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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55 with the benefit of a prior-filed application with the priority of Chinese Patent Application No. 202311277074.5 filed on September 28, 2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on February 25, 2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Examiner’s Note
Applicant(s) are reminded that optional or conditional elements do not narrow the claims because they can always be omitted. See e.g. MPEP §2106 II C: "Language that suggest or makes optional but does not require steps to be performed or does not limit a claim to a particular structure does not limit the scope of a claim or claim limitation. [Emphasis in original.]"; and In re Johnston, 435 F.3d 1381, 77 USPQ2d 1788, 1790 (Fed. Cir. 2006) "As a matter of linguistic precision, optional elements do not narrow the claim because they can always be omitted." In re Johnston, 435 F.3d 1381, 77 USPQ2d 1788, 1790 (Fed. Cir. 2006)(where the Federal Circuit affirmed the Board's claim construction of "further including that said wall may be smooth, corrugated, or profiled with increased dimensional proportions as pipe size is increased" since "this additional content did not narrow the scope of the claim because these limitations are stated in the permissive form 'may.'").
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.
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.
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.
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 – 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Du et al (US Patent Application Publication 2025/0175843), and further in view of Xiao et al (US Patent Application Publication 2025/0203414). Hereinafter Du and Xiao.
Regarding claim 1, Du discloses a method performed by a first user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:
receiving, from a second UE, at least one reference signal (the first wireless communication device (e.g. first UE) transmits a beam measurement configuration and/or beam reference signaling (RS) to a second wireless communication device (e.g. second UE), paragraphs [0048], [0050]; the second wireless communication device is the “first UE” that receives RS from the first wireless communication device (i.e. “second UE”));
measuring the at least one reference signal (the second wireless communication device measures the beam RS, paragraphs [0048], [0053]); and
transmitting, to the second UE, first information including at least one of at least one preferred beam or at least one time resource set (the second wireless communication device reports a measurement result to the first wireless device, where the beam measurement results include a beam recommendation including the recommended beam to be used for communication, the preferred beam to be used for communication, the non-preferred beam for communication, and candidate beam to be used for communication, paragraphs [0048], [0053], [0094]).
However, Du does not explicitly disclose “wherein the at least one time resource set is associated with at least one first beam.”
Xiao discloses the communication node obtains a beam measurement parameter set that is used for determining a beam measurement parameter array corresponding to a neural network to provide the feedback of the beam measurement parameter set, and the communication node receives a beam measurement parameter set to determine a beam measurement parameter array according to the beam measurement parameter set and a neural network, where the beam measurement parameter set includes N elements, the beam measurement parameter array includes M elements, N and M are positive integers greater than 1, and M is less than or equal to N (paragraphs [0032] – [0038]); the terminal receives reference signal resources corresponding to the first beam set and determines a beam0 and a beam measurement parameter RSRP0 corresponding to the beam0, and feeds back the beam0 and/or the beam measurement parameter RSRP0 corresponding to the beam0 (paragraphs [0067] – [0072]); where the communication between the two communications are terminals (paragraph [0019]).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Du and Xiao before him or her, to incorporate the beam measurement parameter set as taught by Xiao, to improve the beam measurement of Du for the motivation of obtaining accurate beam pairs with minimal control overhead (paragraph [0003] of Xiao).
Regarding claim 2, Du and Xiao disclose the method of claim 1, but Du does not explicitly disclose wherein the at least one reference signal is transmitted on at least one second beam, and wherein measuring the at least one reference signal comprises measuring the at least one second beam.
Xiao discloses the communication node obtains a beam measurement parameter set that is used for determining a beam measurement parameter array corresponding to a neural network to provide the feedback of the beam measurement parameter set, and the communication node receives a beam measurement parameter set to determine a beam measurement parameter array according to the beam measurement parameter set and a neural network, where the beam measurement parameter set includes N elements, the beam measurement parameter array includes M elements, N and M are positive integers greater than 1, and M is less than or equal to N (paragraphs [0032] – [0038]); the terminal receives reference signal resources corresponding to the second beam set and calculates a set of all beam measurement parameters corresponding to the beams in the second beam set according to the reference signal resources corresponding to the beams in the second beam set (paragraphs [0067] – [0072]); where the communication between the two communications are terminals (paragraph [0019]).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Du and Xiao before him or her, to incorporate the beam measurement parameter set as taught by Xiao, to improve the beam measurement of Du for the motivation of obtaining accurate beam pairs with minimal control overhead (paragraph [0003] of Xiao).
