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 12/16/2024 and 01/16/2026 are 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 § 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.
In 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 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 factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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 17-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kurita et al. (US 20260239367 A1, hereinafter, Kurita) in view of FUJISHIRO et al. (US 20250184983 A1, hereinafter, Fujishiro).
Regarding Claim 17, Kurita discloses, a method for a network controlled repeater (NCR) (Fig. 4, Element 300), the method comprising:
receiving, from an access network node via a control link, configuration information for at least one beam used in one or more access links between the NCR and at least one user equipment (UE) (¶0071 recites, “As illustrated in FIG. 4, the link between NCR 300 and UE 200 may be referred to as an access link...Of the two links, the link for exchanging information between gNB 100 and NCR 300 may be referred to as a control link (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as a C-link). For example, in the control link, exchange of side control information may be performed.", see also, ¶0042 recites, “gNB 100 transmits control information, configuration information, and the like of gNB 100 to UE 200 as a downlink (DL) signal.” ¶0213 recites, “Case where the signal transmitted in NCR-MT C-link UL Tx is an SRS, and the usage of the SRS is set to “codebook,” “non-codebook,” “beam management,” or “antenna switching”, In NCR, side control information (SCI) includes specific configuration data regarding the beam. See also, “Fig. 9, ¶0252 recites, “In the example of FIG. 9, SSB#0 to SSB#3 of SSB#0 to SSB#15 transmitted by gNB 100 are transferred by NCR 300 and received by UE 200A.” see also, ¶0265 recites, “In Option 2-1 of Proposal 3-1, the sequence of SSB indices is indicated by the NW. For example, the indication of this sequence may be performed by the side control information. For example, the indication of this sequence may be performed by at least one of RRC, MAC CE, and DCI.”). Here, the Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) is used for the P1 beam acquisition procedure, allowing the base station (gNB) and user equipment (UE) to establish and track the optimal directional transmission beam. and
forwarding data from the access network node via a backhaul link to the at least one UE via the one or more access links using the at least one beam configured with the configuration information (¶0078 recites, “NCR-Fwd is a functional entity that transfers signals between gNB and UE via a backhaul link and an access link. For example, NCR-Fwd performs amplification and transfer of a UL radio frequency (RF) signal. Further, the amplification and transfer of the RF signal in the DL are performed. Note that the operation of NCR-Fwd may be controlled in accordance with the side control information received from gNB 100.” See also, ¶0422 recites, “With the above configuration, it is possible to perform appropriate control of the relay operation (for example, ON-OFF control of NCR-Fwd) in a case where the resource configured in the first link is a resource of at least one of an SSB signal, a CSI-RS, a cell-specific PDCCH signal, and a cell-specific PDSCH signal.”),
Here again, the Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) is used for the P1 beam acquisition procedure, allowing the base station (gNB) and user equipment (UE) to establish and track the optimal directional transmission beam, as well as, In NCR, side control information (SCI) includes specific configuration data regarding the beam.
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Kurita doesn’t explicitly disclose, wherein the configuration information indicates at least one time resource set for the forwarding and a periodicity for the at least one time resource set.
Fujishiro in related art discloses, wherein the configuration information indicates at least one time resource set for the forwarding and a periodicity for the at least one time resource set (¶0099 recites, “The NCR capability information may include control delay information indicating a control delay time in the NCR apparatus 500A. For example, the control delay information is information indicating a delay time (for example, 1 ms, 10 ms . . . ) from a timing at which the UE 100 receives an NCR control signal or a timing at which the UE 100 transmits configuration completion for the NCR control signal to the gNB 200 until the UE 100 completes control (change of the operation mode and/or change of the beam) according to the NCR control signal. When the NCR capability information received from the NCR-MT 520A includes the control delay information, the gNB 200 (controller 230) can recognize the control delay time in the NCR-Fwd 510A, based on the control delay information. See also, ¶0121 recites, “In the example of FIG. 14, the NCR apparatus 500A (NCR-Fwd 510A) performs relay transmission for a beam #1 formed by the gNB 200. The beam #1 is associated with an SSB #1 (where “#1” represents the SSB index). The UEs 100a and 100b receive the beam #1 formed by the NCR apparatus 500A (NCR-Fwd 510A). A UE 100c receives a beam #2 associated with an SSB #2. The UE 100c receives a beam #3 associated with an SSB #3”. See also, ¶0139 recites, "...Here, the UE 100 may exclude the relevant beam (SSB) from candidates and search for another beam (SSB). The UE 100 may be prohibited from access only for a certain period of time after receiving the MIB. The certain period of time may be broadcast in the SIB or the like from the gNB 200. The certain period of time may be defined in advance in system specifications. In this case, the UE 100 may receive the beam (SSB) again after the certain period of time elapses and determine the accessibility.").
