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 .
DETAILED ACTION
a. Claims 1-20 in the present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, are being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
b. This is a first action on the merits based on Applicant’s claims submitted on 10/18/2024.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/18/2024 and 04/09/2025 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
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.
Claims 1-2, 5, 10-11, 13-14, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tang et al. US Pub 2022/0046443 (hereinafter “Tang”), and in view of Huawei NPL “Discussion on inter-cell L1-RSRP measurement requirements for R17 NR FeMIMO”, 3GPP R4-2205336, Feb 21 - Mar 3, 2022 (hereinafter “Huawei”).
Regarding claim 1
Tang discloses a processor of a user equipment (UE) (“processors 804” in Fig. 8; [0072]) configured to perform operations comprising:
determining a first system synchronization block (SSB) having a subcarrier spacing (SCS) (“The measurement object may provide information about SSBs and CSI-RS resources that are to be measured. FIG. 3 illustrates a measurement object 300, in accordance with some embodiments. The measurement object 300 may include a single and fixed center frequency and a single and fixed subcarrier spacing (SCS).” [0033]) transmitted by a first cell (“The base station 108 may provide a serving cell 110” [0025]; Fig. 1) having a first Physical Cell Identity (PCI) (“Each PCI may be independently configured with a fixed CSI-RS density, which may indicate the number of resource elements in an OFDM symbol that carry a CSI-RS.” [0035]) and a second SSB having the SCS transmitted by a second cell (“neighbor cell 112” [0028]; Fig. 1) having a second PCI different from the first PCI are adjacent (“The measurement object 300 may further include information for multiple cells with different physical cell identifiers (PCI). FIG. 3 illustrates the measurement object 300 being configured with information for n PCIs. Each PCI may be independently configured with a fixed bandwidth in terms of a number of physical resource blocks. For example, the PCIs may have bandwidths of 24, 48, 96, 192, or 264.” [0034]); and
Tang does not specifically teach the SSBs are adjacent; performing inter-cell Layer 1 reference signal received power (L1-RSRP) measurements on the first and second SSBs based on a proximity rule.
In an analogous art, Huawei discloses the SSBs are adjacent; performing inter-cell Layer 1 reference signal received power (L1-RSRP) measurements on the first and second SSBs (“Proposal 6: When SSB of cell with different PCT is partial or fully overlapped with SSB of serving cell, LI-RSRP measurement requiremenJs for cell with different PCI call be defined based the existing SSB based L1-RSRP measurement requirements for serving cell” section 3. The partial overlap of the SSBs clearly implies that they are adjacent) based on a proximity rule (“Proposal 6: new sharing factor will be introduced to SSB based L1-RSRP measurement requirements for both serving cell and the cell with different PCI, which can be defined as follow:” section 3). In order to perform the measurement, the UE needs to apply the “proximity” rules dictated in the following table:
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Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Tang’s method for measuring CSI-RS to include Huawei’s method for inter-cell L1-RSRP measurement, in order to efficiently perform L1-RSRP measurement between cells with different PCIs (Huawei [Introduction]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Huawei’s method for inter-cell L1-RSRP measurement into Tang’s method for measuring CSI-RS since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 2
Tang, as modified by Huawei, previously discloses the processor of claim 1,
Tang further discloses wherein the SCS is 120 kHz (“SCS of the CSI-RS is set 120 kHz” [0039]) and
Huawei further discloses the first and second SSBs are adjacent based on there being no intervening symbols between a last symbol of the first SSB and a first symbol of the second SSB (“Proposal 6: When SSB of cell with different PCT is partial or fully overlapped with SSB of serving cell, LI-RSRP measurement requiremenJs for cell with different PCI call be defined based the existing SSB based L1-RSRP measurement requirements for serving cell” section 3. The partial overlap of the SSBs clearly implies that they are adjacent).
