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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 22 October 2024 was filed after the mailing date of the patent application on 22 October 2024. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Drawings
The drawings, received on 22 October 2024, are acceptable for examination.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 21, and 30 are objected to because of the following informalities: Said claim recite “a plurality of TRPs”. Here, the acronym of “Multi-TRP” has been introduced, but claim clarity would be improved by amending “a plurality of TRPs” to “a plurality of transmission and reception points (TRPs)”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: Said claim recites “sending the CMR configuration to a UE”. Here, the acronym, “UE”, has not been introduced. In order to improve claim clarity, Examiner respectfully suggests amending “UE” to “user equipment (UE)”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 5 and 25 are objected to because of the following informalities: Said claims recite “each TRP is the same”. Here, the recitation, “the same”, is not supported by antecedent basis. In order to improve claim clarity, Examiner respectfully suggests amending “the same” to “identical”. Appropriate correction is required.
Claims 9 and 29 are objected to because of the following informalities: Said claims recites “a same CDM group”. Here, the acronym of “CDM” has not been previously introduced. In order to improve claim clarity, Examiner respectfully suggests amending “CDM” to “Code Division Multiplexing (CDM)”. 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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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)(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, 3-4, 8, 21, 23-24, 28, and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Ahmed et al. (US 20250226865 A1; hereinafter referred to as “Ahmed”).
Regarding Claim 1, Ahmed discloses a method for a network node, the method comprising:
generating a Channel Measurement Resource (CMR) configuration (¶149 & Fig. 18 (1801), Ahmed discloses generating, by a next generation node (gNB), port group information. Examiner correlates the gNB to "a network node". Examiner correlates the port group information to "a Channel Measurement Resource (CMR) configuration") to support a multiple transmission and reception point (Multi-TRP) Coherent Joint Transmission (CJT) Channel State Information (CSI) report (Abstract & ¶1, Ahmed discloses that the port group information supports at least two transmit receive points (TRPs) in coherent joint transmission (CJT) CSI reporting);
sending the CMR configuration to a UE (¶149 & Fig. 18 (1801->1802), Ahmed discloses transmitting, by the gNB to a user equipment (UE), port group information. Examiner correlates the port group information to "the CMR configuration"), wherein the CMR configuration associates the multi-TRP CJT CSI report with one resource set comprising one or more resources (Claim 22, Ahmed discloses that the port group information associates a CSI report with a channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS, resource set comprising one or more CSI-RS resources. Examiner correlates CSI-RS resource set to "one or more resources"), wherein each of the one or more resources comprise multiple ports (Claim 22, Ahmed discloses that the channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS, resource set comprising one or more CSI-RS resources corresponding to at least two groups of antenna ports), and wherein the CMR configuration indicates a mapping of the multiple ports to a plurality of TRPs (Claim 22, Ahmed discloses that the port group information associates maps the CSI-RS resource set to one or more ports corresponding to at least two TRPs);
sending one or more Channel State Information Reference Signals (CSI-RSs) to the UE (¶149 & Fig. 18 (1803), Ahmed discloses transmitting at least one Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) with P ports from two TRPs to the UE);
receiving, from the UE, the multi-TRP CJT CSI report (¶149 & Fig. 18 (1806), Ahmed discloses receiving, from the UE, CSI feedback/reporting); and
sending, to the UE, a transmission based on the multi-TRP CJT CSI report (¶1 & ¶20 & Abstract, Ahmed discloses transmitting, to the UE, downlink communication using coherent joint transmission (CJT) based upon the CSI report)
Regarding Claim 3, Ahmed discloses the method of claim 1.
Ahmed further discloses wherein the mapping is configured by the network node (¶149 & Fig. 18 (1801), Ahmed discloses that the port group information is configured by the gNB).
Regarding Claim 4, Ahmed discloses the method of claim 1.
Ahmed further discloses wherein the CMR configuration further comprises an antenna configuration for the plurality of TRPs that the UE uses to determine the mapping (Abstract, Ahmed discloses that the a port group configuration indicating at least two groups of antenna ports in a channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS, resource set associated with at least two respective transmission reception points, TRPs, using coherent joint transmission, CJT).
Regarding Claim 8, Ahmed discloses the method of claim 1.
Ahmed further discloses wherein the mapping of the multiple ports to the plurality of TRPs is explicitly configured by the network node (¶149 & Fig. 18 (1801), Ahmed discloses that the port group information is configured by the gNB).
