DETAILED ACTION
This action is responsive to the pending claims, 1-21, received 25 October 2024. Claim 2, has been canceled. Accordingly, the detailed action of claims 1, 3-21 is as follows:
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 27 January 2025 is 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 § 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.
Claim 16 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by You et al (US 20250253928 A1, hereafter referred to as You).
Regarding claim 16, You teaches a network-controlled repeater (NCR) for wireless communication, comprising:
at least one memory (You [0330, 0338]); and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the NCR (You [0338]) to:
receive, from a base station, a message (You [0190] teaches MT of the NCR receiving side control information necessary for controlling the operation of the RU from the base station) indicating a power adjustment value associated with one or more beam indicators (You [0190-200, 0251] teaches receiving side control information to adjust parameters including transmission power [0196] associated with the beam index indication and time resource [0251]);
receive a signal from the base station (You [0269, 0263] teaches a forwarding operation regarding a signal received from the base station is amplified an forwarded to the UE by the NCR-Fwd);
determine whether a beam indicator that is to be applied to forward the signal is included in the one or more beam indicators (You [0008] teaches the control message informs a beam index for an access link beam of the NCR-Fwd and a time resource and performing a forwarding operation through the NCR-Fwd based on the beam index such that based on the list including forwarding resources for an access link the NCR performs forwarding at a time resource associated with the beam indicated by the beam index [0238-0239] and the NCR-FWD transmits only after receiving the indication of one or more beams to use for transmissions [0255-0256]); and
based at least in part on the beam indicator being included in the one or more beam indicators (You [0256] teaches forwarding only after receiving an indication for one or more beams to use for transmissions), transmit the signal to a user equipment with the power adjustment applied to adjust a previous transmission power (You [0190, 0173] teaches the side control information is used to adjust and forward the signal received by the NCR including amplifying and transferring a signal between a base station and UE through an access link [0190, 0181, 0185-0186] by boosting the DL signal received from the base station by the value of the gain over the reception power (previous transmission power) [0217])).
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.
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.
Claims 17-19 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over You et al (US 2025053928 A1, hereafter referred to as You) as applied above regarding claim 16, further in view of Shim et al (US 20250266953 A1, hereafter referred to as Shim).
Regarding claim 17, You teaches the limitations of claim 16, as rejected above.
However, You does not explicitly teach the NCR wherein: the power adjustment value is further associated with a frequency range; and the previous transmission power is associated with the frequency range.
Shim, in an analogous art, teaches the NCR wherein:
the power adjustment value is further associated with a frequency range (Shim [0008] teaches identifying the signal as a cell specific signal based on frequency resources, wherein upon determining the signal is a cell specific signal the signal is forwarded based on a transmission power for the cell specific signal [0012] or a power offset value [0015]); and
previous transmission power is associated with the frequency range (Shim [0015] teaches a transmission power of a DU associated with the cell specific signal frequency resources [0008]).
It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify You in view of Shim in order to configure the NCR and power adjustment value, as taught by You, be further associated with a frequency range and the previous transmission power associated with the frequency range, as taught by Shim.
KSR rationale B, simple substitution of one known element (beam indexes as taught by You-Nilsson) for another known element (downlink reference signals as taught by Shim) in order to yield predictable results (adapting a forwarding signal based on configuration) supports the conclusion of obviousness.
Regarding claim 18, You teaches the limitations of claim 16, as rejected above.
Additionally, You teaches the NCR wherein: the power adjustment value is further associated with a time duration (You [0008] taches forwarding and associated adjusting for particular time resources, wherein the side control information may be applied different for each time resource [0197]).
However, You does not explicitly teach the previous transmission power is associated with the time duration.
Shim, in an analogous art, teaches the previous transmission power is associated with the time duration (Shim [0015] teaches a transmission power of a DU associated with the cell specific signal time resources [0008]).
It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify You in view of Shim in order to configure the NCR and power adjustment value, as taught by You, be further associated with a time duration and the previous transmission power associated with the time range, as taught by Shim.
KSR rationale B, simple substitution of one known element (beam indexes as taught by You-Nilsson) for another known element (downlink reference signals as taught by Shim) in order to yield predictable results (adapting a forwarding signal based on configuration) supports the conclusion of obviousness.
Regarding claim 19, You teaches the limitations of claim 1, as rejected above.
However, You does not explicitly teach the NCR wherein the power adjustment value is further associated with at least one of a channel, a channel type, a reference signal, or a reference signal type; and the previous transmission power is associated with the at least one of the channel, the channel type, the reference signal, or the reference signal type.
