026
/KHALED M KASSIM/supervisory patent examiner, Art Unit 2475
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