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 .
Claims 1-20 are currently pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 3 June 2026 are in
compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure
statements are being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ),
second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding Claim 15, the claim language recites “The WTRU of claim 11, wherein the resource for early CSI measurement comprises a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) associated with the SSB, the method further comprising: determining the measurement of the resource for early CSI measurement by measuring the SSB and the DMRS. This dependent Claim 15 is indefinite because it mixes statutory classes of an invention (an apparatus and a method) within a single claim. The preamble of Claim 15 recites an apparatus, specifically “The WTRU of claim 11.” However, the body of the claim concludes with a method step, reciting “the method further comprising: determining the measurement of the resource for early CSI measurement by measuring the SSB and the DMRS.”
Therefore, the claim language is indefinite. Furthermore, the phrase “the method” lacks antecedent basis, as no method was introduced in the preamble or the preceding limitations of the claim. Applicant should amend the claim to recite a single statutory class. For example, if Claim 11 is a method claim, Applicant may amend Claim 15 to recite: “The method of claim 11, wherein the resource for early CSI measurement comprises a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) associated with the SSB, the method further comprising: determining the measurement of the resource for early CSI measurement by measuring the SSB and the DMRS.” For broadest reasonable interpretation and search purposes, the claim will be examined as best understood in light of the current claim language and Applicant’s disclosure, as originally filed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1-4, 7-14, 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Muruganathan et al (United States Patent Application Publication 2022/0407576), hereinafter Muruganathan.
Regarding Claim 1, Muruganathan discloses a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU)
(Figure 14 step S1402 and paragraph 0129 and Figure 15 step S1400 and paragraph 0130 – shows an example of a user equipment (1400) that comprises a processor (1402)), comprising a processor configured to:
receive system information (SI) comprising a synchronization signal block (SSB) (Figure 7 step S702 and paragraph 0145 – teaches the UE searches for and finds a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) and may optionally receive a first System Information Block (SIB) (SIB1))
transmit a first physical random access channel (PRACH) message based on the SSB (Figure 3 step S1 and paragraph 0147 – teaches the UE participates in a “4-step random access procedure” and transmits a “RANDOM ACCESS PREAMBLE” (i.e., a PRACH message) to initiate the procedure following the acquisition of the SSB);
receive a random access response (RAR), wherein the RAR comprises one or more parameters for early channel state information (CSI) reporting, wherein the parameters for early CSI reporting indicate a resource for early CSI measurement, wherein early CSI measurement and early CSI reporting are to be performed in association with a random access procedure (Figure 3 step S2, Figure 7 step S706, and paragraphs 0013, 0147 – teaches the UE receives a “RANDOM ACCESS RESPONSE” (i.e., Message 2) from the network. The network triggers an aperiodic CSI report and indicates aperiodic CSI -RS resources for early channel and interference measurement using a parameter, specifically a “CSI request field within the RAR uplink grant of Message 2 during the 4-step random access procedure. Thus, the early CSI measurement and reporting are performed in direct association with the ongoing random access procedure);
determine a quasi-co-location (QCL) association between the resource for early CSI measurement and the SSB (Figure 8 and paragraph 0169 – teaches that following the transmission of the a Random Access Channel (RACH) preamble, the UE receives a Random Access Response (RAR)/Message 2 triggering the aperiodic CSI-RS, and the UE assumes the aperiodic CSI-RS (i.e., the resource for early CSI measurement) triggered by Message 2 is QCL with the SSB acquired during the initial access, meaning the SSB serves as the QCL-Type D source for the CSI-RS);
determine a CSI measurement of the resource for early CSI measurement, based on the determined QCL association (Figure 7 step S708 and paragraph 0169 – teaches the UE performs channel and/or interference measurement using the triggered aperiodic CSI-RS to compute the early CSI. The UE performs this measurement based on the determined QCL association, specifically by using the same received beam used for the SSB to receive the CSI-RS); and
send an early CSI report indicating the CSI measurement (Figure 7 step S710 – teaches the UE sends the computed aperiodic CSI report on Message 3 to the network).
Regarding Claim 2, Muruganathan discloses the WTRU of claim 1,
wherein the RAR further comprises a field that indicates that the WTRU should perform early CSI reporting (Figure 8 and paragraphs 0013, 0147, 0169-0170 – teaches the network triggers the aperiodic CSI report using a specific field, namely the “CSI request” field, which is contained within the Random Access Response (RAR) uplink grant of Message 2).