Shim, in an analogous art, teaches the NCR wherein:
the power adjustment value is further associated with at least one of a channel, a channel type, a reference signal, or a reference signal type (Shim [0138] teaches determining a configuration for a cell specific channel or reference signal [0009] wherein the signal is forwarded based on a transmission power [0012] or power offset [0015]); and
and the previous transmission power is associated with the at least one of the channel, the channel type, the reference signal, or the reference signal type (Shim [0138] teaches determining a configuration for a cell specific channel or reference signal [0009] wherein the signal is forwarded based on a transmission power [0012] or power offset according to a transmission power of a DU [0015]).
It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify You-Nilsson in view of Shim in order to configure the NCR and power adjustment value, as taught by You-Nilsson, be further associated with at least one of a channel, a channel type, a reference signal, or a reference signal type and the previous transmission power is associated with the at least one of the channel, the channel type, the reference signal, or the reference signal type, as taught by Shim.
KSR rationale B, simple substitution of one known element (beam indexes as taught by You-Nilsson) for another known element (downlink reference signals as taught by Shim) in order to yield predictable results (adapting a forwarding signal based on configuration) supports the conclusion of obviousness.
Claims 1, 3-4, 8, 15, 20, 21 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over You et al (US 2025053928 A1, hereafter referred to as You) in view of Nilsson et al (US 20190341991 A1, hereafter referred to as Nilsson).
Regarding claim 1, You teaches a network-controlled repeater (NCR) for wireless communication, comprising:
at least one memory (You [0330, 0338]); and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the NCR (You [0338]) to:
receive, from a base station, a first message (You [0190] teaches MT of the NCR receiving side control information necessary for controlling the operation of the RU from the base station) indicating a plurality of side control information in specific time resources (You [0191-0200]);
receive a first signal from the base station (You [0269, 0263] teaches a forwarding operation regarding a signal received from the base station is amplified an forwarded to the UE by the NCR-Fwd);
determine whether a beam indicator that is to be applied to forward the first signal is included in the one or more beam indicators (You [0008] teaches the control message informs a beam index for an access link beam of the NCR-Fwd and a time resource and performing a forwarding operation through the NCR-Fwd based on the beam index such that based on the list including forwarding resources for an access link the NCR performs forwarding at a time resource associated with the beam indicated by the beam index [0238-0239] and the NCR-FWD transmits only after receiving the indication of one or more beams to use for transmissions [0255-0256]); and
based at least in part on the beam indicator being included in the one or more beam indicators (You [0256] teaches forwarding only after receiving an indication for one or more beams to use for transmissions), transmit the first signal to a user equipment with the power adjustment applied to adjust a reference transmission power (You [0190, 0173] teaches the side control information is used to adjust and forward the signal received by the NCR including amplifying and transferring a signal between a base station and UE through an access link [0190, 0181, 0185-0186]).
However, You does not explicitly teach a power offset value with one or more beam indicators; and a power offset value applied to adjust a reference transmission power.
Nilsson, in an analogous art, teaches a power offset value with one or more beam indicators (Nilsson [0029] teaches a message indicative of beam power settings including a value of the power offset) such that Nilsson teaches receiving, from a base station, a first message indicating a power offset value associated with one or more beam indicators (Nilsson [0035] teaches receiving from the network node a message indicative of beam power setting of the plurality of beams).
It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify You in view of Nilsson in order to configure the first message, received from the base station, containing a plurality of side control information for controlling an operation of the RU for forwarding a signal received from the base station to a UE by adjusting, based on a beam indicator included in the information, a transmission power, as taught by You, further indicate a power offset value associated with one or more beam indicators, as taught by Nilsson.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated in order to improve system performance compared to a system where all beams use the same nominal power setting (Nilsson [0062]).
Regarding claim 3, You-Nilsson teaches the limitations of claim 1, as rejected above.
Additionally, You-Nilsson teaches the NCR wherein the first message indicating the power offset value includes at least one of a radio resource control (RRC) configuration (You [0236, 0251]), a downlink control information (DCI) message (You [0236, 0190]), or a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) message (You [0190]).
Regarding claim 4, You-Nilsson teaches the limitations of claim 1, as rejected above.
Additionally, You-Nilsson teaches the NCR wherein the power offset value is indicated in decibels (You [0229] teaches the transmission power gain is a db value).
Regarding claim 8, You-Nilsson teaches the limitations of claim 1, as rejected above.
