Prosecution Insights
Last updated: August 30, 2026
Application No. 18/901,655

CHANNEL STATE INFORMATION ACQUISITION OF CANDIDATE CELLS

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Sep 30, 2024
Examiner
PATEL, VAIDEHIBEN NIRMAL
Art Unit
2414
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
InterDigital Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds

Examiner Intelligence

Grants only 0% of cases
0%
Career Allowance Rate
0 granted / 0 resolved
-58.0% vs TC avg
Minimal +0% lift
Without
With
+0.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
Avg Prosecution
6 currently pending
Career history
5
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§103
62.5%
+22.5% vs TC avg
§112
18.8%
-21.2% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 0 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 1-18 are pending in instant application. Claim 2-9 and 11-18 are rejected for being dependent on rejected base claims 1 and 10. Claim 1 and 10 are rejected under 103 over Goyal et al. [Goyal] WO2024170187A1, Wu et al. [Wu] US 20150200757 A1. Claim 2 and 11 are rejected under 103 over Tseng et al. [Tseng] US 20250105900 A1. Claim 3 and 12 are rejected under 103 over Yuan et al. [Yuan] WO 2024168564 A1. Claim 4 and 13 are rejected under 103 over Yuan et al. [Yuan] WO 2024168564 A1. Claim 5 and 14 are rejected under 103 over Yuan et al. [Yuan] WO 2024168564 A1. Claim 6 and 15 are rejected under 103 over Goyal et al. [Goyal] WO2024170187A1. Claim 7 and 16 are rejected under 103 over Goyal et al. [Goyal] WO2024170187A1. Claim 8 and 17 are rejected under 103 over Goyal et al. [Goyal] WO2024170187A1. Claim 9 and 18 are rejected under 103 over Guo et al. [Guo] US 20230388871 A1. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 09/30/2024 and 04/13/2026 were filed before the mailing of a first Office action on the merits. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) are being considered by the examiner. 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. Claim 1 is rejected under 35 U.S.S. 103 as being unpatentable over Goyal in view of Wu. Regarding claim 1, Goyal discloses a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) comprising: a processor configured to: receive configuration information, wherein the configuration information is associated with a layer 1/2 triggered mobility (LTM) channel state information (CSI) resource set; (Paragraph [0021], In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a user equipment, UE, configured for supporting connection towards a radio access network including at least a first network node, wherein the UE comprises: Paragraph [0022], at least one processor; and Paragraph [0025], receive, from the first network node, a configuration message comprising information indicative of a LTM measurement related configuration, wherein the LTM measurement related configuration comprises a resource related configuration for at least one of the servings cells the UE is connected to and one target cell the UE as candidate cell to perform a cell change to, and cell-specific LTM reporting related configuration, Paragraph [0028] ,In some examples the user equipment, UE, may be further configured to support: the resource related configuration includes an LTM-CSI Resource Set related at least to the serving cell and one target cell.) based on the configuration information, perform a measurement on an LTM CSI resource from the LTM CSI resource set; (Paragraph [0052] , determine resources, in particular LTM-CSI related, for performing measurements based on the received updated filter criteria.) determine to include the LTM CSI resource in a selected resource set, wherein the determination to include the LTM CSI resource in the selected resource set is based on a condition being satisfied, and wherein the condition is associated with the measurement on the LTM CSI resource; (Paragraph [0059], determine cell-specific measurement parameters for the target cell based on the cell specific LTM reporting related configuration including filter criteria for the target cell, Paragraph [0060], perform measurements based on the determined cell-specific parameters, Paragraph [0073], send a measurement report comprising information indicative of at least one target cell of the at least one neighboring target cell to a first network node that supports at least one of central unit control plane, CU-CP, functionality and/or a layer 3 protocol of the radio access network,) transmit an LTM report, wherein the LTM report comprises a first indication of the measurement on the LTM CSI resource and a second indication of whether the condition is satisfied to include the LTM CSI resource in the selected resource set; (Paragraph [00233], a set of LTM-Config indices (e.g., an initial or default bitmap of LTM-Config indices) in the RRC message to activate measurements for only subset of LTM cells (CSI- Resources) from the common LTM-CSI-Resource set. Paragraph [00246], UE reports the L 1-RSRP measurements based on the measurements over selected resources indicated by RRC, see also paragraphs [0025-28, 254, 268], [Examiner’s Note: The activation bitmap from ¶ 00233, and the selective reporting from ¶ 00246 shows the dual indication since reporting on a resource necessarily conveys both its measurement and its qualified status for inclusion in the selected set]) Goyal does not disclose measuring a CSI associated with the selected resource set; and transmitting the measured CSI that is associated with the selected resource set. However, Wu discloses measuring a CSI associated with the selected resource set; and transmitting the measured CSI that is associated with the selected resource set. (Abstract, Embodiments of the present invention relate to a method and an apparatus for feeding back a CSI-RS resource combination, a user equipment, and a base station. The method includes: acquiring information of a CSI-RS resource combination; determining a candidate CSI-RS resource combination according to the information of the CSI-RS resource combination, and performing a joint CSI measurement according to one or more sets of CSI-RS resources in the candidate CSI-RS resource combination, so as to select a CSI-RS resource combination according to a measurement result of the joint CSI measurement; and feeding back the selected CSI-RS resource combination and the measurement result of the joint CSI measurement corresponding to the selected CSI-RS resource combination to a base station. Paragraph [0004] , to effectively obtain a CSI measurement result, when a measurement is performed by using a CSI-RS, a different vertical direction weight may be used for each vertical array in the AAS antenna array, so as to obtain virtual horizontal arrays pointing to different vertical directions (each virtual horizontal array may also be considered as a virtual transmission node). Each virtual horizontal array may use one set of CSI-RS resources (or different forms of virtual arrays may be formed in another manner, and each virtual array uses one set of CSI-RS resources). A BS generally configures multiple sets of CSI-RS resources for a UE, and the UE may perform a measurement on these CSI-RS resources.) