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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDSs) submitted on 10/03/2025, 06/09/2025, and 10/23/2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities: "to to" should be "to". Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Muruganathan et al., U.S. patent Application Publication No. 2025/0030512 (hereinafter Muruganathan).
Regarding Claim 1, Muruganathan teaches a signal transmitting apparatus (“a method performed by a User Equipment (UE) for transmitting Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)” – See [¶0067], the UE configured as shown in Fig. 9 with processing circuitry 902, receiver 920 and transmitter 918), comprising:
a receiver configured to receive transmission configuration indication (TCI) state indication information (“receiving a configuration of at least one unified Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state” – See [¶0067]) including information on a first TCI state and information on a second TCI state (“the received configuration comprises at least two unified TCI states” – See [¶0069]); and
receive downlink control information (e.g., “FIG. 3 illustrates one example of a Downlink Control Information (DCI) indication of a TCI state” – See [¶0080]);
processor circuitry configured to [[to]] determine a transmission scheme from a plurality of transmission schemes (“The processing circuitry 902 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory 910” – See [¶0134] and Fig. 9, e.g., when “the received configuration for the at least one unified TCI state indicates UL transmission to two TRPs by applying two Joint/UL TCI states” – See [¶0071], determine one transmission scheme if “the indication explicitly indicates mTRP operation using either STxMP or repetition” – See [¶0072]; see also [¶0102] showing multiple schemes codepoint operation)
including a first scheme in which first uplink transmission based on the first TCI state and second uplink transmission based on the second TCI state are simultaneously performed (e.g., “the configured grant comprises a single CG PUSCH configuration which is associated with a first and a second common beam using STxMP” – See [¶0073] or select based on “a field in UL DCI where one codepoint indicates mTRP operation using repetition, and one codepoint indicates mTRP operation using STxMP” – See [¶0076]), and
a transmitter configured to perform uplink transmission according to the transmission scheme (“transmitting PUSCH configured grant to multiple-TRPs using the unified TCI state framework” – See [¶0095], e.g., using a “ConfiguredGrantConfig IE as specified in TS 38.331” – See [¶0097]).
Therefore, Claim 1 is anticipated by Muruganathan.
Regarding Claim 2, dependent from Claim 1, Muruganathan further teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the receiver is further configured to receive the downlink control information within an effect time of the first TCI state and the second TCI state (“multiple PUCCH/PUSCH transmission each towards a different TRP may be scheduled by
a single DCI” whereby “multiple spatial relations (i.e., spatial beams) may be activated for a PUCCH resource and the PUCCH resource may be signaled in a DCI scheduling a PDSCH,” e.g., as “shown in FIG. 6, where a PDSCH is scheduled by a DCI and the corresponding HARQ A/N is sent in a PUCCH which is repeated twice in time, one towards TRP #1 and the other
towards TRP #2” – See [¶0060]).
Therefore, Claim 2 is anticipated by Muruganathan.
Regarding Claim 3, dependent from Claim 1, Muruganathan further teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the downlink control information indicates or activates the uplink transmission, and the uplink transmission comprises:
physical uplink shared channel transmission based on a dynamic grant; or
physical uplink shared channel transmission based on a Type 2 configuration grant
(“FIG. 7, where two PUSCH repetitions for a same TB are scheduled by a single DCI, each PUSCH occasion is transmitted towards a different TRP” – See [¶0061]; or
physical uplink control channel transmission (“FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a single DCI triggered PUCCH repetitions each towards a different TRP” – See [¶0060]; or
semi-persistent sounding reference signal transmission; or
aperiodic sounding reference signal transmission.
Therefore, Claim 3 is anticipated by Muruganathan.