Regarding Claim 21, Ahmed discloses a method for a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:
receiving a Channel Measurement Resource (CMR) configuration (¶149 & Fig. 18 (1802), Ahmed discloses receiving, by a user equipment (UE) from a next generation node (gNB), port group information. Examiner correlates the port group information to "the CMR configuration") to support a multiple transmission and reception point (Multi-TRP) Coherent Joint Transmission (CJT) Channel State Information (CSI) report (Abstract & ¶1, Ahmed discloses that the port group information supports at least two transmit receive points (TRPs) in coherent joint transmission (CJT) CSI reporting), wherein the CMR configuration associates the multi-TRP CJT CSI report with one resource set comprising one or more resources (Claim 22, Ahmed discloses that the port group information associates a CSI report with a channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS, resource set comprising one or more CSI-RS resources. Examiner correlates CSI-RS resource set to "one or more resources"), wherein each of the one or more resources comprise multiple ports (Claim 22, Ahmed discloses that the channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS, resource set comprising one or more CSI-RS resources corresponding to at least two groups of antenna ports), and wherein the CMR configuration indicates a mapping of the multiple ports to a plurality of TRPs (Claim 22, Ahmed discloses that the port group information associates maps the CSI-RS resource set to one or more ports corresponding to at least two TRPs);
receiving one or more Channel State Information Reference Signals (CSI-RSs) from the plurality of TRPs (¶149 & Fig. 18 (1803), Ahmed discloses receiving, by the UE, at least one Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) with P ports from at least two TRPs); and
reporting, to a network node, the multi-TRP CJT CSI report (¶149 & Fig. 18 (1806), Ahmed discloses reporting, to the gNB, CSI feedback/reporting by transmitting, by the UE, CSI feedback/reporting).
Regarding Claim 23, Ahmed discloses the method of claim 21.
Ahmed further discloses wherein the mapping is configured by the network node (¶149 & Fig. 18 (1801), Ahmed discloses that the port group information is configured by the gNB).
Regarding Claim 24, Ahmed discloses the method of claim 21.
Ahmed further discloses wherein the CMR configuration further comprises an antenna configuration for the plurality of TRPs that the UE uses to determine the mapping (Abstract, Ahmed discloses that the a port group configuration indicating at least two groups of antenna ports in a channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS, resource set associated with at least two respective transmission reception points, TRPs, using coherent joint transmission, CJT).
Regarding Claim 28, Ahmed discloses the method of claim 21.
Ahmed further discloses wherein the mapping of the multiple ports to a plurality of TRPs is explicitly configured by the network node (¶149 & Fig. 18 (1801), Ahmed discloses that the port group information is configured by the gNB).
Regarding Claim 30, Ahmed discloses a method for a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:
receiving a Channel Measurement Resource (CMR) configuration (¶149 & Fig. 18 (1802), Ahmed discloses receiving, by a user equipment (UE) from a next generation node (gNB), port group information. Examiner correlates the port group information to "the CMR configuration") to support a multiple transmission and reception point (Multi-TRP) Coherent Joint Transmission (CJT) Channel State Information (CSI) report (Abstract & ¶1, Ahmed discloses that the port group information supports at least two transmit receive points (TRPs) in coherent joint transmission (CJT) CSI reporting), wherein the CMR configuration associates the multi-TRP CJT CSI report with one resource set comprising a plurality of resources (Claim 22, Ahmed discloses that the port group information associates a CSI report with a channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS, resource set comprising one or more CSI-RS resources. Examiner correlates CSI-RS resource set to "one resource set"), and wherein the CMR configuration associates each of the plurality of resources with one of a plurality of TRPs (Claim 22, Ahmed discloses that the port group information associates maps the CSI-RS resource set to one or more ports corresponding to at least two TRPs);
receiving one or more Channel State Information Reference Signals (CSI-RSs from the plurality of TRPs (¶149 & Fig. 18 (1803), Ahmed discloses receiving, by the UE, at least one Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) with P ports from at least two TRPs); and
reporting, to a network node, the multi-TRP CJT CSI report (¶149 & Fig. 18 (1806), Ahmed discloses reporting, to the gNB, CSI feedback/reporting by transmitting, by the UE, CSI feedback/reporting).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 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.
The factual inquiries 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.
Claims 2 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahmed in view of Levitsky et al. (US 20230006762 A1; hereinafter referred to as “Levitsky”).