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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 teaching of Kurita with the teaching of configuring a time resource set and periodicity for forwarding in NCR as disclosed by Fujishiro. The rationale for doing so is to allow the base station (gNB) to coordinate when the repeater amplifies and forwards signals, thereby preventing interference and saving power.
Regarding Claim 18, combination of Kurita and Fujishiro teach the method according to claim 17.
Kurita doesn’t explicitly disclose, further comprising: receiving, from the access network node, control information for indicating at least one beam for use by the forwarding, wherein the forwarding is performed using the at least one beam indicated by the control information.
Fujishiro in related art relates, further comprising: receiving, from the access network node, control information for indicating at least one beam for use by the forwarding, wherein the forwarding is performed using the at least one beam indicated by the control information (¶0230-¶0231 recite, “Note: The side control information is at least for control of the NCR-FW. The NCR-Fwd is defined as a functional entity that amplifies and transfers the received UL/DL RF signals between gNB and UE via the backhaul link and the access link. The operation of the NCR-Fwd is controlled according to the side control information received from the gNB.” See also, ¶0266 recites, “The RAN1 discusses the general concept and functions of the side control information, such as beam information, TDD UL/DL configuration, timing of DL reception and UL transmission, and ON-OFF information. From a RAN2 point of view, it is assumed that dynamic and semi-static controls may be indicated by DCI and MAC CE (or a combination thereof), respectively...” See also, ¶0238 recites, “As illustrated in FIG. 26, the indication of the gNB (for example, side control information) is considered to be used by the NCR-MT to control (for example, beamforming, ON/OFF control, power control, and the like) of the NCR-Fwd via the internal interface, and whether such internal interface is designated is not a matter.”)
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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 teaching of Kurita with the teaching of receiving explicit beam control information from the access network node (gNB/base station) as disclosed by Fujishiro. The rationale for doing this is that it offers significant improvements in signal quality, interference management, and network efficiency.
Regarding Claim 19, combination of Kurita and Fujishiro teach the method according to claim 18.
Kurita further teaches, wherein the control information is transmitted in a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) (¶0077 recites, “Note that, in NCR-MT, the side control information may include at least information for controlling NCR-Fwd. Further, the side control information may be indicated by at least one signaling of radio resource control (RRC), Medium Access Control Control Element (MAC CE), and downlink control information (DCI). See also, ¶0265 recites, "...the sequence of SSB indices is indicated by the NW. For example, the indication of this sequence may be performed by the side control information. For example, the indication of this sequence may be performed by at least one of RRC, MAC CE, and DCI.").
Regarding Claim 20, combination of Kurita and Fujishiro teach the method according to claim 18.
Kurita doesn’t explicitly discuss, wherein the control information indicates the at least one beam used for: backhaul link transmission between the NCR and access network node, or access link transmission between the NCR and the at least one UE.
Fujishiro in related art relates, wherein the control information indicates the at least one beam used for: backhaul link transmission between the NCR and access network node, or access link transmission between the NCR and the at least one UE (¶0230-¶0231 recites, ”Note: The side control information is at least for control of the NCR-FW. The NCR-Fwd is defined as a functional entity that amplifies and transfers the received UL/DL RF signals between gNB and UE via the backhaul link and the access link. The operation of the NCR-Fwd is controlled according to the side control information received from the gNB.” See also, ¶0266 recites, “The RAN1 discusses the general concept and functions of the side control information, such as beam information, TDD UL/DL configuration, timing of DL reception and UL transmission, and ON-OFF information...”). Examiner interprets that one of the claimed features to be mapped, because of the presence of “or” in the limitation.
