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 10/24/2024 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 are objected to because:
Figure 1 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). See page 1 paragraph [0004] of the present application.
Figure 2 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). See pages 2-3 paragraph [0008] of the present application.
Figure 3 should be designated by a legend such as --Prior Art-- because only that which is old is illustrated. See MPEP § 608.02(g). See page 5 paragraph [0019] of the present application.
The drawings are objected to as failing to comply with 37 CFR 1.84(p)(5) because they include the following reference character(s) not mentioned in the description: “XX500”; “XX502” “XX504-1”; “XX504-2”; “XX506” (see figure 5); it is suggested to be changed to “500”; “502” “504-1”; “504-2”; “506” respectively
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
The recitation “104” in paragraph [0083] seems improper because it is improperly constructed (see figure 6 and 8); it is suggested to be changed to “103”
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-18, 28 and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 1, 14, 28 and 29 are directed towards configuring periodic behavior of a repeater beam of a repeater node. However, nothing defined in said claim specify any periodic behavior of a repeater beam. The only thing that is specified is to indicate to the repeater node a beam to use as well as an associated beam time-domain state. This makes the claim indefinite.
Regarding claims 2-13 and 15-18 they are rejected because they depend directly from claims 1 and 14 respectively, and claims 1 and 14 are rejected.
See “Incoming Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority (ISA)” dated 10/24/2024, filed in the IDS Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) Form (SB08) dated 10/24/2024.
Claims 1-18, 28 and 29 are rejected as failing to define the invention in the manner required by 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112(b).
Regarding claims 1, 14, 28 and 29, the claim(s) are narrative in form and with indefinite language. The structure which goes to make up the device must be clearly and positively specified. The structure must be organized and correlated in such a manner as to present a complete operative device. The claim(s) must be in one sentence form only.
Regarding claims 2-13 and 15-18 they are rejected because they depend directly from claims 1 and 14 respectively, and claims 1 and 14 are rejected.
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)(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 1-18, 28 and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Abedini (US 20220053486 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Abedini discloses indicating, to the repeater node, a beam to use and indicating, to the repeater node, a beam time-domain state associated with the indicated beam (abstract paragraphs [0160], [0162], [0185], [0196], [0219], [0221], [0226], [0230], [0236], [0241] figures 17-20 blocks 2002 and 2008 “The configuration may include, for example, beamforming configurations and TDD configurations (e.g., Rx & Tx (forwarding) beamforming) and/or time-domain resource allocation (e.g., identify the resources used to adopt the indicated configuration or the indicated BF configuration)”.
Regarding claim 28, Abedini discloses indicate, to the repeater node, a beam to use and indicate, to the repeater node, a beam time-domain state associated with the indicated beam and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry (abstract paragraphs [0160], [0162], [0185], [0196], [0219], [0221], [0226], [0230], [0236], [0241] figure 18 and 21 power source and processor, figures 17-20 blocks 2002 and 2008 “The configuration may include, for example, beamforming configurations and TDD configurations (e.g., Rx & Tx (forwarding) beamforming) and/or time-domain resource allocation (e.g., identify the resources used to adopt the indicated configuration or the indicated BF configuration).”.
Regarding claim 14, Abedini discloses receiving an indication, from a network node, of a beam to use and receiving an indication, from the network node, of a beam time-domain state associated with the indicated beam (abstract paragraphs [0160], [0162], [0185], [0196], [0219], [0221], [0226], [0230], [0236], [0241] figures 17-20 blocks 2002 and 2008 “The configuration may include, for example, beamforming configurations and TDD configurations (e.g., Rx & Tx (forwarding) beamforming) and/or time-domain resource allocation (e.g., identify the resources used to adopt the indicated configuration or the indicated BF configuration).”.
Regarding claim 29, Abedini discloses receive an indication, from a network node, of a beam to use; and receive an indication, from the network node, of a beam time-domain state associated with the indicated beam (abstract paragraphs [0160], [0162], [0185], [0196], [0219], [0221], [0226], [0230], [0236], [0241] figures 17-20 blocks 2002 and 2008 “The configuration may include, for example, beamforming configurations and TDD configurations (e.g., Rx & Tx (forwarding) beamforming) and/or time-domain resource allocation (e.g., identify the resources used to adopt the indicated configuration or the indicated BF configuration).”.
