DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claims 1-14, 16-19, and 37-38 are pending.
Claims 15, 20-36, and 39-40 have been cancelled.
Claim Objections
Claim 4 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 4 recites "/", for example and/or. For clarity and consistency, it is suggested to use the word “or” instead of a symbol slash “/” (e.g. A or B).
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-7, 11, 14, 18-19, and 37-38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by KIM et al. (Pub. No.: US 20180278301 A1), hereinafter KIM.
With respect to claim 1, KIM teaches A reporting method, performed by a terminal and comprising ([0009], user equipment performs a reporting method):
receiving configuration information sent by a network device ([0009], user equipment receives information sent by a base station), wherein the configuration information comprises N reference signal resource sets ([0009], information consisting of a plurality of reference signal resources), where N is a positive integer greater than 2 ([0009], two or more reference signal resources); and
sending a report about the N reference signal resource sets based on at least one group according to the configuration information, wherein each group comprises M reference signal resources, where M is a positive integer greater than 1 and not greater than N ([0009, 0096-0097], selecting two or more reference signal resources from among a plurality of the reference signal resources based on the received reference signals, and reporting the CSI corresponding to the single CSI process to the base station. In this case, the CSI can include indicators indicating the two or more reference signal resources).
With respect to claim 2, KIM teaches wherein the M reference signal resources belong to different reference signal resource sets ([0009, 0015, 0097], different reference signal resource sets).
With respect to claim 3, KIM teaches wherein each reference signal resource set corresponds to a Transmission Reception Point (TRP) ([0009], wherein each reference signal resource set corresponds to a Transmission Reception Point (TRP) / base station).
With respect to claim 4, KIM teaches wherein a reference signal resource set comprises at least one Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) resource ([0009, 0096], CSI-RS resource).
With respect to claim 5, KIM teaches wherein the M reference signal resources in each group of the at least one group are M reference signal resources supported by the terminal for simultaneous reception ([0009, 0096], reference signal resources supported by the terminal for simultaneous reception).
With respect to claim 6, KIM teaches wherein each group comprises at least one of: first indication information, wherein the first indication information indicates a number of reference signal resources comprised in a group ([0009, 0101], indicates a number of reference signal resources comprised in a group).
With respect to claim 7, KIM teaches wherein indication information corresponding to a reference signal resource corresponding to a strongest signal quality in a target group among the at least one group is located in a first position ([0097]), and the target group is a group to which the reference signal resource corresponding to the strongest signal quality belongs among the at least one group ([0097]).
With respect to claim 11, KIM teaches wherein indication information corresponding to a reference signal resource corresponding to a strongest signal quality in a target group among the at least one group is located in a first position ([0097]), and the target group is a group to which the reference signal resource corresponding to the strongest signal quality belongs among the at least one group ([0097]).
With respect to claim 14, KIM teaches wherein each group comprises at least one of: seventh indication information, wherein the seventh indication information indicates whether a signal quality of the corresponding reference signal resource is a strongest signal quality ([0097]).
With respect to claim 18, KIM teaches A reporting method, performed by a network device and comprising ([0009], a reporting method, performed by a base station):
sending configuration information to a terminal ([0009], user equipment receives information sent by a base station), wherein the configuration information comprises N reference signal resource sets ([0009], information consisting of a plurality of reference signal resources), where N is a positive integer greater than 2 ([0009], two or more reference signal resources); and
receiving at least one group reported by the terminal, wherein the at least one group is reported by the terminal according to the N reference signal resource sets in the configuration information, and each group comprises M reference signal resources, where M is a positive integer greater than 1 and not greater than N ([0009, 0096-0097], selecting two or more reference signal resources from among a plurality of the reference signal resources based on the received reference signals, and reporting the CSI corresponding to the single CSI process to the base station. In this case, the CSI can include indicators indicating the two or more reference signal resources).
With respect to claim 19, this claim recites the method of claim 2, and it is rejected for at least the same reasons.
With respect to claim 37, KIM teaches A terminal, comprising ([0009], user equipment):
a processor; ([0137], processor) and
a transceiver connected to the processor ([0137], The RF unit is connected with the processor), wherein the processor is configured to ([0137]): receive configuration information sent by a network device ([0009], user equipment receives information sent by a base station), wherein the configuration information comprises N reference signal resource sets ([0009], information consisting of a plurality of reference signal resources), where N is a positive integer greater than 2 ([0009], two or more reference signal resources); and
send a report about the N reference signal resource sets based on at least one group according to the configuration information, wherein each group comprises M reference signal resources, where M is a positive integer greater than 1 and not greater than N ([0009, 0096-0097], selecting two or more reference signal resources from among a plurality of the reference signal resources based on the received reference signals, and reporting the CSI corresponding to the single CSI process to the base station. In this case, the CSI can include indicators indicating the two or more reference signal resources).
With respect to claim 38, this claim recites the method of claim 18, and it is rejected for at least the same reasons.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over KIM, in view of SHI et al. (Pub. No.: US 20210153059 A1), hereinafter SHI.
With respect to claim 10, KIM does not explicitly teach third indication information, wherein the third indication information indicates each reference signal resource identifier and a signal quality corresponding to the reference signal resource identifier.
However, SHI teaches third indication information, wherein the third indication information indicates each reference signal resource identifier and a signal quality corresponding to the reference signal resource identifier ([0119], reference signal resource identifier and a signal quality corresponding to the reference signal resource identifier).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of SHI, third indication information, wherein the third indication information indicates each reference signal resource identifier and a signal quality corresponding to the reference signal resource identifier, into the teachings of KIM, in order to improve the flexibility of signal measurement, and facilitate selecting a signal with a better quality and reliability so as to improve the system performance (SHI, [0005]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8-9, 12-13, and 16-17 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Pub. No.: US 20150124726 A1; “Ni”, ([0008])
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KIET TANG whose telephone number is (571)270-7193. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:00-5:00.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, IAN MOORE can be reached on (571) 272-3085. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/KIET TANG/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469
Prosecution Insights