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings taught by Goyal with the teachings of Wu , since doing so would have achieved the desirable result of beamforming and reliability. Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.S. 103 as being unpatentable over modified Goyal in view of Tseng. Regarding claim 2. Modified Goyal discloses the WTRU of claim 1. Modified Goyal does not disclose wherein the LTM CSI resource set comprises at least one of a set of non-zero power (NZP) CSI-reference signal (RS) resources for a channel measurement, a set of NZP CSI-RS resources for an interference measurement, or a set of CSI-interference measurement (IM) resources for an interference measurement. However, Tseng discloses wherein the LTM CSI resource set comprises at least one of a set of non-zero power (NZP) CSI-reference signal (RS) resources for a channel measurement, a set of NZP CSI-RS resources for an interference measurement, or a set of CSI-interference measurement (IM) resources for an interference measurement.( Paragraph [0110], In some implementations, the resourceSet 220 may indicate the NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet for channel measurements. The entry number may correspond to the nzp-CSI-RS-ResourceSetList in the CSI-ResourceConfig, and may be indicated by the resourcesForChannelMeasurement in the CSI-ReportConfig. The CSI-ReportConfig may be indicated by the reportConfigId 208 (e.g., the value 1 may correspond to the first entry, the value 2 may correspond to the second entry, and so on).Paragraph [0208], For Type 1 adaptation, the CSI-IM or the NZP CSI resource for IM may be configured in a resource-wise manner. The UE may determine the CSI-IM resource for interference measurements based on the association between the CSI-RS resource and the CSI-IM resource in the corresponding resource set. In some implementations, the resources determined from the NZP CSI-RS resource, based on the port subset indications, may share the same associated CSI-IM resource. The common NZP CSI-RS resource for interference measurements may be applied to all sub-configurations. In some implementations, the scaling of the same CSI-IM for different sub-configurations may be associated with the NZP CSI-RS resource for measurements in each sub-configuration.) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings taught by modified Goyal with the teachings of Tseng , since doing so would have achieved the desirable result of high-resolution channel sounding capability for beam management. Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.S. 103 as being unpatentable over modified Goyal in view of Yuan Regarding claim 3. Modified Goyal disclose the WTRU of claim 1, Modified Goyal does not teach wherein the LTM CSI resource set comprises at least one of a set of resources for a channel measurement or a set of resources for a channel interference measurement, wherein the channel measurement or the channel interference measurement is associated with a CSI measurement of an LTM candidate cell or an LTM target cell. However, Yuan discloses wherein the LTM CSI resource set comprises at least one of a set of resources for a channel measurement or a set of resources for a channel interference measurement, wherein the channel measurement or the channel interference measurement is associated with a CSI measurement of an LTM candidate cell or an LTM target cell. (Abstract , the channel measurement resource set includes one or more reference signals (RSs) for lower-layer triggered mobility (LTM) and is associated with a layer 1 (L1) channel state information (CSI) report. Paragraph [0005],where the channel measurement resource set is associated with an L1 channel state information (CSI) report and includes one or more reference identifiers (IDs) for the one or more RSs; and perform at least one measurement for LTM based on the one or more RSs. Paragraph [0085] , The L1/L2 mobility deactivated cell set (which may be an L1/L2 mobility candidate cell set) may be a group of cells in the configured set that is configured for the UE yet deactivated (e.g., not used for data/control transfer until activated) and may be activated by L1/L2 signaling. Paragraph [0093] , In conditional handover, a set of candidate cells (including cell ID, system information, etc. ) and conditions for handover may be configured in advance via RRC. Paragraph [0097] , Example aspects presented herein provide methods and apparatus for measurement configurations for LTM measurements (e.g., inter-frequency LTM measurements) . In some aspects, the measurement configurations may be based on L1 CSI request signaling (e.g., CSI-meas-config and CSI-report-config configured in serving cell configuration in an active cell) for a candidate cell. In some aspects, the measurement configurations for an inter-frequency channel measurement resource setting may be based on SSB configuration structures.) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings taught by modified Goyal with the teachings of Yuan , since doing so would have achieved the desirable result of enabling the network to adapt quickly to changing channel conditions and improve service continuity Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.S. 103 as being unpatentable over modified Goyal in view of Yuan. Regarding claim 4. Modified Goyal discloses the WTRU of claim 1 Modified Goyal does not teach wherein the configuration information further comprises reporting configuration information, wherein the reporting configuration information is associated with LTM CSI report configuration information, wherein the LTM CSI report configuration information indicates at least one of whether a reporting associated with an LTM candidate cell is periodic, aperiodic, semi-persistent on a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), reporting quantity information, reporting frequency information, codebook configuration information, or reporting resource information. However, Yuan discloses wherein the configuration information further comprises reporting configuration information, wherein the reporting configuration information is associated with LTM CSI report configuration information, wherein the LTM CSI report configuration information indicates at least one of whether a reporting associated with an LTM candidate cell is periodic, aperiodic, semi-persistent on a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), reporting quantity information, reporting frequency information, codebook configuration information, or reporting resource information. (Paragraph [0097], Example aspects presented herein provide methods and apparatus for measurement configurations for LTM measurements (e.g., inter-frequency LTM measurements) . In some aspects, the measurement configurations may be based on L1 CSI request signaling (e.g., CSI-meas-config and CSI-report-config configured in serving cell configuration in an active cell) for a candidate cell. ) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings taught by modified Goyal with the teachings of Yuan, since doing so would have achieved the desirable result of continuous monitoring, accuracy and high-precision measurement. Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.S. 103 as being unpatentable over modified Goyal in view of Yuan. Regarding claim 5. Modified Goyal discloses the WTRU of claim 1, Modified Goyal does not disclose wherein the selected resource set comprises at least one of the LTM CSI resource sets for a channel measurement or the LTM CSI resource set for an interference measurement. However, Yuan disclose wherein the selected resource set comprises at least one of the LTM CSI resource set for a channel measurement or the LTM CSI resource set for an interference measurement. (Paragraph [005] , Based at least in part on information stored in the memory, the at least one processor may be configured to obtain a first configuration of a channel measurement resource set including one or more reference signals (RSs) for LTM, where the channel measurement resource set is associated with an L1 channel state information (CSI) report and includes one or more reference identifiers (IDs) for the one or more RSs; and perform at least one measurement for LTM based on the one or more RSs.) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings taught by modified Goyal with the teachings of Yuan , since doing so would have achieved the desirable result of improving handover accuracy and efficiency. Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.S. 103 as being unpatentable over modified Goyal. Regarding claim 6. Modified Goyal discloses the WTRU of claim 1 Goyal discloses wherein the configuration information is first configuration information, and wherein the processor is configured to: receive second configuration information, wherein the second configuration information associates an LTM measurement resource with an LTM CSI resource set, wherein the LTM measurement resource comprises at least one of a synchronization signal block (SSB) CSI-RS of an LTM candidate cell or a NZP CSI-RS of an LTM candidate cell. (Paragraph [00332], at least one processor; and Paragraph [00335], receiving, from the UE, a measurement report comprising information indicative of at least one target cell of the at least one neighboring target cell, Paragraph [00336], at step 1220 the method includes sending, towards the UE, a configuration message comprising information indicative of a LTM measurement related configuration, Paragraph [0089], receiving, from the first network node, a configuration message comprising information indicative of a LTM measurement related configuration, Paragraph [0028], In some examples the user equipment, UE, may be further configured to support: the resource related configuration includes an LTM-CSI Resource Set related at least to the serving cell and one target cell. Paragraph [00229], CU builds a reference/common configuration for LTM related measurements by consolidating the LTM-CSI-Resource sets received from all target cells as single LTM-CSL Resource-set towards UE. Paragraph [0011], The IE CSI-ResourceConfig defines a group of one or more NZP-CSI-RS- ResourceSet, CSI-IM-ResourceSet and/or CSI-SSB-ResourceSet. Paragraph [00221], First a Solution 1 is described in detail, followed by an exemplary implementation as illustrated in Fig. 4: Network configuration of selected CS Resources (e.g., SSBs or/and CSLRSs) of LTM candidate cells as new LTM-CSLResource-set for LTM Layer 1 (LI) or beam measurements that is maintained as common configuration retained across LTM cellswitching. Paragraph [00222], Preparation Phase Paragraph [00223] ,As part of LTM preparation, CU request candidate target cell(s) and the serving cell to provide selected subset of CSI Resources (e.g., SSBs or/and CSLRSs) for LTM Ll/beam measurement. In response, a cell provides the following LTM measurement and reporting related parameters: Paragraph [00224] ,LTM-CSI-Resource set (i.e., a set of SSBs/CSLRSs selected for LTM)) Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.S. 103 as being unpatentable over modified Goyal. Regarding claim 7. Modified Goyal discloses the WTRU of claim 1, Goyal discloses wherein to determine the selected resource set from the LTM CSI resource set comprises the processor being configured to: (Paragraph [00265], CU may receive from source DU, at least one of LTM CSI resource related configuration, LTM reporting config, Meas Gap Config which enables the CU to form LTM-Meas Config and cell specific configs. The CU further sends a UE Context Setup Request to the Candidate Target DU to request relevant data, e.g. LTM- CSI-Resource Set, LTM Reporting Config, Meas Gap Config, etc.) Receive a message from a base station (Paragraph [00125] , receive, from the first network node, at least part of LTM measurement related configuration provided to the UE, to enable the