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 11- 20 are pending in the instant application. Claims 1-10 are drawn to a non-elected Invention and are hereby withdrawn from examination.
Election/Restrictions
Claims 1-10 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Applicants’ election without traverse of Invention II (claim 11-20) is acknowledged. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 08/13/2026.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of Applicant's claim for priority based on the certified copy of the application (PRO 63/542,484) filed on 10/04/2023.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 09/30/2024 was 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 is 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 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over Li US 20240340989 A1 in view of Shao-zhen et al. [Shao] JP 2025529647 A and Xiaolong et al. [Xia] JP 7808684 B2
Regarding claim 11. Li discloses a method of a User Equipment (UE), comprising: receiving one or more downlink (DL) signals indicating a first Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state and a second TCI state; (¶ [0003], In wireless communication, signals are sent and received between a terminal device and a network device through beams. In related art, transmission configuration indicator (TCIs) corresponding to the beams are indicated through a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) or a downlink control information (DCI) signaling. However, this method takes up more resources. [Examiner Note: Device receives DCI signals corresponding to TCI(s).])
receiving a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) order in a serving cell via the first TCI state, (¶ [0019], The TCI is used to inform a user to use a receiving beam which is the same as that for receiving a certain synchronization signal block (SSB) or a certain channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) sent by a base station to receive a PDCCH or a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH); or inform the user to use a sending beam which is the same as that for sending a certain reference signal, such as a sounding reference signal (SRS), or a sending beam corresponding to a receiving beam for receiving the channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) to send a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH)/physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).)
Li does not disclose wherein a field in the PDCCH order indicates an association between a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) transmission and the first TCI state or an association between the PRACH transmission and the second TCI state;
However, Shao discloses wherein a field in the PDCCH order indicates an association between a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) transmission and the first TCI state or an association between the PRACH transmission and the second TCI state; (Abstract, Certain aspects of the present disclosure generally provide a method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE) that includes receiving a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) command to trigger a PRACH transmission associated with an additional PCI, different from a first PCI associated with a serving cell; transmitting the PRACH associated with the additional PCI; receiving an indication of a timing advance (TA) associated with the additional PCI via a MAC-CE; and applying the TA for an uplink transmission associated with the additional PCI. ¶ [0254], [C2] The method of C1, wherein the additional PCI is associated with one or more active TCI states. [Examiner Note: PDCCH triggers PRACH transmission, which is associated with PCI, which is associated with TCI states.])
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 as taught by Li with the teachings of Shao, since doing so would have ensure accurate pathloss estimation and multi-TRP panel selection.
Modified Li does not disclose performing the PRACH transmission in response to the PDCCH order, wherein a transmit power of the PRACH transmission is determined based on the field.
However, Xia discloses performing the PRACH transmission in response to the PDCCH order, wherein a transmit power of the PRACH transmission is determined based on the field. (Page 8, ¶ 2 ,The UE adjusts the PRACH receive target power (e.g., an open-loop power control parameter configured for the PRACH transmission) or the PRACH transmit power for the PRACH transmission based on the RRC-configured preamble receive target power, the path loss calculated based on the DL-RS associated with the random access procedure, and a transmit power adjustment value, where the transmit power adjustment value is determined based on at least one of the following: (3) The transmit power adjustment is indicated in an indication field, e.g., an absolute TPC command field, of the PDCCH order associated with the PRACH transmission.)
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 as taught by modified Li with the teachings of Xia, since doing so would have ensure Faster Synchronization and Lower Interference.
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over modified Li in view of Yang et al. [Yang] US 20230118758 A1.
Regarding claim 12. Modified Li discloses the method of claim 11,
Modified Li does not disclose wherein: if the field indicates a first value, the transmit power of the PRACH transmission is determined as a first transmit power, wherein the PRACH transmission is associated with the first TCI state, and/or if the field indicates a second value, the transmit power of the PRACH transmission is determined as a second transmit power, wherein the PRACH transmission is associated with the second TCI state, and/or the first transmit power is larger than the second transmit power, and/or the first transmit power is different than the second transmit power.
