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 .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) 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. Claims 1,3,8-10,14,16 and 20 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over CAO et al WO2020006733A1 in view of Hahn US 20190239264 A1.
Claims 2,7-8,11-13,15 and 19 are Cancelled.
Regarding claim 1, CAO et al WO2020006733A1 ( priority date 05 July 2018 ) discloses a scheduling method [0090] FIG. 7 is a flowchart 700 of a method of wireless communication at a first UE), comprising: determining, by a first terminal apparatus, that the first terminal apparatus is a scheduling terminal apparatus of at least one second terminal apparatus, wherein the scheduling terminal apparatus schedules the at least one second terminal apparatus [0091]-[0092], the first UE may transmit (e.g., broadcast or multicast) a first volunteer message indicating an intention to be a head of the group(i.e. a scheduling terminal apparatus) for other neighboring UEs (i.e. second terminal apparatus), the UE 410 may determine (at 422) whether to become the head of the group based on a number of ACKs received in response to the first volunteer message 412, the first UE monitors for a response to the first volunteer message from other neighboring UEs for a predetermined time period, e.g., a first time period, where [0098] the first UE determines to become the head of the group, e.g., based on the criteria that the number of ACKs in response to the first volunteer message is greater than or equal to the threshold number; wherein [0082] the UE receives a greater number of ACKs in response to its volunteer message , the UE declares itself the head of the group; sending, by the first terminal apparatus, scheduling information to the at least one second terminal apparatus [0086] a UE (e.g., UE 410 operating as the group head) transmits a control message type-2 620 includes, for example, one or more of the following information: a group identifier (ID) of a group with which the head is associated, transmission resources for the second type of data message transmitted by the group head (e.g., data message type-2 640), transmission parameters for the second type of data message, and a HARQ resource indicator, For example, the indicated transmission resources for the second type of data message may comprise one or more of time, frequency and spatial resources, and the indicated transmission parameters may comprise one or more of an MCS, and a retransmission indicator. wherein the determining, by a first terminal apparatus, that the first terminal apparatus is a scheduling terminal apparatus of at least one second terminal apparatus comprises: sending, by the first terminal apparatus, a pilot signal to another terminal apparatus, wherein the pilot signal is used to indicate that the first terminal apparatus is a candidate terminal apparatus of the scheduling terminal apparatus , and determining, by the first terminal apparatus based on received feedback information for the pilot signal, the first terminal apparatus is the scheduling terminal apparatus of the at least one second terminal apparatus , wherein the feedback information is used to indicate that the first terminal apparatus can schedule the at least one second terminal apparatus [0091]-[0092], the first UE may transmit (e.g., broadcast or multicast) a first volunteer message(i.e., pilot signal ) indicating an intention to be a head of the group(i.e. a scheduling terminal apparatus) for other neighboring UEs (i.e. second terminal apparatus), the UE 410 may determine whether to become the head of the group based on a number of ACKs (i.e., feedback information) received in response to the first volunteer message 412, the first UE monitors for a response to the first volunteer message from other neighboring UEs for a predetermined time period, e.g., a first time period, where [0098] the first UE determines to become the head of the group, e.g., based on the criteria that the number of ACKs in response to the first volunteer message is greater than or equal to the threshold number; wherein [0082] the UE receives a greater number of ACKs in response to its volunteer message , the UE declares itself the head of the group; and wherein the first terminal apparatus is one of a plurality of candidate terminal apparatuses of the scheduling terminal apparatus; and