Regarding claim 5
Tang, as modified by Huawei, previously discloses the processor of claim 2,
Tang further discloses wherein the first cell is a serving cell and the second cell is a neighbor cell (“SSB intra-frequency measurements may correspond to situations in which both the serving cell 110 and the neighbor cell 112 use the same SSB center frequency and subcarrier spacing.” [0028]; Fig. 1) or the first cell is a first neighbor cell and the second cell is a second neighbor cell.
Regarding claim 10
Tang, as modified by Huawei, previously discloses the processor of claim 1,
Tang further discloses wherein the SCS is 120 kHz (“SCS of the CSI-RS is set 120 kHz” [0039]) and the first and second SSBs are adjacent based on there being no intervening symbols between a last symbol of the first SSB and a first symbol of the second SSB, the operations further comprising:
sending, to a network, UE capability information comprising a capability related to L1-RSRP measurements of adjacent SSBs (“In some embodiments, the base station 108 may determine the sharing factor to use based on UE capability report and other considerations. The base station 108 may then configure the UE 104 with the sharing factor to implement in the processing of the CSI-RS resources and the SSB. In other embodiments, the UE 104 may select the sharing factor to use on its own initiative, or select the sharing factor within constraints provided by the base station 108.” [0063]), wherein the UE capability information indicates whether the UE can switch receiver (Rx) beams to measure the first and second SSBs (“The UE capability report 408 may further include, in a simultaneousRxDataSSB-DiffNumerology-Inter-r16 IE, an indication of whether the UE supports concurrent SSB-based inter-frequency measurement without measurement gap on neighboring cell and PDCCH or PDSCH reception from the serving cell with a different numerology.” [0050]).
Regarding claim 11
Tang, as modified by Huawei, previously discloses the processor of claim 1, wherein the first and second SSBs are in a block, the operations further comprising:
Tang further discloses sending, to a network, UE capability information comprising a capability related to L1-RSRP measurements of adjacent SSBs (“In some embodiments, the base station 108 may determine the sharing factor to use based on UE capability report and other considerations. The base station 108 may then configure the UE 104 with the sharing factor to implement in the processing of the CSI-RS resources and the SSB. In other embodiments, the UE 104 may select the sharing factor to use on its own initiative, or select the sharing factor within constraints provided by the base station 108.” [0063]), wherein the UE capability information indicates a first value indicating the UE can measure one of the SSBs in the block or a second value indicating the UE can measure both of the SSBs in the block (“In a first example, the UE capability information may include information about simultaneous reception of data and CSI-RS with different numerologies. For example, the UE capability information may include a simultaneousRxDataCSI-RS-DiffNumerology IE to indicate whether the UE supports concurrent CSI-RS based intra-frequency measurement on serving cell or neighboring cell and PDCCH or PDSCH reception from the serving cell with a different numerology.” [0052]).
Regarding claim 13
Tang discloses a user equipment (UE) (“UE 800” in Fig. 8; [0072]), comprising:
a transceiver (“RF interface circuitry 808” in Fig. 8; [0072]) configured to communicate with a base station (“base station 108” in Fig. 1; [0025]); and
a processor (“processors 804” in Fig. 8; [0072]) communicatively coupled to the transceiver and configured to perform operations comprising:
determining a first system synchronization block (SSB) having a subcarrier spacing (SCS) transmitted by a first cell having a first Physical Cell Identity (PCI) and a second SSB having the SCS transmitted by a second cell having a second PCI different from the first PCI are adjacent; and
performing inter-cell Layer 1 reference signal received power (L1-RSRP) measurements on the first and second SSBs based on a proximity rule.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 13 are similar to the scope and subject matter as claimed in apparatus claim 1. Therefore apparatus claim 13 corresponds to apparatus claim 1 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 1 rejection above.
Regarding claim 14
The UE of claim 13, wherein the SCS is 120 kHz and the first and second SSBs are adjacent based on there being no intervening symbols between a last symbol of the first SSB and a first symbol of the second SSB.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 14 are similar to the scope and subject matter as claimed in apparatus claim 2. Therefore apparatus claim 14 corresponds to apparatus claim 2 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 2 rejection above.