Regarding Claim 4, dependent from Claim 1, Muruganathan further teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first uplink transmission uses a first set of power control parameters, and the second uplink transmission uses a second set of power control parameters (“For PUSCH transmission to multiple TRPs, a TRP may be represent by a unified TCI state or a UL TCI state” and “a set of power control parameters may be configured for each TRP,” i.e., each TCI state – See [¶0105]); and
the transmitter simultaneously performs, when the processor circuitry determines the first scheme as the transmission scheme, the first uplink transmission and the second uplink transmission respectively to a first transmission reception point and a second transmission reception point by using two panels (“When two joint TCI states or UL TCI states are updated via a DCI, the joint TCI states or UL TCI states are the applied Joint TCI states or UL TCI states” and “the UE shall perform . . . CG based mTRP PUSCH simultaneous transmission over multiple panels (STxMP) in case the UE is indicated with mTRP UL transmission (for example if the UE is configured with two applied Joint/UL TCI states)” – See [¶0099], e.g., “transmit PUSCH simultaneously with two panels . . . when the UE is configured/indicated with [two] UL TCI states or joint TCI states for CG PUSCH transmission” – See [¶0109]).
Therefore, Claim 4 is anticipated by Muruganathan.
Regarding Claim 5, dependent from Claim 1, Muruganathan further teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first uplink transmission and the second uplink transmission using a first set of power control parameters (“a set of power control parameters may be configured as part of each unified TCI state or UL TCI state [w]hen the multiple unified TCI states or UL TCI states are configured for each CG PUSCH” and “the set of power control parameters configured in the multiple unified TCI states or UL TCI states will be used for CG PUSCH transmission” – See [¶0106]); and
the transmitter simultaneously performs, when the processor circuitry determines the first scheme as the transmission scheme (“If the optional parameter 'mTRP-transmission- Type' is configured (for instance, the parameter is set to 'STxMP'), then the UE applies mTRP STxMP PUSCH transmission when configured for mTRP UL transmission for the configured grant” – See [¶0100]), the first uplink transmission and the second uplink transmission to a first transmission reception point by using two panels (“To transmit PUSCH simultaneously with two panels . . . the UE is configured/indicated with multiple UL TCI states or joint TCI states for CG PUSCH transmission, the transmit spatial filters for the CG PUSCH transmission are provided by the UL TCI states or the joint TCI states” – See [¶0109]).
Therefore, Claim 5 is anticipated by Muruganathan.
Regarding Claim 6, dependent from Claim 1, Muruganathan further teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of transmission schemes includes a second scheme and a third scheme the second scheme being a scheme in which first uplink transmission based on the first TCI state is performed, the third scheme being a scheme in which second uplink transmission based on the second TCI state is performed (“In order to quickly switch between sTRP (single-TRP) operation (which typically is useful for eMBB applications) and mTRP operation (which typically is useful for URLLC applications), it was agreed to support dynamic switching between these two modes of operation” – See [¶0050] whereby a “new field in the DCI for dynamic switching support” as shown in the table at page 3 reproduced below wherein codepoints ‘00’ indicates single transmission s-TRP to TRP1, e.g. using first TCI when “a first spatial relation corresponding to the first TRP which is used to transmit one or more PUSCH transmission occasions ( or PUSCH repetitions)”, and ‘01’ indicates another single transmission s-TRP to TRP2, e.g. using second TCI when “a second spatial relation corresponding to the second TRP which is used to transmit one or more PUSCH transmission occasions (or PUSCH repetitions) corresponding to the second TRP” and the rest codepoints indicate the first transmission scheme which is for mTRPs – See [¶0057]
PNG
media_image1.png
200
400
media_image1.png
Greyscale
).
Therefore, Claim 6 is anticipated by Muruganathan.
Regarding Claim 7, dependent from Claim 6, further teaches the apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the transmitter performs, when the processor circuitry determines the second scheme as the transmission scheme, the first uplink transmission to a first transmission reception point by using a panel (“For PUSCH transmission, the UE Tx antennas or panels are defined by SRS resources” – See [¶0109] and “The SRS resources in turm provide the spatial relations corresponding to the two TRPs which are used to derive the spatial transmit filter(s) corresponding to the two TRPs” – See [¶0057] “[t]o transmit PUSCH simultaneously with two panels,” i.e., one panel per TRP– See [¶0109]; furthermore, as shown in the table reproduced above, when receiving the codepoint ‘00’ the UE transmitter perform s-TRP to TRP1 using 1st SRS resource set, i.e., using the first TCI, whereby “the UE can be configured through RRC signaling with up to 128 Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) states. The TCI state information element is shown in below (Extracted from 3GPP TS 38.331)” showing the dependency between TCI State and RSs – See [¶0008]; see also 3GPP TS 38.331 v17.0.0 (2022-03), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol specification (Release 17)” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.331) specifying, at page 853-854 the TCI-State Information Element (IE) that associates reference signals with a corresponding quasi-colocation (QCL) types, indicating the UL-TCIState-r17 identified with a srs-r17 PUCCH-SRS parameter).