determining, by the first terminal apparatus, that the first terminal apparatus is the scheduling terminal apparatus based on a quantity of pieces of feedback information comprises: receiving, by the first terminal apparatus, a quantity of pieces of feedback information received by another candidate terminal apparatus in the plurality of candidate terminal apparatuses; and when the quantity of pieces of feedback information received by the first terminal apparatus is greater than the quantity of pieces of feedback information received by the another candidate terminal apparatus, the first terminal apparatus is the scheduling terminal apparatus [0069]-[0072] UEs 406 and 410 may be both interested in becoming the head and transmit their respective volunteer messages 414 and 412, respectively. UE 410 transmitted the first volunteer message 412, where the UE 410 monitors for a response to the first volunteer message 412 from other neighboring UEs, UE 406 may have transmitted a second volunteer message 414 (with the intention of forming a group and becoming a head) that may be heard by the UEs 402, 404, 408, and 410;When monitoring for responses, UE 410 and UE 406 may both hear the ACKs, 416, 418, and 420, and may determine how many ACKs each of the UEs 410 and 406 received in response to its own volunteer message transmission (412 and 414). Wherein the UE (406 or 410) that may receive the most ACKs in response to its transmitted volunteer message may form the group and become the head. Thus, UE 410 and UE 406 may each individually determine whether to form the group and become the head based on the number of ACKs received in response to its own volunteer message as compared to the number of ACKs intended for the other candidate. For example, an indication in the ACKs 416, 418, and 420, UE 406 and UE 410 may each determine (e.g., at 424 and 422 respectively) that only one ACK (ACK 420) is received in response to the second volunteer message 414 transmitted by UE 406, whereas two ACKs (ACK 416 and 418) are received in response to the first volunteer message transmitted by UE 410. Accordingly, in this example, UE 410 determine to form the group and become the head while UE 406 may yield and determine to not form a group and become the head).
( See also fig. 7 AND [0090]-[0102] If, at 718, it is determined that the received ACKs include one or more ACKs intended for one or more other UEs (e.g., ACKs in response to at least one other volunteer message have been detected), the operation may proceed to 722. At 722 , the first UE may perform a comparison to determine if the number of ACKs received in response to the first volunteer message is greater than the number of ACKs (e.g., intended for other UE(s)) in response to the at least one other volunteer message. As discussed supra, such a comparison may be performed to determine whether the first UE or another different UE received a greater number of ACKs.
if, at 722, it is determined that the number of ACKs received by the first UE in response to the first volunteer message is greater than the number of ACKs received by the at least one other UE (e.g., the first UE has the greatest number of ACKs), the operation may proceed to720 where the first UE may determine to become the head of the group as discussed supra. Thus, in accordance with one aspect, the first UE may determine to become the head of the group when the number of ACKs received in response to the first volunteer message within the predetermined time period is greater than the number
of ACKs received by other UEs in response to their volunteer message transmissions.
CAO does not explicitly disclose wherein the determining, by a first terminal apparatus, that the first terminal apparatus is a scheduling terminal apparatus of at least one second terminal apparatus comprises: sending, by the first terminal apparatus, application information to a network apparatus, wherein the application information is used to apply for the first terminal apparatus to be the scheduling terminal apparatus of the at least one second terminal apparatus; and receiving, by the first terminal apparatus, acknowledgment information of the network apparatus, wherein the acknowledgment information is used to acknowledge the first terminal apparatus that the first terminal apparatus is the scheduling terminal apparatus of the at least one second terminal apparatus.