Regarding claim 17
The UE of claim 13, wherein the first cell is a serving cell and the second cell is a neighbor cell or the first cell is a first neighbor cell and the second cell is a second neighbor cell.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 17 are similar to the scope and subject matter as claimed in apparatus claim 5. Therefore apparatus claim 17 corresponds to apparatus claim 5 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 5 rejection above.
Claims 3-4, 6-9, 12, 15-16, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tang, in view of Huawei, and further in view of Ericsson NPL “RRM requirements of inter-cell BM in FeMIMO”, 3GPP R4-2205844, 21 Feb. 2022 – 03 Mar. 2022 (hereinafter “Ericsson”).
Regarding claim 3
Tang, as modified by Huawei, previously discloses the processor of claim 2,
Tang and Huawei do not specifically teach wherein the proximity rule is based on at least a UE capability related to measuring the first and second SSBs, wherein the UE capability comprises one of (i) the UE is capable of measuring only one of the SSBs without applying a sharing factor or (ii) the UE is capable of measuring both of the SSBs without applying a sharing factor.
In an analogous art, Ericsson discloses wherein the proximity rule is based on at least a UE capability related to measuring the first and second SSBs, wherein the UE capability comprises one of (i) the UE is capable of measuring only one of the SSBs without applying a sharing factor or (ii) the UE is capable of measuring both of the SSBs without applying a sharing factor (“If more than one non-serving cell is overlapping SSB, our understanding is UE can measure all of them at same time if the number of cells to be measured is within the UE capability of maximum number of cells to be measured. If the number of cells to be measured exceeds the UE capability, SSB can be measured in TDM fashion and hence sharing factor needs to be introduced.” Section 2.2).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Tang’s method for measuring CSI-RS, as modified by Huawi, to include Ericsson’s inter-cell beam management in FeMIMO, in order to efficiently perform inter-cell L1-RSRP measurement between cells with different PCIs (Ericsson [Discussion]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Ericsson’s inter-cell beam management in FeMIMO into Tang’s method for measuring CSI-RS since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 4
Tang, as modified by Huawei and Ericsson, previously discloses the processor of claim 3, wherein,
Huawei further discloses when the UE is capable of measuring only one of the SSBs without applying a sharing factor, the proximity rule comprises the UE using the sharing factor for the L1-RSRP measurements of the first and second SSBs (“Proposal 6: When SSB of cell with different PCI is partial or fully overlapped with SSB of serving cell, L1-RSRP measurement requirements for cell with different PCI can be defined based the existing SSB based L1-RSRP measurement requirements for serving cell, and new sharing factor will be introduced to SSB based L1-RSRP measurement requirements for both serving cell and the cell with different PCI, which can be defined as follow:” section 3).
Regarding claim 6
Tang, as modified by Huawei, previously discloses the processor of claim 1,
Huawei further discloses the first and second SSB are adjacent based on the first and second SSB being in a continuous block of symbols with a third and fourth SSB without any intervening symbols between the SSBs in the block (“Proposal 6: When SSB of cell with different PCT is partial or fully overlapped with SSB of serving cell, LI-RSRP measurement requiremenJs for cell with different PCI call be defined based the existing SSB based L1-RSRP measurement requirements for serving cell” section 3. The partial overlap of the SSBs clearly implies that they are adjacent).
Tang and Huawei do not specifically teach wherein the SCS is 240 kHz.