Regarding Claim 2, Ahmed discloses the method of claim 1.
However, Ahmed does not disclose wherein the mapping is hard coded.
Levitsky, a prior art reference in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein the mapping is hard coded (¶141, Levitsky discloses that an association, between each transmit/receive point (TRP) and a corresponding code division multiplexing (CDM) group including at least two ports, is pre-defined).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ahmed by requiring that the mapping is hard coded as taught by Levitsky because dynamic switching of different transmission modes or scenarios is improved (Levitsky, Abstract & ¶138).
Regarding Claim 22, Ahmed discloses the method of claim 21.
However, Ahmed does not disclose wherein the mapping is hard coded.
Levitsky, a prior art reference in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein the mapping is hard coded (¶141, Levitsky discloses that an association, between each transmit/receive point (TRP) and a corresponding code division multiplexing (CDM) group including at least two ports, is pre-defined).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ahmed by requiring that the mapping is hard coded as taught by Levitsky because dynamic switching of different transmission modes or scenarios is improved (Levitsky, Abstract & ¶138).
Claims 5-6 and 25-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahmed in view of Liu et al. (US 20240039587 A1; hereinafter referred to as “Liu”).
Regarding Claim 5, Ahmed discloses the method of claim 4.
However, Ahmed does not disclose wherein the antenna configuration of each TRP is the same.
Liu, a prior art reference in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein the antenna configuration of each TRP is the same (¶101, Liu discloses that the antenna configuration of each TRP may be the same).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ahmed by requiring that the antenna configuration of each TRP is the same as taught by Liu because inter-cell and intra-cell multiple transmission-reception points communications are improved by configuring the UE to communicate data over a first carrier according to a layer number and a first TPMI and to transmit the same data over the carrier according to the layer number and the second TPMI (Liu, Abstract & ¶2).
Regarding Claim 6, Ahmed discloses the method of claim 4.
However, Ahmed does not disclose wherein the antenna configuration of at least one TRP is different than other TRPs.
Liu, a prior art reference in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein the antenna configuration of at least one TRP is different than other TRPs (¶101, Liu discloses that the antenna configuration of each TRP may be different).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ahmed by requiring that the antenna configuration of at least one TRP is different than other TRPs as taught by Liu because inter-cell and intra-cell multiple transmission-reception points communications are improved by configuring the UE to communicate data over a first carrier according to a layer number and a first TPMI and to transmit the same data over the carrier according to the layer number and the second TPMI (Liu, Abstract & ¶2).
Regarding Claim 25, Ahmed discloses the method of claim 24.
However, Ahmed does not disclose wherein the antenna configuration of each TRP is the same.
Liu, a prior art reference in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein the antenna configuration of each TRP is the same (¶101, Liu discloses that the antenna configuration of each TRP may be the same).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ahmed by requiring that the antenna configuration of each TRP is the same as taught by Liu because inter-cell and intra-cell multiple transmission-reception points communications are improved by configuring the UE to communicate data over a first carrier according to a layer number and a first TPMI and to transmit the same data over the carrier according to the layer number and the second TPMI (Liu, Abstract & ¶2).
Regarding Claim 26, Ahmed discloses the method of claim 24.
However, Ahmed does not disclose wherein the antenna configuration of at least one TRP is different than other TRPs.
Liu, a prior art reference in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein the antenna configuration of at least one TRP is different than other TRPs (¶101, Liu discloses that the antenna configuration of each TRP may be different).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ahmed by requiring that the antenna configuration of at least one TRP is different than other TRPs as taught by Liu because inter-cell and intra-cell multiple transmission-reception points communications are improved by configuring the UE to communicate data over a first carrier according to a layer number and a first TPMI and to transmit the same data over the carrier according to the layer number and the second TPMI (Liu, Abstract & ¶2).
Claims 7 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahmed in view of Haghighat et al. (US 20210352629 A1; hereinafter referred to as “Haghighat”).
Regarding Claim 7, Ahmed discloses the method of claim 1.
However, Ahmed does not disclose wherein the mapping of the multiple ports to the plurality of TRPs is determined sequentially.