However, Yang discloses wherein: if the field indicates a first value, the transmit power of the PRACH transmission is determined as a first transmit power, wherein the PRACH transmission is associated with the first TCI state, and/or if the field indicates a second value, the transmit power of the PRACH transmission is determined as a second transmit power, wherein the PRACH transmission is associated with the second TCI state, and/or the first transmit power is larger than the second transmit power, and/or the first transmit power is different than the second transmit power. (¶ [0113] Thus, in such instances, the UE 504 may calculate two different transmit powers: a first transmit power using the one or more values associated with the HP UCI 422, and a second transmit power using the one or more values associated with the LP UCI 424. The UE 504 may then select between the first and second transmit powers—e.g., the UE 504 may select the larger of the first and second transmit powers. [Examiner Note: Only one element is required to meet the claimed limitation. Emphasis Added.])
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 as taught by modified Li with the teachings of Yang, since doing so would have ensure better signal range and stronger link reliability.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over modified Li in view of Guo et al. [Guo] US 20230388871 A1.
Regarding Claim 13. Modified Li discloses the method of claim 12,
Modified Li does not disclose wherein no matter whether the field indicates the first value or the second value, the UE determines or uses a Pathloss Reference Signal (PL RS) associated with the first TCI state for determining a pathloss estimate for determining the transmit power of the PRACH transmission.
However, Guo discloses wherein no matter whether the field indicates the first value or the second value, the UE determines or uses a Pathloss Reference Signal (PL RS) associated with the first TCI state for determining a pathloss estimate for determining the transmit power of the PRACH transmission. (¶ [0438], The RAN node 5414 (e.g., a gNB 5414 a) transmits PDCCH order (e.g., DCI format 1_0) to trigger a PRACH Preamble (step 1). The UE 5402 transmits a PRACH preamble (Msg1) according to the configuration received in PDCCH order (step 2). The RAN node 5414 receives the preamble, calculates a TA value, and then transmits a random access response (RAR) to the UE 5402, which includes the TA value (step 3).¶ [0712], The IE Candidate-Tci-States defines a group of one or more TCI states for the early DL synchronization procedure. An example Candidate-Tci-States IE is shown and described by table 8.4.11-1. Page 86 Lines 20-22, maxNrofPUSCHPathlossReferenceRSs-1-r17 INTEGER: =63 – Maximum number of RSs used as pathloss reference for PUSCH, PUCCH, SRS -- power control for unified TCI state operation minus 1 [Examiner Note: Pathloss reference signal is associated with TCI state. Also ¶ [0438] describes sequence used by UE to calculate PRACH transmit power.])
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 as taught by modified Li with the teachings of Guo, since doing so would have avoids power miscalculations, prevents connection failures and simplifies random access.
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over modified Li in view of MolavianJazi et al. [ MolavianJazi] US 20230125571 A1.
Regarding claim 14. Modified Li discloses the method of claim 11, Modified Li does not disclose wherein: a PL RS for determining a pathloss estimate for determining the transmit power of the PRACH transmission is associated with the first TCI state, and/or even if the PRACH transmission is associated with the second TCI state, the UE determines or uses the PL RS associated with the first TCI state for determining the pathloss estimate for determining the transmit power of the PRACH transmission.
However, MolavianJazi discloses wherein: a PL RS for determining a pathloss estimate for determining the transmit power of the PRACH transmission is associated with the first TCI state, and/or even if the PRACH transmission is associated with the second TCI state, the UE determines or uses the PL RS associated with the first TCI state for determining the pathloss estimate for determining the transmit power of the PRACH transmission. (¶ [0220], In another embodiment, a UE applies DL-RS cycling for repetitions of a PRACH transmission even when the UE detects only one SSB. According to this example, higher layers can provide to the UE additional TCI states for the UE to transmit PRACH and repetitions of a PRACH transmission can be mapped to different SSBs/TCI states. [Examiner Note: Only one element is required to meet the claimed limitation. Emphasis Added.])
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 as taught by modified Li with the teachings of MolavianJazi, since doing so would provide precise spatial quasi-collocation (QCL), accurate open-loop power scaling.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over modified Li and Lyu US 20160212744 A1.