In an analogous art, Ericsson discloses the SCS is 240 kHz (for one skilled in the art, the SCS being in particular 120 KHz or 240 kHz is directly implied when discussing FR1 and FR2 frequencies “inter-cell BM in FR1” section 2.2 and “inter-cell BM in FR2” section 2.3).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Tang’s method for measuring CSI-RS, as modified by Huawi, to include Ericsson’s inter-cell beam management in FeMIMO, in order to efficiently perform inter-cell L1-RSRP measurement between cells with different PCIs (Ericsson [Discussion]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Ericsson’s inter-cell beam management in FeMIMO into Tang’s method for measuring CSI-RS since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 7
Tang, as modified by Huawei and Ericsson, previously discloses the processor of claim 6,
Ericsson further discloses wherein the proximity rule is based on at least a UE capability related to measuring the first and second SSBs, wherein the UE capability comprises the UE is capable of measuring all four SSBs in the block without applying a sharing factor (“If more than one non-serving cell is overlapping SSB, our understanding is UE can measure all of them at same time if the number of cells to be measured is within the UE capability of maximum number of cells to be measured. If the number of cells to be measured exceeds the UE capability, SSB can be measured in TDM fashion and hence sharing factor needs to be introduced.” Section 2.2).
Regarding claim 8
Tang, as modified by Huawei and Ericsson, previously discloses the processor of claim 6, wherein,
Ericsson further discloses when the UE capability is indicates the UE is only capable of measuring less than all of the four SSBs in the block, the proximity rule comprises the UE using a sharing factor for the L1-RSRP measurements of the first and second SSBs (“If more than one non-serving cell is overlapping SSB, our understanding is UE can measure all of them at same time if the number of cells to be measured is within the UE capability of maximum number of cells to be measured. If the number of cells to be measured exceeds the UE capability, SSB can be measured in TDM fashion and hence sharing factor needs to be introduced.” Section 2.2).
Regarding claim 9
Tang, as modified by Huawei and Ericsson, previously discloses the processor of claim 8,
Tang further discloses wherein the sharing factor is a first sharing factor when the UE is capable of measuring only one of the SSBs in the block without applying a sharing factor (“In some embodiments, the base station 108 may determine the sharing factor to use based on UE capability report and other considerations. The base station 108 may then configure the UE 104 with the sharing factor to implement in the processing of the CSI-RS resources and the SSB. In other embodiments, the UE 104 may select the sharing factor to use on its own initiative, or select the sharing factor within constraints provided by the base station 108.” [0063]) and a different second sharing factor when the UE is capable of measuring two of the SSBs in the block without applying a sharing factor (“If the UE 104 does not support parallel measurements of the SSB and CSI-RS, a sharing factor may be used to divide the measurement opportunities. In a first example, the sharing factor may indicate that the measurement opportunities are to be equally divided between the SSB and CSI-RS. In a second example, the sharing factor may indicate a CSI-RS prioritized sharing in which more measurement opportunities are used to process the CSI-RS as opposed to processing the SSB. In a third example, the sharing factor may indicate an SSB prioritized sharing in which more measurement opportunities are used to process the SSB as opposed to processing the CSI-RS.” [0061]).
Regarding claim 12
Tang, as modified by Huawei, previously discloses the processor of claim 1,
Huawei further discloses the first and second SSB are adjacent based on the first and second SSB being in a continuous block of symbols with a third and fourth SSB without any intervening symbols between the SSBs in the block (“Proposal 6: When SSB of cell with different PCT is partial or fully overlapped with SSB of serving cell, LI-RSRP measurement requiremenJs for cell with different PCI call be defined based the existing SSB based L1-RSRP measurement requirements for serving cell” section 3. The partial overlap of the SSBs clearly implies that they are adjacent),
Tang further discloses wherein the third SSB is transmitted by the first cell (“The base station 108 may provide a serving cell 110” [0025]; Fig. 1) and the fourth SSB is transmitted by the second cell (“neighbor cell 112” [0028]; Fig. 1),
the operations further comprising: sending, to a network, UE capability information comprising a capability related to L1-RSRP measurements of adjacent SSB s(“In some embodiments, the base station 108 may determine the sharing factor to use based on UE capability report and other considerations. The base station 108 may then configure the UE 104 with the sharing factor to implement in the processing of the CSI-RS resources and the SSB. In other embodiments, the UE 104 may select the sharing factor to use on its own initiative, or select the sharing factor within constraints provided by the base station 108.” [0063]), wherein the UE capability information indicates a first value indicating the UE can measure one of the SSBs in the block, a second value indicating the UE can measure two of the SSBs in the block or a third value indicating the UE can measure all four SSBs in the block (“In a first example, the UE capability information may include information about simultaneous reception of data and CSI-RS with different numerologies. For example, the UE capability information may include a simultaneousRxDataCSI-RS-DiffNumerology IE to indicate whether the UE supports concurrent CSI-RS based intra-frequency measurement on serving cell or neighboring cell and PDCCH or PDSCH reception from the serving cell with a different numerology.” [0052]).
