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 .
IDS
IDS listed “International Search Report and Written Option” for PCT/IB2023/054798, 08/08/2023, which recites WO 2022095978 as the main prior art in English with paragraph numbers. However, a copy of English translation of WO 2022095978 is not provided. A copy of English translation of WO 2022095978 with paragraph numbers is required for better understanding of the “International Search Report and Written Option”.
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, 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.
Claims 1-8 and 10-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1 (WO 2022095978, FOR dated 2/12/25, 42 pages in view of the corresponding English copy by Google Parent translation) in view of Li (US 20230421335 A1).
For claims 1, 10, 16 and 21, D1 discloses a wireless communication comprising a plurality of devices, including: a base station (claim 1), a RIS (claim 10) and a UE with a processor (claims 16 and 21) (FIG. 3 shows a wireless communication comprising a base station 22, RIS 23, UE 21 and a control module associated with RIS; or FIG. 6), each of device comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the base station (e.g., FIG. 9 shows a “a network side device”/base station comprising a processor 904, a memory 905) to:
transmit (by BS, claim 1) a first signaling indicating a first configuration to a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) for an orbital angular momentum (OAM) mode for a reflected signal transmission from the RIS (FIGs 1-10 and the associated text, such as that FIG. 6 shows different working modes (modes 0-2) are configured and transmitted to UEs from the base station via RIS1;and claim 4 “The method of claim 1, wherein the RIS operating mode or the relay operating mode is associated with at least one of: … and, Orbital Angular Momentum OAM modes of RIS or relayed reflected or refracted signals.”);
receive (by RIS, claim 10), from a base station, a first signaling indicating a first configuration of the RIS for an orbital angular momentum (OAM) mode; and transmit (by RIS, claim 10), to a user equipment (UE), a reflected signal transmission according to the OAM mode (FIGs 1-10 and the associated text, such as that FIG. 6 shows different working modes (modes 0-2) are received by RIS1 and then transmitted to UEs by RIS1;and claim 4 “The method of claim 1, wherein the RIS operating mode or the relay operating mode is associated with at least one of: … and, Orbital Angular Momentum OAM modes of RIS or relayed reflected or refracted signals.”);
receive (by UE, claims 16 and 21) a signaling from a base station to an orbital angular momentum (OAM) mode for a reflected signal transmission from a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS); and receive the reflected signal transmission from the RIS according to the OAM mode (FIGs 1-10 and the associated text, such as that FIG. 6 shows different working modes (modes 0-2) are configured and transmitted to UEs from the base station via RIS1;and claim 4 “The method of claim 1, wherein the RIS operating mode or the relay operating mode is associated with at least one of: … and, Orbital Angular Momentum OAM modes of RIS or relayed reflected or refracted signals.”); and
transmit a second signaling by BS to a user equipment (UE) indicating the OAM mode (FIGs 1-10 and the associated text, such as claim 9 “… If the first information indicates that the type of the RIS working mode or the relay working mode is a flexible working mode, receiving second information, the second information indicating that the RIS working mode ....”).
D1 does not specifically state a mapping of a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) to the OAM mode. Li, in the same field of endeavor of wireless communication, discloses that a working mode is a TCI (“[0033] … The working mode is either a single-TCI-state-based transmission or a multi-TCI-state-based transmission …”). OOSA would have been motivated to apply the teaching of Li above to the working mode by D1 to yield a predictable result of performing RIS transmission.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to OOSA before the effective filing date of the application to combine D1 and Li for the benefit of performing RIS transmission (claim 9 of D1).
As to claims 2, 11 and 17, D1 in view of Li discloses claims 1, 10 and 16, D1 further discloses: wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the base station to:
transmit a third signaling indicating a second configuration to the RIS for multiple OAM modes (FIGs 1-10 and the associated text, such as claim 15, “The method of claim 14, wherein the method further comprises: After the terminal monitors the message 2, sends the message 3 at the third moment; Wherein, the RIS working mode or the relay working mode at the third moment is the same as the RIS working mode or the relay working mode corresponding to the moment at which the message 2 is located. …”); and
transmit the second signaling to the UE indicating the mapping of the TCI to the multiple OAM modes (FIG. 6 [which shows different working modes] in view of claim 15, “Wherein, the RIS working mode or the relay working mode at the third moment is the same as the RIS OAM working mode or the relay working mode corresponding to the moment at which the message 2 is located; …”)
As to claims 3 and 12, D1 in view of Li discloses claim 2 and 11, D1 further discloses: wherein the second configuration comprises a list of OAM mode numbers associated with the multiple OAM modes, the OAM mode numbers based at least in part on the first signaling indicating the OAM mode (FIGs 1-10 and the associated text, such as that FIG. 6 shows a list of RIS OAM working modes 0-2).