second network node to generate and send, to the UE, a configuration message comprising information indicative of an updated LTM measurement related configuration, and Paragraph [00126], receive, from the UE, a measurement report based on at least part of the LTM measurement related configuration. Paragraph [00127], The First network node may e.g. be implemented as a network node that supports distributed unit, DU, functionality and/or a layer 2 protocol processing of a radio access network, RAN, a source DU, a serving DU, a serving gNB, a 5G gNB, a NR gNB, and/or a base station, which offers a broad applicability to different RAN implementation.) wherein the message indicates an LTM CSI resource set to be included in the selected resource set, (Paragraph [00223] As part of LTM preparation, CU request candidate target cell(s) and the serving cell to provide selected subset of CSI Resources (e.g., SSBs or/and CSLRSs) for LTM Ll/beam measurement. In response, a cell provides the following LTM measurement and reporting related parameters: Paragraph [00224], LTM-CSI-Resource set (i.e., a set of SSBs/CSLRSs selected for LTM) . wherein the message is received via a radio resource control (RRC) message or a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) message. (Paragraph [00131] ,The configuration information related to performing measurements for a target cell as candidate cell for a cell change, wherein the target cell is supported by a second network node (target DU) may be received via an RRC Reconfiguration message and/or Layer 3 (L3) message. The message may be received from a network node supporting L3, e.g. supporting central unit (CU) functionality, this may depend on the implementation. The message may be received from the first network node in case it supports L3 as well. The message is e.g. used to configure the UE with LI measurement usable for a Lower Layer Mobility (LLM) or LTM triggered cell change.) Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.S. 103 as being unpatentable over modified Goyal. Regarding claim 8. Modified Goyal discloses the WTRU of claim 1 Goyal discloses wherein the processor is configured to: receive a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) triggering measurement message, (Paragraph [0031], In some examples the user equipment, UE, may be further configured to support: Paragraph [0032] ,receive, from a second network node, a configuration message comprising information indicative of an updated LTM measurement related configuration, wherein the second network node supports at least one of distributed unit, DU, functionality and/or a layer 2 protocol of the radio access network.) wherein the PDCCH triggering measurement message indicates a resource, from the selected resource set, to perform a CSI measurement based on the LTM report. (Paragraph [00188], In LTM, the serving DU triggers the execution of the prepared target cell configuration based on lower layer signaling, which can be either MAC Control Element (MAC CE) or Downlink Control Information (DCI). Upon triggering the cell change, the serving DU informs the CU such that the CU can stop sending any RRC Reconfiguration over the serving cell radio link and initiate data forwarding to the target cell, if needed. Paragraph [00189], LTM is expected to use LI measurements. These measurements have the benefit of faster reaction time to radio link degradation in the serving link as the network can save the delay introduced by L3 filtering and Time to Trigger (TTT) for the handover decision. This should result in reducing in the number of radio link failures compared to baseline handover. Paragraph [0030], LTM-Reporting Config is e.g. related to the Uplink resource configuration of a cell. In general, a CSI-Report Config contains several other parameters like e.g. an indicator for a CSLResource Config.) Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.S. 103 as being unpatentable over modified Goyal in view of Guo. Regarding claim 9. Modified Goyal discloses the WTRU of claim 1, Modified Goyal does not disclose wherein the condition comprises a determination that the measurement on the LTM CSI resource is above a first threshold, a determination that the measurement on the LTM CSI resource is higher than a measurement of a serving beam, or a determination that the measurement of the serving beam is lower than a second threshold and the measurement on the LTM CSI resource is above a third threshold. However, Guo discloses wherein the condition comprises a determination that the measurement on the LTM CSI resource is above a first threshold,(Paragraph [0112] ,FIG. 13 shows an example procedure for intra-DU HO based on L1/L2 measurements. Here, the HO is triggered based on L1, L2, and/or L3 measurement results from the UE 5402. In legacy CHO, an execution condition is configured for each candidate cell, and this execution condition is associated with L3 measurement event A3 and/or event A5. When the entering condition of event A3 and/or A5 are met, this means the execution condition of this candidate cell is met, then a CHO execution is triggered. Similarly, if the HO is triggered based on L1/L2 measurement results, the corresponding execution should also be configured for each candidate cell. If the execution condition is associated with L1 measurement, at least a threshold for measurement quantity should be configured. When the L1 measurement result is more than the threshold, an HO towards the corresponding candidate cell can be triggered. If the execution condition is associated with L2 measurement results (e.g., the criteria described in Enhancement 1), the corresponding parameters should be configured. An example procedure for intra-DU handover based on L1/L2 measurements is illustrated in FIG. 13 .) a determination that the measurement on the LTM CSI resource is higher than a measurement of a serving beam, or a determination that the measurement of the serving beam is lower than a second threshold and the measurement on the LTM CSI resource is above a third threshold. (Paragraph [0827] , Example A03 includes the method of examples A02.0-A02.2 and/or some other example(s) herein, wherein the UE reports L2 measurement results or trigger a handover towards a candidate cell when at least one of following conditions is met: the number of good beams is better than a threshold X in consecutive N times, or for N times within a period of time; a candidate cell's good beams are offset more than that of current serving cell in consecutive N times, or for N times within a period of time; and/or whether a candidate cell's quality is offset better than that of current serving cell cell in consecutive N times, or for N times within a period of time. Example A04 includes the method of example A03 and/or some other example(s) herein, wherein the beams whose beam quality is better than this threshold Z1 is considered as a good/qualified beam.) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings taught by modified Goyal with the teachings of Guo , since doing so would have achieved the desirable result of network performance and improve beam quality. Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.S. 103 as being unpatentable over Goyal in view of Wu. Regarding claim 10. Goyal discloses a method comprising: receiving configuration information, wherein the configuration information is associated with a layer 1/2 triggered mobility (LTM) channel state information (CSI) resource set; (Paragraph [0083], In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method for a user equipment, UE, configured for supporting connection towards a radio access network including at least a first network node, the method comprising: Paragraph [0085], receiving, from the first network node, a configuration message comprising information indicative of a LTM measurement related configuration, wherein the LTM measurement related configuration comprises a resource related configuration for at least one of the serving cell the UE is connected to and one target cell the UE as candidate cell to perform a cell change to, and cell-specific LTM reporting related configuration,) based on the configuration information, performing a measurement on an LTM CSI resource from the LTM CSI resource set; (Paragraph [0052] , determine resources, in particular LTM-CSI related, for performing measurements based on the received updated filter criteria.) determining to include the LTM CSI resource in a selected resource set, wherein the determination to include the LTM CSI resource in the selected resource set is based on a condition being satisfied, and wherein the condition is associated with the measurement on the LTM CSI resource; (Paragraph [0059], determine cell-specific measurement parameters for the target cell based on the cell specific LTM reporting related configuration including filter criteria for the target cell, Paragraph [0060], perform measurements based on the determined cell-specific parameters, Paragraph [0073], send a measurement report comprising information indicative of at least one target cell of the at least one neighboring target cell to a first network node that supports at least one of central unit control plane, CU-CP, functionality and/or a layer 3 protocol of the radio access network,) transmit an LTM report, wherein the LTM report comprises a first indication of the measurement on the LTM CSI resource and a second indication of whether the condition is satisfied to include the LTM CSI resource in the selected resource set; (Paragraph [00233], a set of LTM-Config indices (e.g., an initial or default bitmap of LTM-Config indices) in the RRC message to activate measurements for only subset of LTM cells (CSI- Resources) from the common LTM-CSI-Resource set. Paragraph [00246], UE reports the L 1-RSRP measurements based on the measurements over selected resources indicated by RRC, see also paragraphs [0025-28, 254, 268], [Examiner’s Note: The activation bitmap from ¶ 00233, and the selective reporting from ¶ 00246 shows the dual indication since reporting on a resource necessarily conveys both its measurement and its qualified status for inclusion in the selected set]) Goyal does not disclose measuring a CSI associated with the selected resource set; and transmitting the measured CSI that is associated with the selected resource set. However, Wu discloses measuring a CSI associated with the selected resource set; and transmitting the measured CSI that is associated with the selected resource set. (Abstract , Embodiments of the present invention relate to a method and an apparatus for feeding back a CSI-RS resource combination, a user equipment, and a base station. The method includes: acquiring information of a CSI-RS resource combination; determining a candidate CSI-RS resource combination according to the information of the CSI-RS resource combination, and performing a joint CSI measurement according to one or more sets of CSI-RS resources in the candidate CSI-RS resource combination, so as to select a CSI-RS resource combination according to a measurement result of the joint CSI measurement; and feeding back the selected CSI-RS resource combination and the measurement result of the joint CSI measurement corresponding to the selected CSI-RS resource combination to a base station. Paragraph [0004] , to effectively obtain a CSI measurement result, when a measurement is performed by using a CSI-RS, a different vertical direction weight may be used for each vertical array in the AAS antenna array, so as to obtain virtual horizontal arrays pointing to different vertical directions (each virtual horizontal array may also be considered as a virtual transmission node). Each virtual horizontal array may use one set of CSI-RS resources (or different forms of virtual arrays may be formed in another manner, and each virtual array uses one set of CSI-RS resources). A BS generally configures multiple sets of CSI-RS resources for a UE, and the UE may perform a measurement on these CSI-RS resources.) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings taught by modified Goyal with the teachings of Wu , since doing so would have achieved the desirable result of beamforming and reliability. Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.S. 103 as being unpatentable over modified Goyal in view of Tseng. Regarding claim 11. Modified Goyal discloses the method of claim 10, Modified Goyal does not disclose wherein the LTM CSI resource set comprises at least one of a set of non-zero power (NZP) CSI-reference signal (RS) resources for a channel measurement, a set of NZP CSI-RS resources for an interference measurement, or a set of CSI-interference measurement (IM) resources for an interference measurement. However, Tseng discloses wherein the LTM CSI resource set comprises at least one of a set of non-zero power (NZP) CSI-reference signal (RS) resources for a channel measurement, a set of NZP CSI-RS resources for an interference measurement, or a set of CSI-interference measurement (IM) resources for an interference measurement.