Regarding claim 15. Modified Li discloses the method of claim 11,
Modified Li does not disclose wherein: the field is enabled or exists or is a valid bit field in the PDCCH order when the UE receives a parameter or a signaling or a configuration or a reconfiguration associated with the field, and/or the field is enabled or exists or is a valid bit field in the PDCCH order when the UE is configured with at least the second TCI state which is applied for one or more UL channels only, and/or the parameter or the signaling or the configuration or the reconfiguration associated with the field corresponds to a UL only Transmission/Reception Point (TRP), and/or when a random access preamble index field in the PDCCH order indicates all zeros, the field is reserved.
However, Lyu discloses wherein: the field is enabled or exists or is a valid bit field in the PDCCH order when the UE receives a parameter or a signaling or a configuration or a reconfiguration associated with the field, and/or the field is enabled or exists or is a valid bit field in the PDCCH order when the UE is configured with at least the second TCI state which is applied for one or more UL channels only, and/or the parameter or the signaling or the configuration or the reconfiguration associated with the field corresponds to a UL only Transmission/Reception Point (TRP), and/or when a random access preamble index field in the PDCCH order indicates all zeros, the field is reserved. (¶ [0033] , For the uplink information receiving method, in a possible implementation manner, the determining, by a base station according to the TDD uplink-downlink configuration, that a UL Index field or a DAI field exists in the DCI specifically includes: when the configuration in the PDCCH is any one of TDD configurations 1, 2, 4, and 5, determining, by the UE, that the DAI field exists in the DCI. [Examiner Note: Only one element is required to meet the claimed limitation. Emphasis Added.])
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 as taught by modified Li with the teachings of Lyu, since doing so would provide precise multi-carrier carrier selection, deterministic state transitions, and optimized payload sizing.
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over modified Li.
Regarding claim 16. Modified Li discloses the method of claim 11,
Guo disclose wherein: the UE is configured with two Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) power control processes for the serving cell, and/or one of the two SRS power control processes is associated with the first TCI state and another of the two SRS power control processes is associated with the second TCI state, and/or when the UE is configured with the serving cell comprising a UL only TRP or a TRP with reduced DL functionality, the UE is configured with the two SRS power control processes for the serving cell. (Page 85 Lines 13- 15, maxNrofSRS-PathlossReferenceRS-r16 INTEGER: =64 – Maximum number of RSs used as pathloss
maxNrofSRS-PathlossReferenceRS-r16 INTEGER: =63 – Maximum number of RSs used as pathloss reference for SRS power control. [0326], If the Positioning Context Reservation Indication IE is included in the UE CONTEXT RELEASE COMMAND message, the gNB-DU shall not release the positioning context including the SRS configuration for the UE. Page 101, Table 8.8.1-2- continued, Lines 49, twoSRS-PUSCH-Repetition Indicates whether the indicated serving cell is configured for PUSCH repetition corresponding to two SRS. [Examiner Note: Citation discloses that UE is configured with two SRS power control processes for serving cell. Only one element is required to meet the claimed limitation. Emphasis Added.])
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over modified Li in view of Liu Bingchao et al. [Liu] WO 2023133879 A1.
Regarding claim 17. Modified Li discloses the method of claim 11,
Modified Li does not disclose wherein: the UE does not report capability of supporting multi-Downlink Control Information (DCI) based multiple TRPs, and/or the UE reports capability of supporting multi-DCI based multiple TRPs.
However, Liu discloses disclose wherein: the UE does not report capability of supporting multi-Downlink Control Information (DCI) based multiple TRPs, and/or the UE reports capability of supporting multi-DCI based multiple TRPs. (Abstract, Methods and apparatuses for multi-DCI multi-TRP based DL transmission in unified TCI framework are disclosed. [Examiner Note: Only one element is required to meet the claimed limitation. Emphasis Added.])
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 as taught by modified Li with the teachings of Liu, since doing so would have improved link reliability and independent scheduling flexibility.
Claim 18 is rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over modified Li in view of Prasad Gautham et al. [Prasad] WO 2024035792 A1.
Regarding claim 18. Modified Li discloses the method of claim 11,
Modified Li does not disclose wherein the UE receives one or more Control Resource Set (CORESET) configurations associated with the serving cell, wherein a parameter for configuring CORESETPoolIndex is absent in the one or more CORESET configurations.