As to claims 4 and 13, D1 discloses in view of Li claims 2 and 11, D1 further discloses:
a list of OAM mode numbers associated with the multiple OAM modes to be generated by the RIS (FIGs 1-10 and the associated text, such as that FIG. 6 shows a list of RIS OAM working modes 0-2); and
configuration information to map one or more OAM modes of the multiple OAM modes to one of multiple spatial directions configured for data transmissions with multiple UEs utilizing different OAM modes of the multiple OAM modes (FIGs 1-10 and the associated text, such as that FIG. 6 shows different RIS OAM working modes 0-2).
As to claims 5 and 18, D1 in view of Li discloses claims 2 and 17, D1 further discloses: wherein the second signaling configures the UE to at least one of:
receive multiple data transmissions with the multiple OAM modes using different TCI states associated with respective different RISs (FIGs 1-10 and the associated text, such as that FIG. 3 shows different RISs); or
transmit multiple data transmissions with the multiple OAM modes using the different TCI states associated with the respective different RISs (FIGs 1-10 and the associated text, such as that FIGs. 3 and 6 show different TCI states/working modes with the respective different RISs).
As to claims 6 and 14, D1 in view of Li discloses claims 1 and 10, D1 further discloses: wherein the first configuration comprises one or more of a phase, an amplitude, or an element state of one or more RIS elements to at least one of configure the RIS for the OAM mode of the reflected signal transmission, or alter the OAM mode of the reflected signal transmission (FIGs 1-10 and the associated text, such as that FIGs. 3 shows a plurality of RIS elements with and FIG. 6 shows different TCI states/working modes with the respective different RISs and Section 1 “Smart Surface/Metamaterial Surface:”, 7th para “… it is divided into reflection Type intelligent surface and transmission type intelligent surface; according to the wireless signal response parameter classification, including phase control type intelligent surface, amplitude control type intelligent surface and amplitude-phase joint control type intelligent surface; according to the response parameter control classification is divided into continuous control type and discrete control type ; According to the frequency or speed of controlling the amplitude and phase of the smart surface, it is divided into static, semi-static/dynamically controlled smart surfaces, of which static smart surfaces can be applied to existing systems, for example, the fourth generation generation, 4G)/fifth generation mobile communication technology (fifth-generation, 5G) system. …”).
As to claims 7 and 15, D1 in view of Li discloses claims 1 and 10, D1 further discloses: wherein the first configuration comprises a first mode number of the OAM mode for a signal transmission from the base station and a second mode number of the OAM mode of the reflected signal transmission by the RIS (FIGs 1-10 and the associated text, such as that FIG. 1 shows a first signal/message from the base station with a first mode number of the OAM mode and a second signal/message from RIS with a second mode number of the OAM mode; note that each signal has a number for identification of the OAM mode associated with it).
As to claims 8 and 19, D1 in view of Li discloses claims 1 and 10, D1 further discloses: wherein the second signaling configures the UE with one or more OAM modes for at least one of receiving or transmitting data transmissions, and the one or more OAM modes are mapped to a TCI state and each TCI state is associated with the RIS (FIGs 1-10 and the associated text, such as that FIG. 6 in view of the parent claims).
As to claim 20, D1 in view of Li discloses claim 16, D1 further discloses wherein:
the signaling configures the UE to report one or more reference signal received power (RSRP) reports that each correspond to an OAM mode associated with the RIS; and the at least one processor is configured to cause the UE to transmit the one or more RSRP reports that each correspond to the OAM mode associated with the RIS (FIGs 1-10 and the associated text, such as Section “Embodiment 1: Four-step Random Access Channel (RACH)”, 1st para “After measuring and determining the target SSB index (for example, selecting an SSB whose reference signal received power (Reference Signal Received Power, RSRP) meets a certain threshold as the target SSB index), the random access opportunity (RACH Occasion, RO) associated with the SSB and satisfying The RIS working mode and the RIS working mode corresponding to the SSB index send MSG1 in the same time unit …” ).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JIANYE WU whose telephone number is (571)270-1665. The examiner can normally be reached M-TH 8am-6pm.
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/JIANYE WU/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2462
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