Additionally, You-Nilsson teaches the NCR wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the NCR to receive a second message indicating the beam indicator that is to be applied to forward the first signal (You [0243] teaches a MAC-CE to activate/deactivate or otherwise provide an update for the beam indexes).
Regarding claim 15, You-Nilsson teaches the limitations of claim 1, as rejected above.
Additionally, You-Nilsson teaches the NCR wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the NCR to cause the NCR to determine that the first message is associated with a collocated wireless device (You [0175] teaches detecting a signal transmitted by the base station, at the NCR, wherein the NCR consists of a MT and RU [0170]).
Regarding claims 20 and 21, they do not teach or further limit over the limitations of claim 1, as set forth above.
Therefore, claims 20 and 21 are rejected for the same reasons set forth above regarding claim 1.
Claims 5, 12-14 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over You et al (US 2025053928 A1, hereafter referred to as You) in view of Nilsson et al (US 20190341991 A1, hereafter referred to as Nilsson) as applied above regarding claim 1, further in view of Shim et al (US 20250266953 A1, hereafter referred to as Shim).
Regarding claim 5, You-Nilsson teaches the limitations of claim 1, as rejected above.
However, You-Nilsson does not explicitly teach the NCR wherein each of the one or more beam indicators are indicated by a reference to a downlink reference signal, and wherein the downlink reference signal is at least one of a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel (SS/PBCH) block, or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).
Shim, in an analogous art, teaches the NCR wherein each of the one or more beam indicators are indicated by a reference to a downlink reference signal (Shim [0009] teaches the RRC configuration information includes information about resources for SS/PBCH and based on the signal being received in the resources for the SS/PBCH the first signal is identified as a cell-specific signal [0010] for which the signal is forwarded based on a transmission power indicated for the cell specific signal [0012]), and wherein the downlink reference signal is at least one of a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel (SS/PBCH) block, or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) (Shim [0009, 0010]).
It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify You-Nilsson in view of Shim in order to configure the one or more beam indicators, as taught by You-Nilsson, be indicated by a reference to a downlink reference signal, and wherein the downlink reference signal is at least one of a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel (SS/PBCH) block, or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), as taught by Shim.
KSR rationale B, simple substitution of one known element (beam indexes as taught by You-Nilsson) for another known element (downlink reference signals as taught by Shim) in order to yield predictable results (adapting a forwarding signal based on configuration) supports the conclusion of obviousness.
Regarding claim 12, You-Nilsson teaches the limitations of claim 1, as rejected above.
However, You-Nilsson does not explicitly teach the NCR wherein: the power offset value is further associated with a frequency range; and the power offset value is further applied based at least in part on a determination that the first signal is in the frequency range.
Shim, in an analogous art, teaches the NCR wherein:
the power offset value is further associated with a frequency range (Shim [0008] teaches identifying the signal as a cell specific signal based on frequency resources, wherein upon determining the signal is a cell specific signal the signal is forwarded based on a transmission power for the cell specific signal [0012] or a power offset value [0015]); and
the power offset value is further applied based at least in part on a determination that the first signal is in the frequency range (Shim [0008] teaches identifying the signal as a cell specific signal based on frequency resources, wherein upon determining the signal is a cell specific signal the signal is forwarded based on a transmission power for the cell specific signal [0012] or a power offset value [0015]).
It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify You-Nilsson in view of Shim in order to configure the NCR and power offset value, as taught by You-Nilsson, be further associated with a frequency range and the power offset value is further applied based at least in part on a determination that the first signal is in the frequency range, as taught by Shim.
KSR rationale B, simple substitution of one known element (beam indexes as taught by You-Nilsson) for another known element (downlink reference signals as taught by Shim) in order to yield predictable results (adapting a forwarding signal based on configuration) supports the conclusion of obviousness.
Regarding claim 13, You-Nilsson teaches the limitations of claim 1, as rejected above.
However, You-Nilsson does not explicitly teach the NCR wherein: the power offset value is further associated with a time duration; and the power offset value is further applied based at least in part on a determination that the first signal is received during the time duration.
Shim, in an analogous art, teaches the NCR wherein:
the power offset value is further associated with a time duration (Shim [0008] teaches identifying the signal as a cell specific signal based on time resources, wherein upon determining the signal is a cell specific signal the signal is forwarded based on a transmission power for the cell specific signal [0012] or a power offset value [0015]); and
the power offset value is further applied based at least in part on a determination that the first signal is received during the time duration (Shim [0008] teaches identifying the signal as a cell specific signal based on time resources, wherein upon determining the signal is a cell specific signal the signal is forwarded based on a transmission power for the cell specific signal [0012] or a power offset value [0015]).
