DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 8, 15 and 21-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by U.S. Patent Application Publication 2022/0053486 to Abedini et al.
As concerns claim 1, a method comprising:
receiving, from a base station (Fig. 1, 108-base station; 0041; Fig. 7), configuration information (Fig. 20, 2002-control information; 0038-configuration indication; 0076; 0159-exchange configuration information) including information related to a bitwidth (0067; 0081-transport block size, number of bits; 0082-beam width) of each beam index field (0081-transport channel) in downlink control information (DCI) (0047-downlink control 114; 0089) for a beam indication, wherein the beam indication is for an access link (0170-link, repeater and UE) between a Network Controlled Repeater (NCR) (Fig. 7, 714-repeater; Fig. 18-smart repeater) and at least one user equipment (UE) (Fig. 1, 106; Fig. 7);
receiving, from the base station, the DCI (0047; Fig. 1, 114-from base station 108) including one or more beam index fields (0109; 0184-index, beam identifiers) based on the bitwidth (0081), wherein one or more beam indexes are indicated by the one or more beam index fields (0109-beam index); and
transmitting or receiving a signal based on i) the one or more beam indexes (0109-beam index; 0184) and ii) one or more time resources for the access link (0151-timing; 0173; 0183; 0187; 0192; 0281-time domain resource allocation from control information; BRI: “time resources” is a broad term and limitations from the specification are not read into the claims).
As concerns claim 8, a base station comprising:
a transceiver (0206-transceiver 1810; 0247-base station same components as other devices, similar hardware of repeater);
at least one processor (0206; 0248); and
at least one memory (0248) connected to the at least one processor and configured to store instructions performing operations based on being executed by the at least one processor,
wherein the operations comprise:
transmitting, to Network Controlled Repeater (NCR) (Fig. 7, 714-repeater; Fig. 18-smart repeater), configuration information (Fig. 20, 2002-control information; 0038-configuration indication; 0076; 0159-exchange configuration information) including information related to a bitwidth (0067; 0081-transport block size, number of bits; 0082-beam width) of each beam index field in downlink control information (DCI) (0047-downlink control 114; 0089) for a beam indication, wherein the beam indication is for an access link (0170-link, repeater and UE) between the NCR and at least one user equipment (UE) (Fig. 1, 106; Fig. 7); and
transmitting, to the NCR, the DCI including one or more beam index fields (0109; 0184-index, beam identifiers) based on the bitwidth, wherein one or more beam indexes are indicated by the one or more beam index fields (0109-beam index),
wherein a signal is transmitted or received by the NCR based on i) the one or more beam indexes (0109-beam index; 0184) and ii) one or more time resources for the access link (0173; 0183; 0187; 0192; 0281-time domain resource allocation from control information; BRI: “time resources” is a broad term and limitations from the specification are not read into the claims).
As concerns claim 15, a Network Control Repeater (NCR) comprising:
a transceiver (0206-transceiver 1810; 0247-base station same components as other devices, similar hardware of repeater);
at least one processor (0206; 0248); and
at least one memory (0248) connected to the at least one processor and configured to store instructions performing operations based on being executed by the at least one processor,
wherein the operations comprise:
receiving, from a base station (Fig. 1, 108-base station; 0041; Fig. 7), configuration information (Fig. 20, 2002-control information; 0038-configuration indication; 0076; 0159-exchange configuration information) including information related to a bitwidth (0067; 0081-transport block size, number of bits; 0082-beam width) of each beam index field in downlink control information (DCI) (0047-downlink control 114; 0089) for a beam indication, wherein the beam indication is for an access link (0170-link, repeater and UE) between a Network Controlled Repeater (NCR) (Fig. 7, 714-repeater; Fig. 18-smart repeater) and at least one user equipment (UE) (Fig. 1, 106; Fig. 7);
receiving, from the base station, the DCI including one or more beam index fields (0109; 0184-index, beam identifiers) based on the bitwidth (0067; 0081-transport block size, number of bits; 0082-beam width), wherein one or more beam indexes are indicated by the one or more beam index fields (0109-beam index; 0184); and
transmitting or receiving a signal based on i) the one or more beam indexes (0109-beam index; 0184) and ii) one or more time resources for the access link (0173; 0183; 0187; 0192; 0281-time domain resource allocation from control information; BRI: “time resources” is a broad term and limitations from the specification are not read into the claims).
As concerns claim 21, 24 and 27 the invention of claims 1, 8 and 15 wherein the configuration information is received based on a Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling (0188-configured in RRC signaling; 0265).
As concerns claims 22, 25 and 28 the invention of claims 1, 8 and 15 wherein the one or more beam indexes are related to one or more beams for at least one of transmissions or receptions (0109-downlink transmit beam) on the access link.
As concerns claims 23, 26 and 29, the method of claim 1, 8 and 15 wherein the one or more beam indexes are associated with the one or more time resources (0173; 0183; 0187; 0192; 0281-time domain resource allocation from control information; BRI: “associated with” is a broad term), and wherein a same beam is used in a time resource associated with a same beam index (0006-time domain resource allocation, TCI state index; 0059-TDM, TDMA; 0077; 0082).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See PTO-892. US Patent Application 2024/0137098 disclose bandwidth part and beam switching with configuration mapping.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOHN B WALSH whose telephone number is (571)272-7063. The examiner can normally be reached 7:30-3:30 pm.
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/JOHN B WALSH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2451