Therefore, Claim 7 is anticipated by Muruganathan.
Regarding Claim 8, dependent from Claim 6, Muruganathan further teaches the apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the transmitter performs, when the processor circuitry determines the third scheme as the transmission scheme, the second uplink transmission to a second transmission reception point by using a panel (the same logic as explained in Regarding Claim 7 supra applies only using now receiving the codepoint ‘01’ the UE transmitter perform s-TRP to TRP2 using 2nd SRS resource set).
Therefore, Claim 8 is anticipated by Muruganathan.
Regarding Claim 9, dependent from Claim 1, Muruganathan further teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of transmission scheme includes a fourth scheme and a fifth scheme,
the fourth scheme being a scheme in which first uplink transmission based on the first TCI state and second uplink transmission based on the second TCI state after the first uplink transmission are performed, in time division multiplexing (e.g., following the table reproduced supra, codepoint ‘10’ corresponds to “m-TRP mode with (TRP1, TRP2 order) 1st SRI/TPMI field: 1st SRS resource set 2nd SRI/TPMI field: 2nd SRS” – See [¶0056] and Figs. 6-7 showing time division PUCCH/PUSCH resource allocations for the two transmissions)
the fifth scheme being a scheme in which first uplink transmission based on the first TCI state and second uplink transmission based on the second TCI state before the first uplink transmission are performed, in time division multiplexing (e.g., following the table reproduced supra, codepoint ‘11’ corresponds to “m-TRP mode with m-TRP mode with (TRP2, TRP2 order)” – See [¶0056] and Figs. 6-7 showing time division PUCCH/PUSCH resource allocations for the two transmissions).
Therefore, Claim 9 is anticipated by Muruganathan.
Regarding Claim 10, dependent from Claim 9, Muruganathan further teaches the apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the transmitter is further configured to:
perform, when the processor circuitry determines the fourth scheme as the transmission scheme, the first uplink transmission to a first transmission reception point by using a panel, and performs the second uplink transmission to a second transmission reception point by using a panel after performing the first uplink transmission (e.g., “FIG. 6, where a PDSCH is scheduled by a DCI and the corresponding HARQ A/N is sent in a PUCCH which is repeated twice in time, one towards TRP #1 and the other towards TRP #2. Each TRP is associated with a PUCCH spatial relation” – See [¶0060] and “the new field in the DCI for dynamic switching support” indicates codepoint ‘10’– See [¶0055]), and
perform, when the processor circuitry determines the fifth scheme as the transmission scheme, the first uplink transmission to a first transmission reception point by using a panel, and performs the second uplink transmission to a second transmission reception point by using a panel before performing the first uplink transmission (same as above only “the new field in the DCI for dynamic switching support” indicates codepoint ‘11’– See [¶0055]).
Therefore, Claim 10 is anticipated by Muruganathan.
Regarding Claim 11, dependent from Claim 1, Muruganathan further teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first uplink transmission is based on a first sounding reference signal resource set, and the second uplink transmission is based on a second sounding reference signal resource set (“two SRI (SRS resource indicator) fields in DCI are used to indicate the SRS resources corresponding to the two TRPs. The SRS resources in tum provide the spatial relations corresponding to the two TRPs which are used to derive the spatial transmit filter(s) corresponding to the two TRPs” – See [¶0057]; see also 3GPP TS 38.331 specifying, at page 853-854 the TCI-State IE, indicating the UL-TCIState-r17 identified with a srs-r17 PUCCH-SRS parameter).
Therefore, Claim 11 is anticipated by Muruganathan.
