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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-15 are pending in the instant application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/13/2024 was filed before the mailing of a First Office Action on the Merits. 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, 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 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over of Baligh et al. US 20230308140 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Baligh) in view of Dutta et al. US 20230188170 A1 (hereinafter referred to as Dutta).
Regarding claim 1, Baligh discloses a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), comprising: a processor configured to (Baligh: Fig. 3A, ¶ 0098, the ED 110 includes at least one processing unit 200… configured to implement some or all of the functionality and/or embodiments described in more detail herein): receive reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) discovery information, the RIS discovery information indicating the presence of a RIS (Baligh: Fig. 15B, ¶ 0160, Step 1528 involves the UE detecting the discovery signal sent by the RIS…Step 1530 involves the UE informing the network of the detected discovery RIS signal); perform one or more first measurements of one or more first signals to determine a first measurement value (Baligh: Fig. 11C ¶ 0181, Step 1128 involves the UE measuring the RS. Step 1130 involves the UE feeding back measurement information to the BS); determine that the first measurement value is less than a threshold (Baligh: ¶ 0237, the BS-RIS link and the UE-RIS link can be performed on a dynamic basis…based on short term channel and traffic conditions…); perform one or more second measurements of one or more second signals received via the RIS to determine a second measurement value (Baligh: Fig. 12A, ¶ 0214, Step 1208 involves a BS controlled by the network transmitting the RS that is to be reflected by the RIS and used for channel measurement), determine that the second measurement value is less than the threshold (Baligh: ¶ 0240, decisions regarding when to activate or deactivate a link may depend on factors such as, but not limited to, current channel quality). Baligh does not explicitly disclose send a reservation request to the RIS based on the first measurement value being less than the threshold; and send a RIS configuration update request to the RIS based on the second measurement value being less than the threshold.
However, in the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention, Dutta teaches send a reservation request to the RIS based on the first measurement value being less than the threshold (Dutta: Figs. 2,11 ¶ 0126, For certain aspects, the first wireless node may request the network entity to perform the interference cancellation, for example, in response to resource reservations indicating a collision, channel measurements, collision statistics, and/or retransmission statistics. ¶ 0047, While the RIS controller 216 is depicted as a separate network entity in communication with the RIS 114…aspects of the present disclosure may be applied to the RIS controller 216 being integrated or co-located with the RIS 114, the BS 102, and/or another UE); and send a RIS configuration update request to the RIS based on the second measurement value being less than the threshold (Dutta: ¶ 0110, the network entity may transmit, to the first wireless node and/or the second wireless node, a request for a report including information related to the interference cancellation. ¶ 0115, the report may be received aperiodically, for example, in response to certain event(s) or certain criteria, which may be configured by the network entity. The event may include… detected increase or decrease in the CBR.¶ 0114, the network entity may adjust the interference cancellation based at least in part on the report. For example, the network entity may adjust the timing, power, phase, or coverage area of the interference cancellation [Examiner’s note: Dutta implicitly teaches RIS configuration update request, disclosing the functional equivalent: a request transmitted between nodes and a network entity to adjust/configure radio environment parameters (interference cancellation) triggered when a metric crosses a condition/criteria (e.g., a change in CBR)]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the above mentioned request-based mode implementation disclosed by Dutta with the threshold criterion system disclosed by Baligh, since doing so would have achieved the desirable result of optimizing system resource allocation and reducing network latency by dynamically switching operational modes only when specific performance or traffic thresholds are met.
Regarding claim 2, Baligh in view of Dutta teaches the WTRU of claim 1.
Baligh further teaches wherein the processor is further configured to: perform one or more third measurements of one or more third signals received via the RIS to determine a third measurement value (Baligh: Fig. 12B ¶ 0220, Step 1226 involves the UE and the RIS maintaining a link with the network and performing channel measurement of the link); determine that the third measurement value is greater than the threshold (Baligh: ¶ 0247, when there are no RIS-UE links for a particular RIS, the RIS may be deactivated to save power [Examiner’s note: Threshold gating implicitly taught]); and perform data transmission via the RIS after determining that the third measurement value is greater than the threshold (Baligh: Fig. 5 ¶ 0327, Data 575 is data that occurs between the UE 506 and the BS 502 in either UL or DL directions that is reflected off the RIS 504).