Regarding claims 2 and 15, Abedini discloses claims 1 and 14, Abedini also discloses using Beam index/ID (abstract paragraphs [0160], [0162], [0185], [0196], [0219], [0221], [0226], [0230], [0236], [0241] “In some examples, each access-link TCI state may be an index to a set of beam identifiers (e.g., {0, . . . , #beams−1}), where #beams may be indicated by the repeater device during its integration and where #beams could be a number of access-link beams (i.e., beams that can be created on the array used for access-link communication).”)
Regarding claims 3 and 16, Abedini discloses claims 1 and 14, Abedini also discloses Radio Resource Control, RRC, signaling and/or Medium Access Control Control Element, MAC CE, signaling (abstract paragraphs [0107]-[0109] ,[0160], [0162], [0185], [0196], [0219], [0221], [0226], [0230], [0236], [0241] “Transmission of the beam reference signals may occur periodically (e.g., as configured via radio resource control (RRC) signaling by the gNB), semi-persistently (e.g., as configured via RRC signaling and activated/deactivated via medium access control—control element (MAC-CE) signaling by the gNB), or aperiodically (e.g., as triggered by the gNB via downlink control information (DCI))”)
Regarding claims 4 and 17, Abedini discloses claims 1 and 14, Abedini also discloses a) Starting Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing, OFDM, symbol in a slot, b) Duration in number of OFDM symbols, c) Slot number and/or d) Slot periodicity (abstract paragraphs [0107]-[0109] ,[0160], [0162], [0185], [0196], [0219], [0221], [0226], [0230], [0236], [0241] “The plurality of slots in the representation of periodic slot-level beamforming patterns 1702 ranges from slot index 0 to slot index S−1, where S is the slot index number.”)
Regarding claims 5 and 18, Abedini discloses claims 1 and 14, Abedini also discloses the indication of the beam time-domain state associated with the indicated beam is conveyed in RRC signaling (abstract paragraphs [0107]-[0109] ,[0160], [0162], [0185], [0196], [0219], [0221], [0226], [0230], [0236], [0241] “Transmission of the beam reference signals may occur periodically (e.g., as configured via radio resource control (RRC) signaling by the gNB), semi-persistently (e.g., as configured via RRC signaling and activated/deactivated via medium access control—control element (MAC-CE) signaling by the gNB), or aperiodically (e.g., as triggered by the gNB via downlink control information (DCI))”)
Regarding claim 6, Abedini discloses claim 1, Abedini also discloses the beam time-domain state is RRC configured in the repeater node as an RRC information element (abstract paragraphs [0107]-[0109] ,[0160], [0162], [0179], [0185], [0196], [0219], [0221], [0226], [0230], [0236], [0241] “The base station may construct control information that is transmitted to the repeater device. The repeater device may use the control information to configure a relay unit (RU) of the repeater device. In some examples, the control information may be configured as downlink control information (DCI) or may be configured in a MAC-CE or otherwise conveyed, for example, in RRC signaling. The control information may be conveyed to the repeater device in control signaling, for example over a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).”)