Regarding Claim 12, dependent from Claim 1, further teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein for a multi-transmission reception point based on single downlink control information, the transmitter performs the uplink transmission according to the downlink control information (for “a UE with two Joint/UL TCI states applied and where the UE is configured with a type 2 CG, a new (or old re-purposed) bitfield in a UL DCI is used to indicate whether the UE shall perform CG based mTRP PUSCH repetition or CG based mTRP PUSCH STxMP” and/or “the new bitfield introduced for UL DCI in Rel-17 to indicate sTRP or mTRP PUSCH repetition is extended or re-purposed such that at least one codepoint in this bitfield is used to indicate CG based m TRP PUSCH STxMP” – See [0102] and the table at page 7 reproduced below:
PNG
media_image2.png
200
400
media_image2.png
Greyscale
). Therefore, Claim 12 is anticipated by Muruganathan.
Regarding Claim 13, dependent from Claim 1, further teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein for a multi-transmission reception point based on multi-downlink control information, the transmitter performs the uplink transmission according to the downlink control information (“for mDCI based mTRP operation for the unified TCI state framework, it might be so that a coresetPoolIndex is associated with a common beam index (or associated with an applied Joint/UL TCI state),” so that the UE can read the PDCCH with the DCI, and “there might be an association between a coresetPoolIndex and a CG” – See [¶0118] and the DCI codepoint indicates, e.g., ‘100’ in the table reproduced above).
Therefore, Claim 13 is anticipated by Muruganathan.
Regarding Claim 14, dependent from Claim 6, further teaches the apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the receiver is further configured to receive first radio resource control signaling (“the indication of mTRP operation using either repetition or STxMP is conveyed through one of the group consisting of: RRC signaling; and DCI” – See [¶0072]e.g., “Information Element (IE) ConfiguredGrantConfig in RRC is used to configure PUSCH transmission without dynamic grant according to CG type1 or CG type2” – See [¶0065]; see also 3GPP TS 38.331, specifying at page 512-20, the ConfiguredGrantConfig IE “used to configure uplink transmission without dynamic grant according to two possible schemes. The actual uplink grant may either be configured via RRC (type1) or provided via the PDCCH (addressed to CS-RNTI) (type2). Multiple Configured Grant configurations may be configured in one BWP of a serving cell”), and
the transmission scheme is indicated by the downlink control information for physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission (when “UE with two Joint/UL TCI states applied and where the UE is configured with a type 2 CG . . . the new bitfield introduced for UL DCI in Rel-17 to indicate sTRP or mTRP PUSCH repetition is extended or re-purposed such that at least one codepoint in this bitfield is used to indicate CG based m TRP PUSCH STxMP” as illustrated in the table reproduced supra).
Therefore, Claim 14 is anticipated by Muruganathan.
Regarding Claim 15, dependent from Claim 9, further teaches the apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the receiver is further configured to receive second radio resource control signaling (a first “RRC is used to configure a pool of TCI states” with “one or more of the RRC configured TCI states are activated via MAC-CE signaling” – See [¶0035]; then a new CG PUSCH is configured by RRC ConfiguredGranConfig, wherein “a new bitfield is introduced in ConfiguredGranConfig IE as specified in TS 38.331, where the new bitfield indicates whether the UE shall perform CG based mTRP PUSCH repetition or CG based mTRP PUSCH simultaneous transmission over multiple panels (STxMP) in case the UE is indicated with mTRP UL transmission (for example if the UE is configured with two applied Joint/UL TCI states),” i.e., the TCI states configured by the first RRC for the first TRP and the second TRP – See [¶0099]), and
the transmission scheme is indicated by the downlink control information for physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) transmission (then a DCI is transmitted wherein “the new bitfield introduced for UL DCI in Rel-17 to indicate sTRP or mTRP PUSCH repetition is extended or re-purposed” and indicates codepoint ‘010’ or ‘011’ in the table reproduced supra, i.e., transmission using the fourth or the fifth scheme).
Therefore, Claim 15 is anticipated by Muruganathan.