Regarding claim 3, Baligh in view of Dutta teaches the WTRU of claim 1.
Dutta further teaches wherein the RIS discovery information is received in a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) transmission (Dutta: ¶ 0245, The physical broadcast channel (PBCH), which carries a master information block (MIB), may be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form a synchronization signal (SS)/PBCH block).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the above mentioned features disclosed by Dutta with the system disclosed by Baligh, since doing so would have achieved the desirable result of optimizing network discovery, improving downlink signal quality, and streamlining the initial access process for the user equipment.
Regarding claim 4, Baligh in view of Dutta teaches the WTRU of claim 1.
Baligh further teaches wherein the one or more first signals are received from a base station (Baligh: Figs. 5, 11C, ¶ 0323, Message 530 is a reference signal sent by the BS 502 to the UE 506. ¶ 0181, This step may involve the BS sending configuration information identifying a type of RS the BS will send that will be redirected by the RIS and scheduling information of when the BS will send the RS).
Regarding claim 5, Baligh in view of Dutta teaches the WTRU of claim 1.
Baligh further teaches wherein the RIS discovery information is received via the RIS (Baligh: ¶¶ 0159-0160, the RIS-UE discovery may be backscattering based. The RIS reflects a signal to the UE and modulates the reflection with the RIS ID… Step 1526 involves the RIS sending a discovery signal. Step 1528 involves the UE detecting the discovery signal sent by the RIS in step 1526. Step 1530 involves the UE informing the network of the detected discovery RIS signal).
Regarding claim 6, Baligh in view of Dutta teaches the WTRU of claim 1.
Dutta further teaches wherein the processor is further configured to send the reservation request and the RIS configuration update request as a first type of uplink control information (UCI) (Dutta: Fig. 10, ¶ 0095, where the network entity may receive, from a first wireless node (e.g., the first UE 104a in FIG. 7) and/or a second wireless node (e.g., the second UE 104b in FIG. 7), a request to perform interference cancellation, for example, for interference occurring at the first wireless node).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to use the above mentioned request-based mode implementation disclosed by Dutta with the system disclosed by Baligh, since doing so would have achieved the desirable result of Enhancing wireless efficiency and reducing signal loss by enabling the network to dynamically adjust the Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface.
Regarding claim 7, Baligh in view of Dutta teaches the WTRU of claim 1.
Baligh further teaches wherein the processor is further configured to receive an indication of an availability associated with the RIS (Baligh: ¶ 0247, when there are no RIS-UE links for a particular RIS, the RIS may be deactivated to save power).
Regarding claim 8, Baligh in view of Dutta teaches the WTRU of claim 1.
Baligh further teaches wherein the processor is further configured to receive a broadcast signal as a second type of downlink control information (DCI) (Baligh: ¶ 0236 The RIS, the BS-RIS link and the UE-RIS link may each be activated or deactivated based on instructions from the network. Such instructions may take the form of higher layer signaling or messaging such as DCI [Examiner’s note: Reference explicitly teaches DCI usage for control signaling]).
Regarding claim 9, Baligh in view of Dutta teaches the WTRU of claim 1.
Baligh further teaches wherein the processor is further configured to receive scheduling information (Baligh: ¶ 0161, This may involve the BS sending configuration information to the RIS that includes information identifying UEs that might be in the proximity of the RIS, RIS pattern information that might be needed by the RIS, scheduling information, etc.), via a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), as a second type of downlink control information (DCI) (Baligh: ¶ 0366, Signaling lines 710 and 745 indicate higher layer configuration information sent from the BS 502 to the UE 506 that may be sent by direct link, not reflected by the RIS, or through a link reflected by a RIS panel. ¶ 0301, the signaling to the UE includes information pertaining to the beam direction for a signal…or a physical channel (such as PDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, PUCCH, PRACH)).
Features of claims 10-15 correspond to features of claims 1-6, respectively, and are therefore rejected using the same rationale(s) and same prior art(s) applied to claims 1-6, above.
Conclusion
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/T.O.F./Examiner, Art Unit 2414
/EDAN ORGAD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2414
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