Hahn US 20190239264 A1 discloses wherein the determining, by a first terminal apparatus, that the first terminal apparatus is a scheduling terminal apparatus of at least one second terminal apparatus comprises: sending, by the first terminal apparatus, application information to a network apparatus, wherein the application information is used to apply for the first terminal apparatus to be the scheduling terminal apparatus of the at least one second terminal apparatus[0108]The first terminal 710 operating as a relay or a coordinator for platooning may generate a first message (e.g., RRC message) including information indicating that the first terminal 710 operates as a relay or a coordinator for platooning ,wherein The first terminal 710 transmit the first message to the base station 700 (S901); and
receiving, by the first terminal apparatus, acknowledgment information of the network apparatus, wherein the acknowledgment information is used to acknowledge the first terminal apparatus that the first terminal apparatus is the scheduling terminal apparatus of the at least one second terminal apparatus [0109]The base station 700 may receive the first message from the first terminal 710 and determine that the first terminal 710 operates as a relay or a coordinator for platooning based on the information included in the received first message , the base station 700 may transmit to the first terminal 710 a second message including information instructing to transmit the SCI including the reception configuration information(i.e., acknowledgment information) (S902). The first terminal 710 may receive the second message from the base station, and determine that the transmission of the SCI including the reception configuration information is permitted based on the information included in the received message. [0113] the first terminal 710 may generate a third message including information indicating that the SCI including the reception configuration information is to be transmitted, and transmit the generated third message to other terminals (e.g., the second terminal 720 and the third terminal 730) (S903), Where [0102] The first terminal 710 operates as a coordinator for the platooning, and may perform V2X sidelink communication with the second terminal 720 and the third terminal.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify CAO, by including wherein the determining, by a first terminal apparatus, that the first terminal apparatus is a scheduling terminal apparatus of at least one second terminal apparatus comprises: sending, by the first terminal apparatus, application information to a network apparatus, wherein the application information is used to apply for the first terminal apparatus to be the scheduling terminal apparatus of the at least one second terminal apparatus; and receiving, by the first terminal apparatus, acknowledgment information of the network apparatus, wherein the acknowledgment information is used to acknowledge the first terminal apparatus that the first terminal apparatus is the scheduling terminal apparatus of the at least one second terminal apparatus, as taught by Hahn, in order to perform the sidelink communication between the UEs (see Hahn[0076]).
Regarding claim 14, CAO et al WO2020006733A1 ( priority date 05 July 2018 ) discloses A first terminal apparatus, comprising: a processor; and non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions, that when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform steps [00155]A device including one or more processors and memory in e1eclronic communication with the one or more processors storing instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the system or apparatus to implement a method as in any of examples 1-24) ( see also claim 26: A first user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory) including:
determining the terminal apparatus that the first terminal apparatus is a scheduling terminal apparatus of at least one second terminal apparatus, wherein the scheduling terminal apparatus schedules the at least one second terminal apparatus[0091]-[0092], the first UE may transmit (e.g., broadcast or multicast) a first volunteer message indicating an intention to be a head of the group(i.e. a scheduling terminal apparatus) for other neighboring UEs (i.e. second terminal apparatus), the UE 410 may determine (at 422) whether to become the head of the group based on a number of ACKs received in response to the first volunteer message 412, the first UE monitors for a response to the first volunteer message from other neighboring UEs for a predetermined time period, e.g., a first time period, where [0098] the first UE determines to become the head of the group, e.g., based on the criteria that the number of ACKs in response to the first volunteer message is greater than or equal to the threshold number; wherein [0082] the UE receives a greater number of ACKs in response to its volunteer message , the UE declares itself the head of the group; and
sending scheduling information to the at least one second terminal apparatus[0086] a UE (e.g., UE 410 operating as the group head) transmits a control message type-2 620 includes, for example, one or more of the following information: a group identifier (ID) of a group with which the head is associated, transmission resources for the second type of data message transmitted by the group head (e.g., data message type-2 640), transmission parameters for the second type of data message, and a HARQ resource indicator, For example, the indicated transmission resources for the second type of data message may comprise one or more of time, frequency and spatial resources, and the indicated transmission parameters may comprise one or more of an MCS, and a retransmission indicator;