Regarding Claim 3, Muruganathan discloses the WTRU of claim 2,
wherein the RAR comprises a field that indicates a time or event, after which the WTRU is to perform early CSI reporting (Paragraph 0147 – teaches “the trigger may be triggered by the CSI request field in Message 2. The aperiodic CSI-RS(s) may either be received in the same slot in which a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) for Message 2 is triggered or in a slot after the slot in which the PDCCH for Message 2 is received.” The “CSI request field” in MSg2 can be the “event” after which the WTRU reports the CSI.
Regarding Claim 4, Muruganathan discloses the WTRU of claim 1,
wherein the resource for early CSI measurement comprises a tracking reference signal (TRS), and wherein the processor is configured to determine the measurement of the resource for early CSI measurement by measuring the TRS (Figure 8 and paragraph 0170 – teaches an embodiment where Message 2 is used to trigger an aperiodic Tracking Reference Signal (TRS) in addition to the aperiodic NZP CSI-RS and aperiodic CSI-IM. The specification states that “the UE measures Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread using the aperiodic TRS,” thereby determining a measurement of the early CSI resource by measuring the TRS).
Regarding Claim 7, Muruganathan discloses the WTRU of claim 1,
wherein the processor is configured to send the early CSI report in a message that is associated with a random access procedure (Figure 3 and Figure 8 – teaches that the UE transmits the early CSI report to the network in Message 3 (Msg3). Message 3 is inherently a message associated with the standard 4-step random access procedure.
Regarding Claim 8, Muruganathan discloses the WTRU of claim 7,
wherein the message that is associated with a random access procedure is a random access message 3 (Msg3) (Figure 3 and Figure 8 and paragraph 0172 – teaches that the early CSI report is transmitted by the UE in Message 3 (Msg3), which is a standard random access message).
Regarding Claim 9, Muruganathan discloses the WTRU of claim 1,
wherein the early CSI measurement indicates a rank indicator (RI), a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), or a channel quality indicator (CQI) (Paragraph 0033 – teaches that for CSI feedback, the UE feeds back the downlink CSI that is “typically including a transmission Rank Indicator (RI), a Precoder Matrix Indicator (PMI), and Channel Quality Indicator (CQI)”).
Regarding Claim 10, Muruganathan discloses the WTRU of claim 1,
wherein the QCL association indicates a doppler shift (Paragraphs 0027-0029, 0170 – teaches that the network defines QCL relations between a transmitted source RS and a transmitted target RS. Specifically, the specification defines QCL ‘Type A’, Type B’, and ‘Type C’ all of which indicate a Doppler shift). Furthermore, paragraph 0170 discloses the UE measuring Doppler shift based on the QCL), a delay (Paragraph 0170 – teaches the UE measuring delay), or a spatial relationship (Paragraphs 0027-0029 – teaches QCL ‘Type D' which indicates spatial relationship).
Regarding Claim 11, Muruganathan discloses a method for use by a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) (Figure 14 step S1402 and paragraph 0129 and Figure 15 step S1400 and paragraph 0130 – shows an example of a user equipment (1400) that comprises a processor (1402)), the method comprising:
receiving system information (SI) comprising a synchronization signal block (SSB) (Figure 7 step S702 and paragraph 0145 – teaches the UE searches for and finds a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) and may optionally receive a first System Information Block (SIB) (SIB1))
transmitting a first physical random access channel (PRACH) message based on the SSB (Figure 3 step S1 and paragraph 0147 – teaches the UE participates in a “4-step random access procedure” and transmits a “RANDOM ACCESS PREAMBLE” (i.e., a PRACH message) to initiate the procedure following the acquisition of the SSB);
receiving a random access response (RAR), wherein the RAR comprises one or more parameters for early channel state information (CSI) reporting, wherein the parameters for early CSI reporting indicate a resource for early CSI measurement, wherein early CSI measurement and early CSI reporting are to be performed in association with a random access procedure (Figure 3 step S2, Figure 7 step S706, and paragraphs 0013, 0147 – teaches the UE receives a “RANDOM ACCESS RESPONSE” (i.e., Message 2) from the network. The network triggers an aperiodic CSI report and indicates aperiodic CSI -RS resources for early channel and interference measurement using a parameter, specifically a “CSI request field within the RAR uplink grant of Message 2 during the 4-step random access procedure. Thus, the early CSI measurement and reporting are performed in direct association with the ongoing random access procedure);
determining a quasi-co-location (QCL) association between the resource for early CSI measurement and the SSB (Figure 8 and paragraph 0169 – teaches that following the transmission of the a Random Access Channel (RACH) preamble, the UE receives a Random Access Response (RAR)/Message 2 triggering the aperiodic CSI-RS, and the UE assumes the aperiodic CSI-RS (i.e., the resource for early CSI measurement) triggered by Message 2 is QCL with the SSB acquired during the initial access, meaning the SSB serves as the QCL-Type D source for the CSI-RS);
determining a CSI measurement of the resource for early CSI measurement, based on the determined QCL association (Figure 7 step S708 and paragraph 0169 – teaches the UE performs channel and/or interference measurement using the triggered aperiodic CSI-RS to compute the early CSI. The UE performs this measurement based on the determined QCL association, specifically by using the same received beam used for the SSB to receive the CSI-RS); and
sending an early CSI report indicating the CSI measurement (Figure 7 step S710 – teaches the UE sends the computed aperiodic CSI report on Message 3 to the network).