Regarding claim 7, Abedini discloses claim 1, Abedini also discloses the beam time-domain state is associated with a periodicity (abstract paragraphs [0107]-[0109] ,[0160], [0162], [0185], [0196], [0219], [0221], [0226], [0230], [0236], [0241] “Transmission of the beam reference signals may occur periodically (e.g., as configured via radio resource control (RRC) signaling by the gNB), semi-persistently (e.g., as configured via RRC signaling and activated/deactivated via medium access control—control element (MAC-CE) signaling by the gNB), or aperiodically (e.g., as triggered by the gNB via downlink control information (DCI))”)
Regarding claim 8, Abedini discloses claim 1, Abedini also discloses the beam time-domain state is semi-static (abstract paragraphs [0107]-[0109] ,[0160], [0162], [0185], [0196], [0219], [0221], [0226], [0230], [0236], [0241] “According to another aspect, the respective default of the access-link TCI state index may be semi-statically configured or may be semi-statically configured per time resources. According to this aspect, the respective default of the access-link TCI state index may be conveyed in at least one of: periodic slot beamforming patterns, or symbol-level beamforming patterns. In one example, the default may be conveyed for periodic or semi-static communications (e.g., SSBs/RMSI PDCCH/RACH, CSI-RS, SR, SRS)”)
Regarding claim 9, Abedini discloses claim 1, Abedini also discloses the beam to use and the beam time-domain state associated with the indicated beam are configured jointly by the network node (abstract paragraphs [0107]-[0109] ,[0160], [0162], [0185], [0196], [0219], [0221], [0226], [0230], [0236], [0241] “The configuration may include, for example, beamforming configurations and TDD configurations (e.g., Rx & Tx (forwarding) beamforming) and/or time-domain resource allocation (e.g., identify the resources used to adopt the indicated configuration or the indicated BF configuration). The configuration may also include TX power configuration. The configuration may also provide for a configurable operating bandwidth (which may utilize RF processing and/or filtering)”)
Regarding claim 10, Abedini discloses claim 1, Abedini also discloses the beam to use and the beam time-domain state associated with the indicated beam are configured jointly by the network node (abstract paragraphs [0107]-[0109] ,[0160], [0162], [0185], [0196], [0219], [0221], [0226], [0230], [0236], [0241] “In 5G NR, a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) may be repeated on a plurality of time domain resource allocation (TDRA) candidate occasions (e.g., on two or more TDRA candidate occasions) with different transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states.” …“According to some aspects, the repeater device may configure an access-link beam of the relay unit according to the access-link TCI state index. The access-link TCI state index may correspond to one of a plurality of access-link beam configurations corresponding to at least one of: a DL access-link beam, or a UL access-link beam.”)
Regarding claim 11, Abedini discloses claim 1, Abedini also discloses indicating, to the repeater node, a beam to use from among a set of repeater beams (abstract paragraphs [0160], [0162], [0185], [0196], [0219], [0221], [0226], [0230], [0236], [0241] figures 17-20 blocks 2002 and 2008 “The configuration may include, for example, beamforming configurations and TDD configurations (e.g., Rx & Tx (forwarding) beamforming) and/or time-domain resource allocation (e.g., identify the resources used to adopt the indicated configuration or the indicated BF configuration).”
Regarding claim 12, Abedini discloses claim 1, Abedini also discloses indicating, to the repeater node, a beam to use and/or a beam time-domain state associated with the indicated beam based on repeater beam information (abstract paragraphs [0160], [0162], [0185], [0196], [0219], [0221], [0226], [0230], [0236], [0241] figures 17-20 blocks 2002 and 2008 “The configuration may include, for example, beamforming configurations and TDD configurations (e.g., Rx & Tx (forwarding) beamforming) and/or time-domain resource allocation (e.g., identify the resources used to adopt the indicated configuration or the indicated BF configuration).”
Regarding claim 13, Abedini discloses claim 1, Abedini also discloses receiving a repeater beam arrangement report from a repeater node (abstract paragraphs [0160], [0162], [0185], [0196], [0219], [0221], [0226], [0230], [0236], [0241] figures 17-20 blocks 2002 and 2008 “At call 1114, the BS 1102 and the repeater device 1104 perform an RU configuration procedure. Here, the BS 1102 may send control information (e.g., control messages) to configure the operation of an RU. For example, the BS 1102 may send configuration information for an RU (e.g., for RU 1104a and/or RU 1104b) of the repeater device 1104 to the MT unit (not shown) of the repeater device 1104. Thus, in some examples, the RU configuration procedure may control the operation of a first RU 1104a (as represented by a line 1116) for DL traffic and control and may control the operation of a second RU 1104b (as represented by a line 1118) for UL traffic.”)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Islam (US 20220311503 A1) discloses beam changing for a repeater node.
Xu (US 20220361006 A1) discloses beam determination procedures in radio systems.
Abedini (US 20220046618 A1) discloses techniques for time and/or frequency domain reconfiguration of a forwarded signal using a repeater node.
Andersson (US 20180198582 A1) discloses radio network node, wireless device and methods performed therein.
Li (US 20200366363 A1) discloses joint beam management for backhaul links and access links.
Abedini (US 20220053433 A1) discloses information for wireless communication repeater device.
Ökvist (US 20180302892 A1) discloses selecting transmission parameters for an indoor user equipment.
Ali (US 20230170962 A1) discloses repeater configuration for channel state information reference signal.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUAN A TORRES whose telephone number is (571) 272-3119. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Kenneth N Vanderpuye can be reached at (571) 272-3078. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JUAN A TORRES/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2634
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