However, Prasad discloses wherein the UE receives one or more Control Resource Set (CORESET) configurations associated with the serving cell, wherein a parameter for configuring CORESETPoolIndex is absent in the one or more CORESET configurations. (¶ [0101], For a downlink BWP in a set of configured downlink BWPs on a primary cell (PCell), a base station may configure a UE with one or more control resource sets (CORESETs) for at least one search space. [0310] , In an example, the one or more configuration parameters may not indicate, for a coreset of the plurality of coresets, a coreset pool index. The higher layer parameter CoresetPoolIndex may be absent in configuration parameter(s) of the coreset.)
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 as taught by modified Li with the teachings of Prasad, since doing so would have simplified device processing, standard single-panel operation, and fallback compatibility with legacy networks
Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over modified Li in view of and MolavianJazi et al. [Jazi ] US 20220191940 A1.
Regarding claim 19. Modified Li discloses the method of claim 11,
Modified Li does not disclose wherein: the UE performs the PRACH transmission via the first TCI state or the second TCI state based on the field, and/or the UE determines the transmit power of the PRACH transmission via using the first TCI state or via the second TCI state based on the field.
However, Jazi disclose wherein: the UE performs the PRACH transmission via the first TCI state or the second TCI state based on the field, and/or the UE determines the transmit power of the PRACH transmission via using the first TCI state or via the second TCI state based on the field. (¶ [0086], Embodiments, described in greater detail below, denoted as E-1-1, describe multiple concurrent RA procedures from multiple UE panels. For example, a UE with multiple antenna panels can initiate and perform two or more concurrent random access procedures. A first UE panel can perform a first RA procedure and a second UE panel can perform a second RA procedure, wherein the first and second RA procedure can include one or more the following steps: a corresponding set of PRACH transmission attempts with corresponding power ramping, a corresponding RAR/Msg-B monitoring, a corresponding Msg3/MsgA-PUSCH transmission, and a corresponding PDCCH monitoring for scheduling Msg4 PDSCH reception for contention resolution. [Examiner Note: Only one element is required to meet the claimed limitation. Emphasis Added.])
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 as taught by modified Li with the teachings of Jazi, since doing so would improves link reliability and supports multi-Transmission and Reception Points (TRP) diversity.
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over modified Li in view of Raghavan et al. [Raghavan] US 20240015737 A1
Regarding claim 20. Modified Li discloses the method of claim 11,
Modified Li does not disclose wherein: if the UE is configured with a joint TCI state mode, both the first TCI state and the second TCI state are or correspond to joint TCI state, and/or the UE determines the second TCI state is applied with UL functionality or is applied to one or more UL channels and/or the UE determines the second TCI state is not applied with DL functionality or is not applied to one or more DL channels, and/or the UE determines the first TCI state is applied with DL and UL functionality or is applied to one or more UL channels and one or more DL channels.
However, Raghavan discloses wherein: if the UE is configured with a joint TCI state mode, both the first TCI state and the second TCI state are or correspond to joint TCI state, and/or the UE determines the second TCI state is applied with UL functionality or is applied to one or more UL channels and/or the UE determines the second TCI state is not applied with DL functionality or is not applied to one or more DL channels, and/or the UE determines the first TCI state is applied with DL and UL functionality or is applied to one or more UL channels and one or more DL channels. (¶ [0002] Some exemplary embodiments are related to a processor of a user equipment (US) configured to perform operations. The operations include receiving a command for a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state change for a joint TCI state including uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) signals, decoding the joint TCI state command and performing measurements necessary to receive and transmit with the target TCI state, the measurements including a pathloss (PL) measurement for an UL channel and switching to receive the DL signals and transmit the UL signals with the target TCI state no later than a time duration for a switching delay.[Examiner Note: UE is configured with Joint TCI state for both uplink and downlink signals. Only one element is required to meet the claimed limitation. Emphasis Added.])
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings as taught by modified Li with the teachings of Raghavan, since doing so would have reduced signaling overhead and optimized multi-TRP reliability.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure (See PTO-892).
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/VNP/Examiner, Art Unit 2414
Patel, Vaidehiben
/EDAN ORGAD/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2414
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