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 teaching of Kurita with the teaching of having the control information explicitly indicate the beam used for the backhaul link or the access link as disclosed by Fujishiro. The rationale for doing this is that, it offers better beam alignment, interference mitigation, and lower latency.
Regarding Claim 21, combination of Kurita and Fujishiro teach the method according to claim 17.
Kurita further teaches, wherein timing for transmission and reception on the backhaul link follows timing for transmission and reception on the control link, respectively (¶0081-¶0083 recites, “Further, in RAN1#109, the following points were agreed upon regarding transmission and reception in the C-link of NCR and transmission and reception in the backhaul link of NCR. It was agreed that the UL of the C-link and the UL of the backhaul link are executed by time division multiplexing (TDM). On the other hand, simultaneous transmission of the UL of the C-link and the UL of the backhaul link depends on the function or capability of NCR. That is, NCR may have the capability to perform simultaneous transmission of the UL of the C-link and the UL of the backhaul link. Further, the DL of the C-link and the DL of the backhaul link may be performed simultaneously or may be performed by TDM.”).
Regarding Claim 22, combination of Kurita and Fujishiro teach the method according to claim 17.
Kurita also teaches, further comprising: receiving information indicating when to receive and forward the data from/to the access network node (¶0196 recites, “In Option 1 of Proposal 2, NCR-Fwd is regarded as “ON” in a case where the transmission of any NCR-MT C-link UL channel (or signal or reference signal) is indicated in the resource indicated for NCR-MT C-link UL Tx. For example, NCR turns NCR-Fwd “ON” when NCR receives an indication to transmit any NCR-MT C-link UL channel (or signal)”. See also, ¶0225 recites, “In Option 1 of Proposal 2, NCR-Fwd is regarded as “ON” in a case where the reception of any NCR-MT C-link DL channel (or signal or reference signal) is indicated in the resource indicated for NCR-MT C-link DL Rx. For example, NCR turns NCR-Fwd “ON” when NCR receives an indication to transmit any NCR-MT C-link DL channel (or signal)”. See also ¶0224 recites, "...Note that, as another example, turning NCR-Fwd “ON” may correspond to performing at least one of the operation of NCR-Fwd backhaul link UL Tx and the operation of NCR-Fwd backhaul link DL Rx...").
Claim 23 is the “method/AN” claim corresponding to the “method/NCR” claim 17 that has been rejected above. Applicant’s attention is directed to the rejection of claim 17. Claim 23 is rejected under the same rational as claim 17 as Kurita and Fujishiro teach both “method/AN” and “method/NCR”.
Regarding Claim 24, Kurita discloses, a network controlled repeater (NCR) Fig. 4, Element 300), comprising:
at least one memory (Fig. 13, memory 1002) storing instructions; and
at least one processor (Fig. 13, processor 1001) configured to process the instructions to:
receive, from an access network node, configuration information for at least one beam used in one or more access links between the NCR and at least one user equipment (UE) (¶0071 recites, “As illustrated in FIG. 4, the link between NCR 300 and UE 200 may be referred to as an access link...Of the two links, the link for exchanging information between gNB 100 and NCR 300 may be referred to as a control link (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as a C-link). For example, in the control link, exchange of side control information may be performed.", see also, ¶0042 recites, “gNB 100 transmits control information, configuration information, and the like of gNB 100 to UE 200 as a downlink (DL) signal.” ¶0213 recites, “Case where the signal transmitted in NCR-MT C-link UL Tx is an SRS, and the usage of the SRS is set to “codebook,” “non-codebook,” “beam management,” or “antenna switching”, In NCR, side control information (SCI) includes specific configuration data regarding the beam. See also, “Fig. 9, ¶0252 recites, “In the example of FIG. 9, SSB#0 to SSB#3 of SSB#0 to SSB#15 transmitted by gNB 100 are transferred by NCR 300 and received by UE 200A.” see also, ¶0265 recites, “In Option 2-1 of Proposal 3-1, the sequence of SSB indices is indicated by the NW. For example, the indication of this sequence may be performed by the side control information. For example, the indication of this sequence may be performed by at least one of RRC, MAC CE, and DCI.”). Here, the Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) is used for the P1 beam acquisition procedure, allowing the base station (gNB) and user equipment (UE) to establish and track the optimal directional transmission beam; and
forward data from the access network node to the at least one UE via the one or more access links using the at least one beam configured with the configuration information (¶0078 recites, “NCR-Fwd is a functional entity that transfers signals between gNB and UE via a backhaul link and an access link. For example, NCR-Fwd performs amplification and transfer of a UL radio frequency (RF) signal. Further, the amplification and transfer of the RF signal in the DL are performed. Note that the operation of NCR-Fwd may be controlled in accordance with the side control information received from gNB 100.” See also, ¶0422 recites, “With the above configuration, it is possible to perform appropriate control of the relay operation (for example, ON-OFF control of NCR-Fwd) in a case where the resource configured in the first link is a resource of at least one of an SSB signal, a CSI-RS, a cell-specific PDCCH signal, and a cell-specific PDSCH signal.”),
Here again, the Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) is used for the P1 beam acquisition procedure, allowing the base station (gNB) and user equipment (UE) to establish and track the optimal directional transmission beam, as well as, In NCR, side control information (SCI) includes specific configuration data regarding the beam.