( Paragraph [0110], In some implementations, the resourceSet 220 may indicate the NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceSet for channel measurements. The entry number may correspond to the nzp-CSI-RS-ResourceSetList in the CSI-ResourceConfig, and may be indicated by the resourcesForChannelMeasurement in the CSI-ReportConfig. The CSI-ReportConfig may be indicated by the reportConfigId 208 (e.g., the value 1 may correspond to the first entry, the value 2 may correspond to the second entry, and so on).Paragraph [0208], For Type 1 adaptation, the CSI-IM or the NZP CSI resource for IM may be configured in a resource-wise manner. The UE may determine the CSI-IM resource for interference measurements based on the association between the CSI-RS resource and the CSI-IM resource in the corresponding resource set. In some implementations, the resources determined from the NZP CSI-RS resource, based on the port subset indications, may share the same associated CSI-IM resource. The common NZP CSI-RS resource for interference measurements may be applied to all sub-configurations. In some implementations, the scaling of the same CSI-IM for different sub-configurations may be associated with the NZP CSI-RS resource for measurements in each sub-configuration.) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings taught by modified Goyal with the teachings of Tseng , since doing so would have achieved the desirable result of high-resolution channel sounding capability for beam management. Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.S. 103 as being unpatentable over modified Goyal in view of Yuan. Regarding claim 12. Modified Goyal discloses the method of claim 10, Modified Goyal does not teach wherein the LTM CSI resource set comprises at least one of a set of resources for a channel measurement or a set of resources for a channel interference measurement, wherein the channel measurement or the channel interference measurement is associated with a CSI measurement of an LTM candidate cell or an LTM target cell. However, Yuan discloses wherein the LTM CSI resource set comprises at least one of a set of resources for a channel measurement or a set of resources for a channel interference measurement, wherein the channel measurement or the channel interference measurement is associated with a CSI measurement of an LTM candidate cell or an LTM target cell. (Abstract , the channel measurement resource set includes one or more reference signals (RSs) for lower-layer triggered mobility (LTM) and is associated with a layer 1 (L1) channel state information (CSI) report. Paragraph [0005],where the channel measurement resource set is associated with an L1 channel state information (CSI) report and includes one or more reference identifiers (IDs) for the one or more RSs; and perform at least one measurement for LTM based on the one or more RSs. Paragraph [0085] , The L1/L2 mobility deactivated cell set (which may be an L1/L2 mobility candidate cell set) may be a group of cells in the configured set that is configured for the UE yet deactivated (e.g., not used for data/control transfer until activated) and may be activated by L1/L2 signaling. Paragraph [0093] , In conditional handover, a set of candidate cells (including cell ID, system information, etc. ) and conditions for handover may be configured in advance via RRC. Paragraph [0097] , Example aspects presented herein provide methods and apparatus for measurement configurations for LTM measurements (e.g., inter-frequency LTM measurements) . In some aspects, the measurement configurations may be based on L1 CSI request signaling (e.g., CSI-meas-config and CSI-report-config configured in serving cell configuration in an active cell) for a candidate cell. In some aspects, the measurement configurations for an inter-frequency channel measurement resource setting may be based on SSB configuration structures.) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings taught by modified Goyal with the teachings of Yuan , since doing so would have achieved the desirable result of enabling the network to adapt quickly to changing channel conditions and improve service continuity Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.S. 103 as being unpatentable over modified Goyal in view of Yuan. Regarding claim 13.Modified Goyal discloses the method of claim 10, Modified Goyal does not disclose wherein the configuration information further comprises reporting configuration information, wherein the reporting configuration information is associated with LTM CSI report configuration information, wherein the LTM CSI report configuration information indicates at least one of whether a reporting associated with an LTM candidate cell is periodic, aperiodic, semi-persistent on a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), reporting quantity information, reporting frequency information, codebook configuration information, or reporting resource information. However, Yuan discloses wherein the configuration information further comprises reporting configuration information, wherein the reporting configuration information is associated with LTM CSI report configuration information, wherein the LTM CSI report configuration information indicates at least one of whether a reporting associated with an LTM candidate cell is periodic, aperiodic, semi-persistent on a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) or a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), reporting quantity information, reporting frequency information, codebook configuration information, or reporting resource information. (Paragraph [0097], Example aspects presented herein provide methods and apparatus for measurement configurations for LTM measurements (e.g., inter-frequency LTM measurements) . In some aspects, the measurement configurations may be based on L1 CSI request signaling (e.g., CSI-meas-config and CSI-report-config configured in serving cell configuration in an active cell) for a candidate cell. ) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings taught by modified Goyal with the teachings of Yuan, since doing so would have achieved the desirable result of continuous monitoring, accuracy and high-precision measurement. Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.S. 103 as being unpatentable over modified Goyal in view of Yuan. Regarding claim 14. Modified Goyal discloses the method of claim 10, Modified Goyal does not disclose wherein the selected resource set comprises at least one of the LTM CSI resource sets for a channel measurement or the LTM CSI resource set for an interference measurement. However, Yuan disclose wherein the selected resource set comprises at least one of the LTM CSI resource set for a channel measurement or the LTM CSI resource set for an interference measurement. (Paragraph [005] , Based at least in part on information stored in the memory, the at least one processor may be configured to obtain a first configuration of a channel measurement resource set including one or more reference signals (RSs) for LTM, where the channel measurement resource set is associated with an L1 channel state information (CSI) report and includes one or more reference identifiers (IDs) for the one or more RSs; and perform at least one measurement for LTM based on the one or more RSs.) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings taught by modified Goyal with the teachings of Yuan , since doing so would have achieved the desirable result of improving handover accuracy and efficiency. Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.S. 103 as being unpatentable over modified Goyal. Regarding claim 15. Modified Goyal discloses the method of claim 10, Goyal discloses wherein the configuration information is first configuration information, and wherein the method comprises: receiving second configuration information, wherein the second configuration information associates an LTM measurement resource with an LTM CSI resource set, wherein the LTM measurement resource comprises at least one of a synchronization signal block (SSB) CSI-RS of an LTM candidate cell or a NZP CSI-RS of an LTM candidate cell. (Paragraph [00332], at least one processor; and Paragraph [00335], receiving, from the UE, a measurement report comprising information indicative of at least one target cell of the at least one neighboring target cell, Paragraph [00336], at step 1220 the method includes sending, towards the UE, a configuration message comprising information indicative of a LTM measurement related configuration, Paragraph [0089], receiving, from the first network node, a configuration message comprising information indicative of a LTM measurement related configuration, Paragraph [0028], In some examples the user equipment, UE, may be further configured to support: the resource related configuration includes an LTM-CSI Resource Set related at least to the serving cell and one target cell. Paragraph [00229], CU builds a reference/common configuration for LTM related measurements by consolidating the LTM-CSI-Resource sets received from all target cells as single LTM-CSL Resource-set towards UE. Paragraph [0011], The IE CSI-ResourceConfig defines a group of one or more NZP-CSI-RS- ResourceSet, CSI-IM-ResourceSet and/or CSI-SSB-ResourceSet. Paragraph [00221], First a Solution 1 is described in detail, followed by an exemplary implementation as illustrated in Fig. 4: Network configuration of selected CS Resources (e.g., SSBs or/and CSLRSs) of LTM candidate cells as new LTM-CSLResource-set for LTM Layer 1 (LI) or beam measurements that is maintained as common configuration retained across LTM cellswitching. Paragraph [00222], Preparation Phase Paragraph [00223] ,As part of LTM preparation, CU request candidate target cell(s) and the serving cell to provide selected subset of CSI Resources (e.g., SSBs or/and CSLRSs) for LTM Ll/beam measurement. In response, a cell provides the following LTM measurement and reporting related parameters: Paragraph [00224] ,LTM-CSI-Resource set (i.e., a set of SSBs/CSLRSs selected for LTM)) Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.S. 103 as being unpatentable over modified Goyal. Regarding claim 16. Modified Goyal discloses the method of claim 10, Goyal disclose wherein to determine the selected resource set from the LTM CSI resource set comprises: (Paragraph [00265], CU may receive from source DU, at least one of LTM CSI resource related configuration, LTM reporting config, Meas Gap Config which enables the CU to form LTM-Meas Config and cell specific configs. The CU further sends a UE Context Setup Request to the Candidate Target DU to request relevant data, e.g. LTM- CSI-Resource Set, LTM Reporting Config, Meas Gap Config, etc.) receiving a message from a base station, (Paragraph [00125] , receive, from the first network node, at least part of LTM measurement related configuration provided to the UE, to enable the second network node to generate and send, to the UE, a configuration message comprising information indicative of an updated LTM measurement related configuration, and Paragraph [00126], receive, from the UE, a measurement report based on at least part of the LTM measurement related configuration. Paragraph [00127], The First network node may e.g. be implemented as a network node that supports distributed unit, DU, functionality and/or a layer 2 protocol processing of a radio access network, RAN, a source DU, a serving DU, a serving gNB, a 5G gNB, a NR gNB, and/or a base station, which offers a broad applicability to different RAN implementation.) wherein the message indicates an LTM CSI resource set to be included in the selected resource set, (Paragraph [00223] As part of LTM preparation, CU request candidate target cell(s) and the serving cell to provide selected subset of CSI Resources (e.g., SSBs or/and CSLRSs) for LTM Ll/beam measurement. In response, a cell provides the following LTM measurement and reporting related parameters: Paragraph [00224], LTM-CSI-Resource set (i.e., a set of SSBs/CSLRSs selected for LTM) . wherein the message is received via a radio resource control (RRC) message or a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) message. (Paragraph [00131] ,The configuration information related to performing measurements for a target cell as candidate cell for a cell change, wherein the target cell is supported by a second network node (target DU) may be received via an RRC Reconfiguration message and/or Layer 3 (L3) message. The message may be received from a network node supporting L3, e.g. supporting central unit (CU) functionality, this may depend on the implementation. The message may be received from the first network node in case it supports L3 as well. The message is e.g. used to configure the UE with LI measurement usable for a Lower Layer Mobility (LLM) or LTM triggered cell change.) Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.S. 103 as being unpatentable over modified Goyal. Regarding claim 17. Modified Goyal discloses the method of claim 10, Goyal discloses wherein the method comprises: receiving a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) triggering measurement message, (Paragraph [0031], In some examples the user equipment, UE, may be further configured to support: Paragraph [0032] ,receive, from a second network node, a configuration message comprising information indicative of an updated LTM measurement related configuration, wherein the second network node supports at least one of distributed unit, DU, functionality and/or a layer 2 protocol of the radio access network.) wherein the PDCCH triggering measurement message indicates a resource, from the selected resource set, to perform a CSI measurement based on the LTM report. (Paragraph [00188], In LTM, the serving DU triggers the execution of the prepared target cell configuration based on lower layer signaling, which can be either MAC Control Element (MAC CE) or Downlink Control Information (DCI). Upon triggering the cell change, the serving DU informs the CU such that the CU can stop sending any RRC Reconfiguration over the serving cell radio link and initiate data forwarding to the target cell, if needed. Paragraph [00189], LTM is expected to use LI measurements. These measurements have the benefit of faster reaction time to radio link degradation in the serving link as the network can save the delay introduced by L3 filtering and Time to Trigger (TTT) for the handover decision. This should result in reducing in the number of radio link failures compared to baseline handover. Paragraph [0030], LTM-Reporting Config is e.g. related to the Uplink resource configuration of a cell. In general, a CSI-Report Config contains several other parameters like e.g. an indicator for a CSLResource Config.) Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.S. 103 as being unpatentable over modified Goyal in view of Guo. Regarding claim 18. Modified Goyal discloses the method of claim 10, Modified Goyal does not disclose wherein the condition comprises a determination that the measurement on the LTM CSI resource is above a first threshold, a determination that the measurement on the LTM CSI resource is higher than a measurement of a serving beam, or a determination that the measurement of the serving beam is lower than a second threshold and the measurement on the LTM CSI resource is above a third threshold. However, Guo discloses wherein the condition comprises a determination that the measurement on the LTM CSI resource is above a first threshold,(Paragraph [0112] ,FIG. 13 shows an example procedure for intra-DU HO based on L1/L2 measurements. Here, the HO is triggered based on L1, L2, and/or L3 measurement results from the UE 5402. In legacy CHO, an execution condition is configured for each candidate cell, and this execution condition is associated with L3 measurement event A3 and/or event A5. When the entering condition of event A3 and/or A5 are met, this means the execution condition of this candidate cell is met, then a CHO execution is triggered. Similarly, if the HO is triggered based on L1/L2 measurement results, the corresponding execution should also be configured for each candidate cell. If the execution condition is associated with L1 measurement, at least a threshold for measurement quantity should be configured. When the L1 measurement result is more than the threshold, an HO towards the corresponding candidate cell can be triggered. If the execution condition is associated with L2 measurement results (e.g., the criteria described in Enhancement 1), the corresponding parameters should be configured. An example procedure for intra-DU handover based on L1/L2 measurements is illustrated in FIG. 13 .) a determination that the measurement on the LTM CSI resource is higher than a measurement of a serving beam, or a determination that the measurement of the serving beam is lower than a second threshold and the measurement on the LTM CSI resource is above a third threshold. (Paragraph [0827] , Example A03 includes the method of examples A02.0-A02.2 and/or some other example(s) herein, wherein the UE reports L2 measurement results or trigger a handover towards a candidate cell when at least one of following conditions is met: the number of good beams is better than a threshold X in consecutive N times, or for N times within a period of time; a candidate cell's good beams are offset more than that of current serving cell in consecutive N times, or for N times within a period of time; and/or whether a candidate cell's quality is offset better than that of current serving cell cell in consecutive N times, or for N times within a period of time. Example A04 includes the method of example A03 and/or some other example(s) herein, wherein the beams whose beam quality is better than this threshold Z1 is considered as a good/qualified beam.) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings taught by modified Goyal with the teachings of Guo , since doing so would have achieved the desirable result of network performance and improve beam quality. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure (See PTO-892). Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VAIDEHIBEN NIRMAL PATEL whose telephone number is (571) 270-0810. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. 5 p.m. ET.. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Edan Orgad can be reached at 5712727884. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /VNP/Examiner, Art Unit 2414 /EDAN ORGAD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2414
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Prosecution Timeline

Sep 30, 2024
Application Filed
Jul 01, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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