Regarding claim 3, Du and Xiao disclose the method of claim 1, Du discloses wherein the first information further includes at least one of:
measurement information related to the at least one reference signal (the beam measurement configuration includes beam measurement report configuration for the beam measurement result, paragraph [0054]);
second information indicating at least one third beam selected, by the first UE, from at least one second beam and comprises at least one beam for a sidelink transmission between the first UE and the second UE (the first wireless communication device receives beam measurement result from the second wireless communication device via the sidelink interface, where the first communication device determines which beam is used for sidelink communication or whether the selected beam works properly based on the received beam measurement result); or
third information indicating at least one fourth beam including at least one of the at least one preferred beam or the at least one third beam (the beam measurement result includes beam recommendation that includes preferred beam to be used for communication, paragraph [0094]).
Regarding claim 4, Du and Xiao disclose the method of claim 1, Du discloses wherein the first UE indicates the at least one preferred beam in the first information by at least one of:
including a set of beams in the first information, the set of beams including preferred beams (the beam measurement result includes beam recommendation that includes preferred beam to be used for communication, paragraph [0094]);
including N beam measurement information in the first information, at least one or each of the N beam measurement information includes at least one of information indicating a beam or information indicating whether the beam is preferred beam, and N being an integer value greater than or equal to 1;
including, in the first information, the N beam measurement information and the information indicating whether the N beam measurement information is for preferred beam; or
including, in the first information, information related to preferred beam and no information related to other beams according to at least one of a preset or preconfigured criterion.
Regarding claim 5, Du and Xiao disclose the method of claim 3, Du discloses wherein the first information indicates that the at least one preferred beam is based on at least one of:
the first UE being at least one of preset or preconfigured to indicate at least one of a preferred beam or the preferred beam and a non-preferred beam (the beam measurement results include a beam recommendation including the recommended beam to be used for communication, the preferred beam to be used for communication, the non-preferred beam for communication, and candidate beam to be used for communication, paragraph [0094]);
the first UE being at least one preset or preconfigured to preferentially indicate the preferred beam; or
a procedure performed by the first UE being one of an initial beam acquisition, a beam maintenance, or a beam failure recovery.
Regarding claim 6, Du and Xiao disclose the method of claim 3, Du discloses further comprising at least one of:
determining whether at least one fifth beam of the first UE or at least one second beam of the second UE is used as at least one of the at least one preferred beam or the at least one third beam (the beam measurement results include a beam recommendation including the recommended beam to be used for communication, the preferred beam to be used for communication, the non-preferred beam for communication, and candidate beam to be used for communication, paragraph [0094]); or
determining whether the at least one fifth beam or the at least one third beam is indicated by the first information, wherein the at least one fifth beam is at least one beam for a sidelink transmission between the first UE and the second UE that is determined based on a result of a measurement operation.
Regarding claim 7, Du and Xiao disclose the method of claim 6, Du discloses further comprising at least one of:
determining that M beams with best results of the measurement operation are indicated by the first information, wherein M is an integer value greater than or equal to 1;
determining that the M beams with the best results of the measurement operation are used as the at least one preferred beam, the at least one third beam, or at least one fourth beam, or the at least one fifth beam, or the M beams are indicated by the first information;
determining that M beams with results of the measurement operation exceeding a first threshold are indicated by the first information;
determining that M beams with the results of the measurement operation exceeding a second threshold are used as the at least one preferred beam, the at least one third beam, the at least one fourth beam, or the at least one fifth beam, or the M beams are indicated by the first information;
determining that N beams with worst results of the measurement operation are indicated by the first information; determining that the N beams with the worst results of the measurement operation are used as non-preferred beams and indicated by the first information, wherein N is an integer value greater than or equal to 0;
determining that the N beams with results of the measurement operation below a third threshold are indicated by the first information;
determining that the N beams with the results of the measurement operation below a fourth threshold, or exceeding a fifth threshold and below the fourth threshold are indicated by the first information as non-preferred beams; or
determining that beams selected for a communication with other UEs or beams indicated as preferred beams or selected beams to other UEs are used as the at least one preferred beam or indicated by the first information (the beam measurement results include a beam recommendation including the recommended beam to be used for communication, the preferred beam to be used for communication, the non-preferred beam for communication, and candidate beam to be used for communication, paragraph [0094]).