It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify You-Nilsson in view of Shim in order to configure the NCR and power offset value, as taught by You-Nilsson, be further associated with a time duration and the power offset value is further applied based at least in part on a determination that the first signal is received during the time duration, as taught by Shim.
KSR rationale B, simple substitution of one known element (beam indexes as taught by You-Nilsson) for another known element (downlink reference signals as taught by Shim) in order to yield predictable results (adapting a forwarding signal based on configuration) supports the conclusion of obviousness.
Regarding claim 14, You-Nilsson teaches the limitations of claim 1, as rejected above.
However, You-Nilsson does not explicitly teach the NCR wherein: the power offset value is further associated with at least one of a channel, a channel type, a reference signal, or a reference signal type; and the power offset value is further applied based at least in part on a determination that the first signal is associated with at least one of the channel, the channel type, the reference signal, or the reference signal type.
Shim, in an analogous art, teaches the NCR wherein:
the power offset value is further associated with at least one of a channel, a channel type, a reference signal, or a reference signal type (Shim [0138] teaches determining a configuration for a cell specific channel or reference signal [0009] wherein the signal is forwarded based on a transmission power [0012] or power offset [0015]); and
the power offset value is further applied based at least in part on a determination that the first signal is associated with at least one of the channel, the channel type, the reference signal, or the reference signal type (Shim [0138] teaches determining a configuration for a cell specific channel or reference signal [0009] wherein the signal is forwarded based on a transmission power [0012] or power offset [0015]).
It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify You-Nilsson in view of Shim in order to configure the NCR and power offset value, as taught by You-Nilsson, be further associated with at least one of a channel, a channel type, a reference signal, or a reference signal type and the power offset value is further applied based at least in part on a determination that the first signal is associated with at least one of the channel, the channel type, the reference signal, or the reference signal type, as taught by Shim.
KSR rationale B, simple substitution of one known element (beam indexes as taught by You-Nilsson) for another known element (downlink reference signals as taught by Shim) in order to yield predictable results (adapting a forwarding signal based on configuration) supports the conclusion of obviousness.
Claims 10-11 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over You et al (US 2025053928 A1, hereafter referred to as You) in view of Nilsson et al (US 20190341991 A1, hereafter referred to as Nilsson) as applied above regarding claim 1, further in view of Kurita et al (US 20250203539 A1, hereafter referred to as Kurita).
Regarding claim 10, You-Nilsson teaches the limitations of claim 1, as rejected above.
However, You-Nilsson does not explicitly teach the NCR wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the NCR to determine the reference transmission power based in part on at least one of a capability of the NCR, a configuration of the NCR, the configuration from the base station, or a regional regulation.
Kurita, in an analogous art, teaches the NCR wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the NCR to determine the reference transmission power based in part on at least one of a capability of the NCR, a configuration of the NCR, the configuration from the base station, or a regional regulation (Kurita [0149] teaches determining a permitted max transmission power configured by the network, wherein the transmission power considers the permitted max transmission power).
It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify You-Nilsson in view of Kurita in order to configure the reference transmission power, as taught by You-Nilsson, be determined based in part on at least one of a capability of the NCR, a configuration of the NCR, the configuration from the base station, or a regional regulation, as taught by Kurita.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated in order to enable a relay device to determine the transmission power of signals to be relayed (Kurita [0011]) addressing a problem of how to control transmission power when relaying by NCR (Kurita [0008-0009]).
Regarding claim 11, You-Nilsson teaches the limitations of claim 1, as rejected above.
However, You-Nilsson does not explicitly teach the NCR wherein the reference transmission power is at least one of a default transmission power, or a maximum transmission power associated with a cell provided by the base station.
Kurita, in an analogous art, teaches the NCR wherein the reference transmission power is at least one of a default transmission power, or a maximum transmission power associated with a cell provided by the base station (Kurita [0149] teaches the reference transmission power as a permitted maximum transmission power configured by the network).
It would have been obvious for a person having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify You-Nilsson in view of Kurita in order to configure the reference transmission power, as taught by You-Nilsson, as at least one of a default transmission power, or a maximum transmission power associated with a cell provided by the base station, as taught by Kurita.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated in order to enable a relay device to determine the transmission power of signals to be relayed (Kurita [0011]) addressing a problem of how to control transmission power when relaying by NCR (Kurita [0008-0009]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 6-7, 9 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.
Peng (US 20250183992);
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SHEAN TOKUTA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2446
/SHEAN TOKUTA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2419
Prosecution Insights