Haghighat, a prior art reference in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein the mapping of the multiple ports to the plurality of TRPs is determined sequentially (¶134, Haghighat discloses using an association between the TRP or the TRP set index and the DM-RS antenna port index among the DM-RS antenna ports assigned for the PDSCH transmission. Specifically, the mapping, or association, sequentially maps a lowest DM-RS port index to a lowest indexed TRP).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ahmed by requiring that the mapping of the multiple ports to the plurality of TRPs is determined sequentially as taught by Haghighat because PUCCH transmission is improved by determining a PUCCH slot location for multiple TRPs based on all the determined PUCCH slot locations or by determining a PUCCH slot location asl the farthest candidate PUSCH slot location (Haghighat, Abstract & ¶2).
Regarding Claim 27, Ahmed discloses the method of claim 21.
However, Ahmed does not disclose wherein the mapping of the multiple ports to the plurality of TRPs is determined sequentially.
Haghighat, a prior art reference in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein the mapping of the multiple ports to the plurality of TRPs is determined sequentially (¶134, Haghighat discloses using an association between the TRP or the TRP set index and the DM-RS antenna port index among the DM-RS antenna ports assigned for the PDSCH transmission. Specifically, the mapping, or association, sequentially maps a lowest DM-RS port index to a lowest indexed TRP).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ahmed by requiring that the mapping of the multiple ports to the plurality of TRPs is determined sequentially as taught by Haghighat because PUCCH transmission is improved by determining a PUCCH slot location for multiple TRPs based on all the determined PUCCH slot locations or by determining a PUCCH slot location asl the farthest candidate PUSCH slot location (Haghighat, Abstract & ¶2).
Claims 9 and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahmed in view of Khoshnevisan et al. (US 20230328569 A1; hereinafter referred to as “Khoshnevisan”).
Regarding Claim 9, Ahmed discloses the method of claim 1.
However, Ahmed does not disclose wherein ports in a same CDM group are grouped together associated with a same TRP by the mapping.
Khoshnevisan, a prior art reference in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein ports in a same CDM group are grouped together associated with a same TRP by the mapping (¶169, Khoshnevisan discloses that each CSI-RS port group, or CSI-RS ports, belonging to a respective code-division multiplexing (CDM) group, are grouped together by a mapping to each TRP).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ahmed by requiring that ports in a same CDM group are grouped together associated with a same TRP by the mapping as taught by Khoshnevisan because joint channel state information (CSI) reporting for multiple transmission and reception point (TRP) communication schemes is improved by enabling the multiple TRPs perform transmissions over a same resource according to their different TCI states (Khoshnevisan, Abstract & ¶1 & ¶4).
Regarding Claim 29, Ahmed discloses the method of claim 21.
However, Ahmed does not disclose wherein ports in a same CDM group are grouped together associated with a same TRP by the mapping.
Khoshnevisan, a prior art reference in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein ports in a same CDM group are grouped together associated with a same TRP by the mapping (¶169, Khoshnevisan discloses that each CSI-RS port group, or CSI-RS ports, belonging to a respective code-division multiplexing (CDM) group, are grouped together by a mapping to each TRP).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ahmed by requiring that ports in a same CDM group are grouped together associated with a same TRP by the mapping as taught by Khoshnevisan because joint channel state information (CSI) reporting for multiple transmission and reception point (TRP) communication schemes is improved by enabling the multiple TRPs perform transmissions over a same resource according to their different TCI states (Khoshnevisan, Abstract & ¶1 & ¶4).
Claim 31 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ahmed in view of Xu et al. (US 20190342768 A1; hereinafter referred to as “Xu”).
Regarding Claim 31, Ahmed discloses the method of claim 30.
Ahmed further discloses wherein the CMR configuration individually configures one or more than one resources to share a same TRP (Claim 22, Ahmed discloses that the port group information associates maps the CSI-RS resource set to one or more ports corresponding to at least two TRPs).
However, Ahmed does not disclose wherein the multi-TRP CJT CSI report includes a preferred resource for each TRP independently.
Xu, a prior art reference in the same field of endeavor, teaches wherein the multi-TRP CJT CSI report includes a preferred resource for each TRP independently (¶15, Xu discloses that the CSI report includes a preferred port or set of ports for each TRP).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Ahmed by requiring that the multi-TRP CJT CSI report includes a preferred resource for each TRP independently as taught by Xu because Channel State Information feedback is improved by providing feedback pertaining to the ports that are preferred (Xu, Abstract & ¶15).
Internet Communications
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Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIC NOWLIN whose telephone number is (313)446-6544. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 12:00PM-10:00PM.
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/ERIC NOWLIN/Examiner, Art Unit 2474
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