sending a pilot signal to another terminal apparatus, wherein the pilot signal is used to indicate that the first terminal apparatus is a candidate terminal apparatus of the scheduling terminal apparatus; determining based on received feedback information for the pilot signal, the first terminal apparatus is the scheduling terminal apparatus of the at least one second terminal apparatus, wherein the feedback information is used to indicate that the first terminal apparatus can schedule the at least one second terminal apparatus[0091]-[0092], the first UE may transmit (e.g., broadcast or multicast) a first volunteer message(i.e., pilot signal ) indicating an intention to be a head of the group(i.e. a scheduling terminal apparatus) for other neighboring UEs (i.e. second terminal apparatus), the UE 410 may determine whether to become the head of the group based on a number of ACKs (i.e., feedback information) received in response to the first volunteer message 412, the first UE monitors for a response to the first volunteer message from other neighboring UEs for a predetermined time period, e.g., a first time period, where [0098] the first UE determines to become the head of the group, e.g., based on the criteria that the number of ACKs in response to the first volunteer message is greater than or equal to the threshold number; wherein [0082] the UE receives a greater number of ACKs in response to its volunteer message , the UE declares itself the head of the group; sending a pilot signal to another terminal apparatus, wherein the pilot signal is used to indicate that the first terminal apparatus is a candidate terminal apparatus of the scheduling terminal apparatus; and determining, based on received feedback information for the pilot signal, the first terminal apparatus is the scheduling terminal apparatus of the at least one second terminal apparatus, wherein the feedback information is used to indicate that the first terminal apparatus can schedule the at least one second terminal apparatus[0069]-[0072] UEs 406 and 410 may be both interested in becoming the head and transmit their respective volunteer messages 414 and 412, respectively. UE 410 transmitted the first volunteer message 412, where the UE 410 monitors for a response to the first volunteer message 412 from other neighboring UEs, UE 406 may have transmitted a second volunteer message 414 (with the intention of forming a group and becoming a head) that may be heard by the UEs 402, 404, 408, and 410;When monitoring for responses, UE 410 and UE 406 may both hear the ACKs, 416, 418, and 420, and may determine how many ACKs each of the UEs 410 and 406 received in response to its own volunteer message transmission (412 and 414). Wherein the UE (406 or 410) that may receive the most ACKs in response to its transmitted volunteer message may form the group and become the head. Thus, UE 410 and UE 406 may each individually determine whether to form the group and become the head based on the number of ACKs received in response to its own volunteer message as compared to the number of ACKs intended for the other candidate. For example, an indication in the ACKs 416, 418, and 420, UE 406 and UE 410 may each determine (e.g., at 424 and 422 respectively) that only one ACK (ACK 420) is received in response to the second volunteer message 414 transmitted by UE 406, whereas two ACKs (ACK 416 and 418) are received in response to the first volunteer message transmitted by UE 410. Accordingly, in this example, UE 410 determine to form the group and become the head while UE 406 may yield and determine to not form a group and become the head).
( See also fig. 7 AND [0090]-[0102] If, at 718, it is determined that the received ACKs include one or more ACKs intended for one or more other UEs (e.g., ACKs in response to at least one other volunteer message have been detected), the operation may proceed to 722. At 722 , the first UE may perform a comparison to determine if the number of ACKs received in response to the first volunteer message is greater than the number of ACKs (e.g., intended for other UE(s)) in response to the at least one other volunteer message. As discussed supra, such a comparison may be performed to determine whether the first UE or another different UE received a greater number of ACKs.
if, at 722, it is determined that the number of ACKs received by the first UE in response to the first volunteer message is greater than the number of ACKs received by the at least one other UE (e.g., the first UE has the greatest number of ACKs), the operation may proceed to720 where the first UE may determine to become the head of the group as discussed supra. Thus, in accordance with one aspect, the first UE may determine to become the head of the group when the number of ACKs received in response to the first volunteer message within the predetermined time period is greater than the number
of ACKs received by other UEs in response to their volunteer message transmissions.
CAO does not explicitly disclose sending application information to a network apparatus, wherein the application information is used to apply for the first terminal apparatus to be the scheduling terminal apparatus of the at least one second terminal apparatus; and receiving acknowledgment information of the network apparatus, wherein the acknowledgment information is used to acknowledge the first terminal apparatus is the scheduling terminal apparatus of the at least one second terminal apparatus.