Regarding Claim 16, dependent from Claim 1, further teaches the apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource is configured by radio resource control signaling to use one of multiple uplink transmission schemes (“multiple spatial relations (i.e., spatial beams) may be activated for a PUCCH resource” – See [¶0060] e.g., “one or more of the RRC configured TCI states are activated via MAC-CE signaling” – See [¶0035]), and
when the downlink control information indicates a physical uplink control channel resource, the transmitter transmits a physical uplink control channel by using a configured uplink transmission scheme (“multiple PUCCH/PUSCH transmissions each towards a different TRP may be scheduled by a single DCI . . . and the PUCCH resource may be signaled in a DCI scheduling a PDSCH” – See [¶0060] and Fig. 6 showing mTRP transmission with repetition; furthermore, “for type 1 CG PUSCH, a new bitfield is introduced in ConfiguredGranConfig IE as specified in TS 38.331, where the new bitfield indicates whether the UE shall perform CG based mTRP PUSCH repetition or CG based mTRP PUSCH simultaneous transmission over multiple panels (STxMP) in case the UE is indicated with mTRP UL transmission (for example if the UE is configured with two applied Joint/UL TCI states)” – See [¶0099]).
Therefore, Claim 16 is anticipated by Muruganathan.
Regarding Claim 17, Muruganathan teaches a signal receiving apparatus (“The network node 1000 includes processing circuitry 1002, memory 1004, a communication interface 1006, and a power source 1008” – See [¶0149] whereby “[t]he communication interface 1006 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and/or data between a network node, access network, and/or UE” – See [¶0154] “to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node 1000” – See [¶0157]), comprising:
a transmitter configured to transmit to a terminal equipment transmission configuration indication (TCI) state indication information including information on a first TCI state and information on a second TCI state; (“performed by a network node . . .: a. transmitting configuration of unified TCI state framework, indicating mTRP operation; b. transmitting indication of a configured grant, indicating either mTRP operation using repetition or STxMP” – See [¶0195 ]); and transmit to the terminal equipment downlink control information (“wherein the indication of mTRP operation using either repetition or STxMP is conveyed through DCI” – See [¶0200]) and
a receiver configured to receive uplink transmission from the terminal equipment according to a transmission scheme which is determined by the terminal equipment from a plurality of transmission schemes (“receiving PUSCH configured grant” from the UE “transmitting PUSCH according to the configuration of unified TCI state and/or the configuration of configured grant” – See [¶0195]),
the plurality of transmission schemes including a first scheme in which first uplink transmission based on the first TCI state and second uplink transmission based on the second TCI state are simultaneously performed (“wherein the indication explicitly indicates mTRP operation using . . . STxMP” – See [¶0198]).
Therefore, Claim 17 is anticipated by Muruganathan.
Regarding Claim 18, dependent from Claim 17, Muruganathan further teaches the apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the plurality of transmission schemes includes a second scheme, a third scheme, a fourth scheme, and a fifth scheme (e.g., when “the explicit indication . . . is indicated in a bitfield in UL DCI where one codepoint indicates mTRP operation using repetition, and one codepoint indicates mTRP operation using STxMP” – See [¶0204], “the new bitfield introduced for UL DCI in Rel-17 to indicate sTRP or mTRP PUSCH repetition is extended or re-purposed” – See [¶0102] to indicate the five transmission schemes with codepoints ‘000’-‘100’ in the table reproduced supra)
the second scheme being a scheme in which first uplink transmission based on the first TCI state is performed (e.g., codepoint ‘000’),
the third scheme being a scheme in which second uplink transmission based on the second TCI state is performed (e.g., codepoint ‘001’),
the fourth scheme being a scheme in which first uplink transmission based on the first TCI state and second uplink transmission based on the second TCI state after the first uplink transmission are performed, in time division multiplexing (e.g., codepoint ‘010’), and
the fifth scheme being a scheme in which first uplink transmission based on the first TCI state and second uplink transmission based on the second TCI state before the first uplink transmission are performed, in time division multiplexing (e.g., codepoint ‘011’).
Therefore, Claim 18 is anticipated by Muruganathan.
Regarding Claim 19, dependent from Claim 17, Muruganathan further teaches the apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the transmission scheme is indicated by the downlink control information (“the new bitfield introduced for UL DCI in Rel-17 to indicate sTRP or mTRP PUSCH repetition is extended or re-purposed” – See [¶0102] to indicate the five transmission schemes with codepoints ‘000’-‘100’ in the table reproduced supra).