Regarding claim 8, Du and Xiao disclose the method of claim 1, Du discloses wherein the first information indicates the at least one time resource set by indicating at least one of:
a time-domain position of each time resource in the at least one time resource set (the first UE includes the beam RS resource configuration in beam measurement configuration, where the beam RS resource configuration includes a time resource location for the beam RS, paragraph [0056]);
information of a periodic time resource or a periodic time window (the first UE includes the beam RS resource configuration in beam measurement configuration, where the beam RS resource configuration includes a beam RS transmission period for a resource for the beam RS, paragraph [0056]); or
at least one information of a time window including at least one of:
a start position of the time window, an end position of the time window, a length of the time window, an offset between the start position or the end position of the time window, and a time point at which the first information is transmitted (the first UE includes the beam RS resource configuration in beam measurement configuration, where the beam RS resource configuration includes a beam RS transmission period for a resource for the beam RS, a offset for a resource for the beam RS, paragraph [0056]); or
information related to a discontinuous reception (DRX) timer.
Regarding claim 9, Du and Xiao disclose the method of claim 3, but Du does not explicitly disclose wherein the first information indicating the at least one time resource set comprises at least one beam corresponding to the at least one time resource set through the third information.
Xiao discloses the communication node obtains a beam measurement parameter set that is used for determining a beam measurement parameter array corresponding to a neural network to provide the feedback of the beam measurement parameter set, and the communication node receives a beam measurement parameter set to determine a beam measurement parameter array according to the beam measurement parameter set and a neural network, where the beam measurement parameter set includes N elements, the beam measurement parameter array includes M elements, N and M are positive integers greater than 1, and M is less than or equal to N (paragraphs [0032] – [0038]); the terminal receives reference signal resources corresponding to the N beams and obtains beam measurement parameters for a reference signal corresponding to each beam according to the reference signal resources (paragraphs [0067] – [0072]); where the communication between the two communications are terminals (paragraph [0019]).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Du and Xiao before him or her, to incorporate the beam measurement parameter set as taught by Xiao, to improve the beam measurement of Du for the motivation of obtaining accurate beam pairs with minimal control overhead (paragraph [0003] of Xiao).
Regarding claim 10, Du and Xiao disclose the method of claim 9, but Du does not explicitly disclose wherein indicating the at least one beam corresponding to the at least one time resource set through the third information comprises at least one of:
indicating a beam associated with each time resource set of the at least one time resource set when one beam corresponds to one time resource set or indicating a beam associated with multiple time resource sets of the at least one time resource set when one beam corresponds to the multiple time resource sets; or
indicating a beam corresponding to the at least one time resource set or a beam corresponding to each time resource set of the at least one time resource set based on a preset criterion, by an explicit indication, or by an implicit indication.
Xiao discloses the communication node obtains a beam measurement parameter set that is used for determining a beam measurement parameter array corresponding to a neural network to provide the feedback of the beam measurement parameter set, and the communication node receives a beam measurement parameter set to determine a beam measurement parameter array according to the beam measurement parameter set and a neural network, where the beam measurement parameter set includes N elements, the beam measurement parameter array includes M elements, N and M are positive integers greater than 1, and M is less than or equal to N (paragraphs [0032] – [0038]); the terminal receives reference signal resources corresponding to the N beams and obtains beam measurement parameters for a reference signal corresponding to each beam according to the reference signal resources (paragraphs [0067] – [0072]); where the communication between the two communications are terminals (paragraph [0019]).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Du and Xiao before him or her, to incorporate the beam measurement parameter set as taught by Xiao, to improve the beam measurement of Du for the motivation of obtaining accurate beam pairs with minimal control overhead (paragraph [0003] of Xiao).