Tang and Huawei do not specifically teach wherein the SCS is 240 kHz.
In an analogous art, Ericsson discloses the SCS is 240 kHz (for one skilled in the art, the SCS being in particular 120 KHz or 240 kHz is directly implied when discussing FR1 and FR2 frequencies “inter-cell BM in FR1” section 2.2 and “inter-cell BM in FR2” section 2.3).
Before the effective filling date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Tang’s method for measuring CSI-RS, as modified by Huawi, to include Ericsson’s inter-cell beam management in FeMIMO, in order to efficiently perform inter-cell L1-RSRP measurement between cells with different PCIs (Ericsson [Discussion]). Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have appreciated the ability to incorporate Ericsson’s inter-cell beam management in FeMIMO into Tang’s method for measuring CSI-RS since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
Regarding claim 15
The UE of claim 14, wherein the proximity rule is based on at least a UE capability related to measuring the first and second SSBs, wherein the UE capability comprises one of (i) the UE is capable of measuring only one of the SSBs without applying a sharing factor or (ii) the UE is capable of measuring both of the SSBs without applying a sharing factor.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 15 are similar to the scope and subject matter as claimed in apparatus claim 3. Therefore apparatus claim 15 corresponds to apparatus claim 3 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 3 rejection above.
Regarding claim 16
The UE of claim 15, wherein, when the UE is capable of measuring only one of the SSBs without applying a sharing factor, the proximity rule comprises the UE using the sharing factor for the L1-RSRP measurements of the first and second SSBs.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 16 are similar to the scope and subject matter as claimed in apparatus claim 4. Therefore apparatus claim 16 corresponds to apparatus claim 4 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 4 rejection above.
Regarding claim 18
The UE of claim 13, wherein the SCS is 240 kHz and the first and second SSB are adjacent based on the first and second SSB being in a continuous block of symbols with a third and fourth SSB without any intervening symbols between the SSBs in the block.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 18 are similar to the scope and subject matter as claimed in apparatus claim 6. Therefore apparatus claim 18 corresponds to apparatus claim 6 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 6 rejection above.
Regarding claim 19
The UE of claim 18, wherein the proximity rule is based on at least a UE capability related to measuring the first and second SSBs, wherein the UE capability comprises one of (i) the UE is capable of measuring only one of the SSBs in the block without applying a sharing factor, (ii) the UE is capable of measuring two of the SSBs in the block without applying a sharing factor or (iii) the UE is capable of measuring all four SSBs in the block without applying a sharing factor.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 19 are similar to the scope and subject matter as claimed in apparatus claim 7. Therefore apparatus claim 19 corresponds to apparatus claim 7 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 7 rejection above.
Regarding claim 20
The UE of claim 19, wherein, when the UE capability is indicates the UE is only capable of measuring less than all of the four SSBs in the block, the proximity rule comprises the UE using a sharing factor for the L1-RSRP measurements of the first and second SSBs.
The scope and subject matter of apparatus claim 20 are similar to the scope and subject matter as claimed in apparatus claim 8. Therefore apparatus claim 20 corresponds to apparatus claim 8 and is rejected for the same reasons of obviousness as used in claim 8 rejection above.
Conclusion
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/CHUONG M NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411
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