Regarding Claim 12, Muruganathan discloses the method of claim 11,
wherein the RAR further comprises a field that indicates that the WTRU should perform early CSI reporting (Figure 8 and paragraphs 0013, 0147, 0169-0170 – teaches the network triggers the aperiodic CSI report using a specific field, namely the “CSI request” field, which is contained within the Random Access Response (RAR) uplink grant of Message 2).
Regarding Claim 13, Muruganathan discloses the method of claim 12,
wherein the RAR comprises a field that indicates a time or event, after which the WTRU is to perform early CSI reporting (Paragraph 0147 – teaches “the trigger may be triggered by the CSI request field in Message 2. The aperiodic CSI-RS(s) may either be received in the same slot in which a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) for Message 2 is triggered or in a slot after the slot in which the PDCCH for Message 2 is received.” The “CSI request field” in MSg2 can be the “event” after which the WTRU reports the CSI.
Regarding Claim 14, Muruganathan discloses the method of claim 11,
wherein the resource for early CSI measurement comprises a tracking reference signal (TRS), the method further comprising: determining a measurement of the resource for early CSI measurement by measuring the TRS (Figure 8 and paragraph 0170 – teaches an embodiment where Message 2 is used to trigger an aperiodic Tracking Reference Signal (TRS) in addition to the aperiodic NZP CSI-RS and aperiodic CSI-IM. The specification states that “the UE measures Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread using the aperiodic TRS,” thereby determining a measurement of the early CSI resource by measuring the TRS).
Regarding Claim 17, Muruganathan discloses the method of claim 11,
the method further comprising sending the early CSI report in a message that is associated with a random access procedure (Figure 3 and Figure 8 – teaches that the UE transmits the early CSI report to the network in Message 3 (Msg3). Message 3 is inherently a message associated with the standard 4-step random access procedure.
Regarding Claim 18, Muruganathan discloses the method of claim 17,
wherein the message that is associated with a random access procedure is a random access message 3 (Msg3) (Figure 3 and Figure 8 and paragraph 0172 – teaches that the early CSI report is transmitted by the UE in Message 3 (Msg3), which is a standard random access message).
Regarding Claim 19, Muruganathan discloses the method of claim 11,
wherein the early CSI measurement indicates a rank indicator (RI), a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), or a channel quality indicator (CQI) (Paragraph 0033 – teaches that for CSI feedback, the UE feeds back the downlink CSI that is “typically including a transmission Rank Indicator (RI), a Precoder Matrix Indicator (PMI), and Channel Quality Indicator (CQI)”).
Regarding Claim 20, Muruganathan discloses the method of claim 11,
wherein the QCL association indicates a doppler shift (Paragraphs 0027-0029, 0170 – teaches that the network defines QCL relations between a transmitted source RS and a transmitted target RS. Specifically, the specification defines QCL ‘Type A’, Type B’, and ‘Type C’ all of which indicate a Doppler shift). Furthermore, paragraph 0170 discloses the UE measuring Doppler shift based on the QCL), a delay (Paragraph 0170 – teaches the UE measuring delay), or a spatial relationship (Paragraphs 0027-0029 – teaches QCL ‘Type D' which indicates spatial relationship).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 5-6 and 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over
Muruganathan et al (United States Patent Application Publication 2022/0407576), hereinafter
Muruganathan in view of 3GPP (3GPP TS 38.215), hereinafter 3GPP215.
Regarding Claim 5, Muruganathan discloses the WTRU of claim 1,
wherein the resource for early CSI measurement comprises a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) associated with the SSB (Paragraphs 0016, 0020 of Muruganathan – teaches using the SSB as a resource for early CSI measurement and that the SSB comprises a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) and that this PBCH contains associated Demodulation Reference Signals (DMRS)).
Muruganathan does not detail the sub-components of the SSB and DMRS measured by the UE.