Regarding claim 11, Du discloses a method performed by a second user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the method comprising:
transmitting, to a first UE, at least one reference signal (the first wireless communication device (e.g. first UE) transmits a beam measurement configuration and/or beam reference signaling (RS) to a second wireless communication device (e.g. second UE), paragraphs [0048], [0050]); and
receiving, from the first UE, first information including at least one of at least one preferred beam or at least one time resource set (the second wireless communication device reports a measurement result to the first wireless device, where the beam measurement results include a beam recommendation including the recommended beam to be used for communication, the preferred beam to be used for communication, the non-preferred beam for communication, and candidate beam to be used for communication, paragraphs [0048], [0053], [0094]).
However, Du does not explicitly disclose “wherein the at least one time resource set is associated with at least one first beam.”
Xiao discloses the communication node obtains a beam measurement parameter set that is used for determining a beam measurement parameter array corresponding to a neural network to provide the feedback of the beam measurement parameter set, and the communication node receives a beam measurement parameter set to determine a beam measurement parameter array according to the beam measurement parameter set and a neural network, where the beam measurement parameter set includes N elements, the beam measurement parameter array includes M elements, N and M are positive integers greater than 1, and M is less than or equal to N (paragraphs [0032] – [0038]); the terminal receives reference signal resources corresponding to the first beam set and determines a beam0 and a beam measurement parameter RSRP0 corresponding to the beam0, and feeds back the beam0 and/or the beam measurement parameter RSRP0 corresponding to the beam0 (paragraphs [0067] – [0072]); where the communication between the two communications are terminals (paragraph [0019]).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Du and Xiao before him or her, to incorporate the beam measurement parameter set as taught by Xiao, to improve the beam measurement of Du for the motivation of obtaining accurate beam pairs with minimal control overhead (paragraph [0003] of Xiao).
Regarding claim 12, Du and Xiao disclose the method of claim 11, but Du does not explicitly disclose wherein the at least one reference signal is transmitted on at least one second beam, and wherein measuring the at least one reference signal comprises measuring the at least one second beam.
Xiao discloses the communication node obtains a beam measurement parameter set that is used for determining a beam measurement parameter array corresponding to a neural network to provide the feedback of the beam measurement parameter set, and the communication node receives a beam measurement parameter set to determine a beam measurement parameter array according to the beam measurement parameter set and a neural network, where the beam measurement parameter set includes N elements, the beam measurement parameter array includes M elements, N and M are positive integers greater than 1, and M is less than or equal to N (paragraphs [0032] – [0038]); the terminal receives reference signal resources corresponding to the second beam set and calculates a set of all beam measurement parameters corresponding to the beams in the second beam set according to the reference signal resources corresponding to the beams in the second beam set (paragraphs [0067] – [0072]); where the communication between the two communications are terminals (paragraph [0019]).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Du and Xiao before him or her, to incorporate the beam measurement parameter set as taught by Xiao, to improve the beam measurement of Du for the motivation of obtaining accurate beam pairs with minimal control overhead (paragraph [0003] of Xiao).
Regarding claim 13, Du and Xiao disclose the method of claim 11, Du discloses wherein the first information further includes at least one of:
measurement information related to the at least one reference signal (the beam measurement configuration includes beam measurement report configuration for the beam measurement result, paragraph [0054]);
second information indicating at least one third beam selected, by the first UE, from at least one second beam and comprises at least one beam for a sidelink transmission between the first UE and the second UE (the first wireless communication device receives beam measurement result from the second wireless communication device via the sidelink interface, where the first communication device determines which beam is used for sidelink communication or whether the selected beam works properly based on the received beam measurement result); or
third information indicating at least one fourth beam including at least one of the at least one preferred beam or the at least one third beam (the beam measurement result includes beam recommendation that includes preferred beam to be used for communication, paragraph [0094]).
Regarding claim 14, Du and Xiao disclose the method of claim 11, Du discloses further comprising at least one of:
transmitting, to the first UE, signaling for requesting the first UE to transmit the first information;
indicating, to the first UE, at least one resource location for the first UE to transmit the first information (the first UE includes the beam RS resource configuration in beam measurement configuration, where the beam RS resource configuration includes a time resource location for the beam RS, paragraph [0056]); or
determining at least one sixth beam for a sidelink transmission with the first UE based on the first information.