Therefore, Claim 19 is anticipated by Muruganathan.
Regarding Claim 20, Muruganathan teaches in Fig. 5 a communication system comprising: a network device configured to transmit transmission configuration indication (TCI) state indication information including information on a first TCI state and information on a second TCI state, and transmit downlink control information (as explained in Regarding Claim 17 supra); and
a terminal equipment (“A user equipment for transmitting PUSCH configured grant to multiple-TRPs, comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments” – See [¶0206]) configured to:
receive the TCI state indication information (“a. receiving configuration of unified TCI state framework, indicating mTRP operation; b. receiving indication of a configured grant, indicating either m TRP operation using repetition or STxMP” – See [¶0184]),
receive the downlink control information (“wherein the indication of mTRP operation using either repetition or STxMP is conveyed through DCI” – See [¶0189]),
determine a transmission scheme from a plurality of transmission schemes including a first scheme in which first uplink transmission based on the first TCI state and second uplink transmission based on the second TCI state are simultaneously performed (“in a bitfield in UL DCI [] one codepoint indicates mTRP operation using repetition, and one codepoint indicates mTRP operation using STxMP” – See [¶0193] and the plurality of codepoints indicate a plurality of transmission schemes as shown in the table reproduced supra), and
perform uplink transmission according to the transmission scheme (“transmitting PUSCH configured grant to multiple-TRPs” – See [¶0184]).
Therefore, Claim 20 is anticipated by Muruganathan.
In sum, Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §102(a)(2) as anticipated by Muruganathan.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Muruganathan et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2026/0100789 discloses systems and methods to support Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) multi-Transmission/Reception Point (TRP) scheduling whereby two TCI states are indicated without Unified TCI Framework;
NILSSON et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024/0396692 discloses framework for simultaneous multi-panel uplink transmission;
Cao et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0007658 discloses a method of receiving first indication information sent by a first TRP of multiple transmission reception points TRPs, where the first indication information is used to indicate or update at least one unified transmission configuration indication TCI state;
Go et al, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0294559, discloses method performed by a user equipment (UE) receiving configuration information related to a plurality of control resource sets (CORESETs) from a base station, receiving downlink control information (DCI) from the base station, transmitting a random access preamble to the base station, and receiving a random access response (RAR) from the base station;
Park et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0294575 discloses separate acknowledgement may be sent for each one of multiple downlink control information (DCI) transmissions with unified TCI;
Park et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0292335 discloses joint TCI states, mDCI and mTRP transmissions;
Park et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0240134 discloses Unified TCI for mTRP and simultaneous BFR;
Yang et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0015965 discloses determining, by the terminal, a unified TCI state of a channel or a reference signal in a component carrier CC group based on the unified TCI state ID;
Yang et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0015868 discloses the unified TCI framework for BFR;
Zhu et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0224995 discloses beam management and failure recovery under unified TCI framework;
ZHOU et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0291525 discloses mDCI and activation of Joint DL/UL TCI states;
ZHOU et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0300851 discloses joint downlink and uplink TCI state for a communication channel or a reference signal;
Yuan et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2025/0106869 discloses improved methods of configuring a user equipment (UE) with a TCI state, such as a unified TCI state, while communicating in a multiple transmission reception point (mTRP) environment;
Matsumura et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0328539 discloses method of appropriately determining information relating to QCL;
3GPP TS 38.321 V17.0.0 (2022-03), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification (Release 17)”;
3GPP TS 38.213 V17.0.0 (2022-03), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical layer procedures for control (Release 17)”;
3GPP TS 38.214 V17.0.0 (2022-03), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical layer procedures for data (Release 17)”;
3GPP TS 38.331 v17.0.0 (2022-03), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol specification (Release 17).”
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUCIA GHEORGHE GRADINARIU whose telephone number is (571)272-1377. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9:00am - 5:00pm EST.
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, Joseph AVELLINO can be reached at (571)272-3905. 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.
/L.G.G./ Examiner, Art Unit 2478
/JOSEPH E AVELLINO/ Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2478
Prosecution Insights