However, 3GPP215 teaches:
wherein the processor is configured to determine the measurement of the resource for early CSI measurement by measuring the SSB and the DMRS (Section 5.1.1 of 3GPP215 – teaches that when determining measurements of an SSB resource (i.e., a SS-RSRP), the UE measures the power contributions of the PBCH DMRS associated with the SSB).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Muruganathan to configure the UE to measure the PBCH DMRS alongside the SSB when performing the early CSI measurement, as taught by 3GPP215, in order to properly control the UE/NG-RAN measurements as detailed in Section 4 of 3GPP215.
Furthermore, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to implement this configuration to achieve the predictable and well-known benefits of minimizing power consumption and reducing signaling overhead during DMRS measurement.
Regarding Claim 6, Muruganathan discloses the WTRU of claim 1,
wherein the processor is configured to: determine a CSI measurement of the resource for early CSI measurement by performing a layer 1 (L1) reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement (Paragraph 0169 of Muruganathan – teaches that the UE determines a CSI measurement using early triggered resources such as the SSB or CSI-RS).
Muruganathan does not detail that this measurement is determined by performing a layer 1 (L1) reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement.
However, 3GPP215 teaches:
by performing a layer 1 (L1) reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement (Section 5.1.1 of 3GPP215 – details the standardized physical layer measurements for these resources, teaching that the SS reference signal received power (SS-RSRP) measurement is used for L1-RSRP determination. Regarding the L1 signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) half of the limitation (Note: this is claimed in the alternative and is therefore not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the processor to determine the early CSI measurement by performing an L1-RSRP measurement, as taught by 3GPP215, to evaluate and report downlink channel state conditions.
Furthermore, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to implement this configuration in order to properly control the UE/NG-RAN measurements, minimize power consumption, and reduce overhead.
Regarding Claim 15, Muruganathan discloses the WTRU of claim 11,
wherein the resource for early CSI measurement comprises a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) associated with the SSB (Paragraphs 0016, 0020 of Muruganathan – teaches using the SSB as a resource for early CSI measurement and that the SSB comprises a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) and that this PBCH contains associated Demodulation Reference Signals (DMRS)).
Muruganathan does not detail the sub-components of the SSB and DMRS measured by the UE.
However, 3GPP215 teaches:
the method further comprising: determining the measurement of the resource for early CSI measurement by measuring the SSB and the DMRS (Section 5.1.1 of 3GPP215 – teaches that when determining measurements of an SSB resource (i.e., a SS-RSRP), the UE measures the power contributions of the PBCH DMRS associated with the SSB).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Muruganathan to configure the UE to measure the PBCH DMRS alongside the SSB when performing the early CSI measurement, as taught by 3GPP215, in order to properly control the UE/NG-RAN measurements as detailed in Section 4 of 3GPP215.
Furthermore, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to implement this configuration to achieve the predictable and well-known benefits of minimizing power consumption and reducing signaling overhead during DMRS measurement.
Regarding Claim 16, Muruganathan discloses the method of claim 11,
further comprising: determining a CSI measurement of the resource for early CSI measurement, by performing a layer 1 (L1) reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement or a L1 signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) (Paragraph 0169 of Muruganathan – teaches that the UE determines a CSI measurement using early triggered resources such as the SSB or CSI-RS).
Muruganathan does not detail that this measurement is determined by performing a layer 1 (L1) reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement.
However, 3GPP215 teaches:
by performing a layer 1 (L1) reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement (Section 5.1.1 of 3GPP215 – details the standardized physical layer measurements for these resources, teaching that the SS reference signal received power (SS-RSRP) measurement is used for L1-RSRP determination. Regarding the L1 signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) half of the limitation (Note: this is claimed in the alternative and is therefore not required as part of the broadest reasonable interpretation).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to configure the processor to determine the early CSI measurement by performing an L1-RSRP measurement, as taught by 3GPP215, to evaluate and report downlink channel state conditions.
Furthermore, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to implement this configuration in order to properly control the UE/NG-RAN measurements, minimize power consumption, and reduce overhead.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s
disclosure:
Ibrahim et al (United States Patent Application Publication 2024/0388401) discloses techniques to enable a user equipment (UE) to perform channel state information (CSI) reporting based on full-duplex reference signals, half-duplex reference signals, or both (paragraph 0005).
Harrison et al (World Intellectual Property Organization 2021/228249) discloses the method that involves performing the measurement of one or more reference signals transmitted by a base station. The method enables the network to provide a more efficient and effective way to support early CSI requests and reports (paragraph 0057).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DENNIS ALBERT WESTBROOKS II whose telephone number is (571)270-7711. The examiner can normally be reached 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m..
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Nicholas Jensen can be reached at 571-270-7711. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DENNIS ALBERT WESTBROOKS II/Examiner, Art Unit 2472
/ANDREW W CHRISS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2472
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