Regarding claim 15, Du and Xiao disclose the method of claim 14, Du discloses wherein determining the at least one sixth beam for communicating with the first UE based on the first information comprises at least one of:
determining the at least one sixth beam among the at least one preferred beam (the beam measurement results include a beam recommendation including the recommended beam to be used for communication, the preferred beam to be used for communication, the non-preferred beam for communication, and candidate beam to be used for communication, paragraph [0094]);
determining the at least one sixth beam based on whether a measurement value of the at least one reference signal exceeds a tenth threshold;
determining the at least one sixth beam based on whether there is a beam that has been selected by the second UE for communicating with other UEs, the beam that has been indicated by the second UE to other UEs as preferred beam, or selected beam among beams indicated by the first information (the beam measurement results include a beam recommendation including the recommended beam to be used for communication, the preferred beam to be used for communication, the non-preferred beam for communication, and candidate beam to be used for communication, paragraph [0094]);
determining the at least one sixth beam according to whether the beams indicated by the first information have corresponding sensing results; or
determining whether to use the beams indicated by the first information as the at least one sixth beam according to whether there is a time resource available for the first UE to transmit a sidelink signal or channel to the second UE in a time resource set corresponding to the beams.
Regarding claim 16, Du discloses a first user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the first UE comprising:
a transceiver (the UE includes transceiver module, paragraph [0033]), and
a controller coupled with the transceiver and configured to (the UE includes processor module, where each module is coupled and interconnected with one another, paragraphs [0033], [0037]):
receive, from a second UE, at least one reference signal (the first wireless communication device (e.g. first UE) transmits a beam measurement configuration and/or beam reference signaling (RS) to a second wireless communication device (e.g. second UE), paragraphs [0048], [0050]; the second wireless communication device is the “first UE” that receives RS from the first wireless communication device (i.e. “second UE”)),
measure the at least one reference signal (the second wireless communication device measures the beam RS, paragraphs [0048], [0053]), and
transmit, to the second UE, first information including at least one of at least one preferred beam or at least one time resource se (the second wireless communication device reports a measurement result to the first wireless device, where the beam measurement results include a beam recommendation including the recommended beam to be used for communication, the preferred beam to be used for communication, the non-preferred beam for communication, and candidate beam to be used for communication, paragraphs [0048], [0053], [0094]).
However, Du does not explicitly disclose “wherein the at least one time resource set is associated with at least one first beam.”
Xiao discloses the communication node obtains a beam measurement parameter set that is used for determining a beam measurement parameter array corresponding to a neural network to provide the feedback of the beam measurement parameter set, and the communication node receives a beam measurement parameter set to determine a beam measurement parameter array according to the beam measurement parameter set and a neural network, where the beam measurement parameter set includes N elements, the beam measurement parameter array includes M elements, N and M are positive integers greater than 1, and M is less than or equal to N (paragraphs [0032] – [0038]); the terminal receives reference signal resources corresponding to the first beam set and determines a beam0 and a beam measurement parameter RSRP0 corresponding to the beam0, and feeds back the beam0 and/or the beam measurement parameter RSRP0 corresponding to the beam0 (paragraphs [0067] – [0072]); where the communication between the two communications are terminals (paragraph [0019]).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Du and Xiao before him or her, to incorporate the beam measurement parameter set as taught by Xiao, to improve the beam measurement of Du for the motivation of obtaining accurate beam pairs with minimal control overhead (paragraph [0003] of Xiao).
Regarding claim 17, Du and Xiao disclose the first UE of claim 16, but Du does not explicitly disclose wherein the at least one reference signal is transmitted on at least one second beam, and wherein measuring the at least one reference signal comprises measuring the at least one second beam.
Xiao discloses the communication node obtains a beam measurement parameter set that is used for determining a beam measurement parameter array corresponding to a neural network to provide the feedback of the beam measurement parameter set, and the communication node receives a beam measurement parameter set to determine a beam measurement parameter array according to the beam measurement parameter set and a neural network, where the beam measurement parameter set includes N elements, the beam measurement parameter array includes M elements, N and M are positive integers greater than 1, and M is less than or equal to N (paragraphs [0032] – [0038]); the terminal receives reference signal resources corresponding to the second beam set and calculates a set of all beam measurement parameters corresponding to the beams in the second beam set according to the reference signal resources corresponding to the beams in the second beam set (paragraphs [0067] – [0072]); where the communication between the two communications are terminals (paragraph [0019]).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Du and Xiao before him or her, to incorporate the beam measurement parameter set as taught by Xiao, to improve the beam measurement of Du for the motivation of obtaining accurate beam pairs with minimal control overhead (paragraph [0003] of Xiao).