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Kurita doesn’t explicitly disclose, wherein the configuration information indicates at least one time resource set for the forwarding and a periodicity for the at least one time resource set .
Fujishiro in related art discloses, wherein the configuration information indicates at least one time resource set for the forwarding and a periodicity for the at least one time resource set (¶0099 recites, “The NCR capability information may include control delay information indicating a control delay time in the NCR apparatus 500A. For example, the control delay information is information indicating a delay time (for example, 1 ms, 10 ms . . . ) from a timing at which the UE 100 receives an NCR control signal or a timing at which the UE 100 transmits configuration completion for the NCR control signal to the gNB 200 until the UE 100 completes control (change of the operation mode and/or change of the beam) according to the NCR control signal. When the NCR capability information received from the NCR-MT 520A includes the control delay information, the gNB 200 (controller 230) can recognize the control delay time in the NCR-Fwd 510A, based on the control delay information. See also, ¶0121 recites, “In the example of FIG. 14, the NCR apparatus 500A (NCR-Fwd 510A) performs relay transmission for a beam #1 formed by the gNB 200. The beam #1 is associated with an SSB #1 (where “#1” represents the SSB index). The UEs 100a and 100b receive the beam #1 formed by the NCR apparatus 500A (NCR-Fwd 510A). A UE 100c receives a beam #2 associated with an SSB #2. The UE 100c receives a beam #3 associated with an SSB #3”. See also, ¶0139 recites, "...Here, the UE 100 may exclude the relevant beam (SSB) from candidates and search for another beam (SSB). The UE 100 may be prohibited from access only for a certain period of time after receiving the MIB. The certain period of time may be broadcast in the SIB or the like from the gNB 200. The certain period of time may be defined in advance in system specifications. In this case, the UE 100 may receive the beam (SSB) again after the certain period of time elapses and determine the accessibility.").
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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 teaching of Kurita with the teaching of configuring a time resource set and periodicity for forwarding in NCR as disclosed by Fujishiro. The rationale for doing so is to allow the base station (gNB) to coordinate when the repeater amplifies and forwards signals, thereby preventing interference and saving power.
Claim 25 is the “AN” claim corresponding to the “NCR” claim 24 that has been rejected above. Applicant’s attention is directed to the rejection of claim 24. Claim 25 is rejected under the same rational as claim 24 as Kurita and Fujishiro teach both “AN” and “NCR”.
Conclusion
References cited but not used: MolavianJazi et al. (US 20230283348 A1) can be used for independent claims 17, and 23-25 in addition to the one used.
References cited but not used: Babaei; Alireza (US 20240040591 A1) can be used for independent claims 17, and 23-25 in addition to the one used.
References cited but not used: Abedini et al. (US 20220053486 A1) can be used for independent claims 17, and 23-25 in addition to the one used.
References cited but not used: 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #109-e (R1-2204394); e-Meeting, May 9th – 20th, 2022; Source: NTT DOCOMO, INC.; Title:Discussion on L1/L2 signaling for side control information; Agenda Item: 9.8.2 can be used for independent claims 17, and 23-25 in addition to the one used.
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/MUHAMMAD AINUL HUDA/Examiner, Art Unit 4126
/HASSAN A PHILLIPS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2467
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