Regarding claim 18, Du and Xiao disclose the first UE of claim 16, Du discloses wherein the first information further includes at least one of:
measurement information related to the at least one reference signal (the beam measurement configuration includes beam measurement report configuration for the beam measurement result, paragraph [0054]);
second information indicating at least one third beam selected, by the first UE, from at least one second beam and comprises at least one beam for a sidelink transmission between the first UE and the second UE (the first wireless communication device receives beam measurement result from the second wireless communication device via the sidelink interface, where the first communication device determines which beam is used for sidelink communication or whether the selected beam works properly based on the received beam measurement result); or
third information indicating at least one fourth beam including at least one of the at least one preferred beam or the at least one third beam (the beam measurement result includes beam recommendation that includes preferred beam to be used for communication, paragraph [0094]).
Regarding claim 19, Du and Xiao disclose the first UE of claim 16, Du discloses wherein the first UE indicates the at least one preferred beam in the first information by at least one of:
including a set of beams in the first information, the set of beams including preferred beams (the beam measurement result includes beam recommendation that includes preferred beam to be used for communication, paragraph [0094]);
including N beam measurement information in the first information, at least one or each of the N beam measurement information includes at least one of information indicating a beam or information indicating whether the beam is preferred beam, and N being an integer value greater than or equal to 1;
including, in the first information, the N beam measurement information and the information indicating whether the N beam measurement information is for preferred beam; or
including, in the first information, information related to preferred beam and no information related to other beams according to at least one of a preset or preconfigured criterion.
Regarding claim 20, Du discloses a second user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system, the second UE comprising:
a transceiver (the UE includes transceiver module, paragraph [0033]), and
a controller coupled with the transceiver and configured to (the UE includes processor module, where each module is coupled and interconnected with one another, paragraphs [0033], [0037]):
transmit, to a first UE, at least one reference signal (the first wireless communication device (e.g. first UE) transmits a beam measurement configuration and/or beam reference signaling (RS) to a second wireless communication device (e.g. second UE), paragraphs [0048], [0050]), and
receive, from the first UE, first information including at least one of at least one preferred beam or at least one time resource set (the second wireless communication device reports a measurement result to the first wireless device, where the beam measurement results include a beam recommendation including the recommended beam to be used for communication, the preferred beam to be used for communication, the non-preferred beam for communication, and candidate beam to be used for communication, paragraphs [0048], [0053], [0094]).
However, Du does not explicitly disclose “wherein the at least one time resource set is associated with at least one first beam.”
Xiao discloses the communication node obtains a beam measurement parameter set that is used for determining a beam measurement parameter array corresponding to a neural network to provide the feedback of the beam measurement parameter set, and the communication node receives a beam measurement parameter set to determine a beam measurement parameter array according to the beam measurement parameter set and a neural network, where the beam measurement parameter set includes N elements, the beam measurement parameter array includes M elements, N and M are positive integers greater than 1, and M is less than or equal to N (paragraphs [0032] – [0038]); the terminal receives reference signal resources corresponding to the first beam set and determines a beam0 and a beam measurement parameter RSRP0 corresponding to the beam0, and feeds back the beam0 and/or the beam measurement parameter RSRP0 corresponding to the beam0 (paragraphs [0067] – [0072]); where the communication between the two communications are terminals (paragraph [0019]).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, having the teachings of Du and Xiao before him or her, to incorporate the beam measurement parameter set as taught by Xiao, to improve the beam measurement of Du for the motivation of obtaining accurate beam pairs with minimal control overhead (paragraph [0003] of Xiao).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
LYU et al (US Patent Application Publication 2025/0192955) – the first terminal device transmits beam sweeping including a first sidelink CSI-RS is transmitted by using a plurality of transmit beams, the second terminal device receives beam sweeping that is used to measure the plurality of transmit beams, and the second terminal device transmits a beam response signal to the first terminal device in a transmission occasion corresponding to an optimal transmit beam selected by the second terminal device
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KAI J CHANG whose telephone number is (571)270-5448. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 10AM-6PM EST.
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/Kai Chang/Examiner, Art Unit 2468
/Thomas R Cairns/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2468
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