Hahn US 20190239264 A1 discloses sending application information to a network apparatus, wherein the application information is used to apply for the first terminal apparatus to be the scheduling terminal apparatus of the at least one second terminal apparatus [0108]The first terminal 710 operating as a relay or a coordinator for platooning may generate a first message (e.g., RRC message) including information indicating that the first terminal 710 operates as a relay or a coordinator for platooning ,wherein The first terminal 710 transmit the first message to the base station 700 (S901); and
receiving acknowledgment information of the network apparatus, wherein the acknowledgment information is used to acknowledge the first terminal apparatus is the scheduling terminal apparatus of the at least one second terminal apparatus [0109]The base station 700 may receive the first message from the first terminal 710 and determine that the first terminal 710 operates as a relay or a coordinator for platooning based on the information included in the received first message , the base station 700 may transmit to the first terminal 710 a second message including information instructing to transmit the SCI including the reception configuration information(i.e., acknowledgment information) (S902). The first terminal 710 may receive the second message from the base station, and determine that the transmission of the SCI including the reception configuration information is permitted based on the information included in the received message. [0113] the first terminal 710 may generate a third message including information indicating that the SCI including the reception configuration information is to be transmitted, and transmit the generated third message to other terminals (e.g., the second terminal 720 and the third terminal 730) (S903), Where [0102] The first terminal 710 operates as a coordinator for the platooning, and may perform V2X sidelink communication with the second terminal 720 and the third terminal.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify CAO, by including disclose sending application information to a network apparatus, wherein the application information is used to apply for the first terminal apparatus to be the scheduling terminal apparatus of the at least one second terminal apparatus; and receiving acknowledgment information of the network apparatus, wherein the acknowledgment information is used to acknowledge the first terminal apparatus is the scheduling terminal apparatus of the at least one second terminal apparatus, as taught by Hahn, in order to perform the sidelink communication between the UEs (see Hahn[0076]).
Regarding claims 3 and 16, the combination of CAO and Hahn discloses all features with respect to claim 1 and 14, respectively.
CAO further discloses sending, by the first terminal apparatus, a pilot signal to another terminal apparatus; receiving, by the first terminal apparatus, feedback information of the at least one second terminal apparatus for the pilot signal, wherein the at least one second terminal apparatus belongs to the another terminal apparatus; and determining, by the first terminal apparatus, a quantity of second terminal apparatuses based on the feedback signal[0069]-[0072] UEs 406 and 410 may be both interested in becoming the head and transmit their respective volunteer messages 414 and 412, respectively. UE 410 transmitted the first volunteer message 412, where the UE 410 monitors for a response to the first volunteer message 412 from other neighboring UEs, UE 406 may have transmitted a second volunteer message 414 (with the intention of forming a group and becoming a head) that may be heard by the UEs 402, 404, 408, and 410;When monitoring for responses, UE 410 and UE 406 may both hear the ACKs, 416, 418, and 420, and may determine how many ACKs each of the UEs 410 and 406 received in response to its own volunteer message transmission (412 and 414). Wherein the UE (406 or 410) that may receive the most ACKs in response to its transmitted volunteer message may form the group and become the head. Thus, UE 410 and UE 406 may each individually determine whether to form the group and become the head based on the number of ACKs received in response to its own volunteer message as compared to the number of ACKs intended for the other candidate. For example, an indication in the ACKs 416, 418, and 420, UE 406 and UE 410 may each determine (e.g., at 424 and 422 respectively) that only one ACK (ACK 420) is received in response to the second volunteer message 414 transmitted by UE 406, whereas two ACKs (ACK 416 and 418) are received in response to the first volunteer message transmitted by UE 410. Accordingly, in this example, UE 410 determine to form the group and become the head while UE 406 may yield and determine to not form a group and become the head);
( See also fig. 7 AND [0090]-[0102] If, at 718, it is determined that the received ACKs include one or more ACKs intended for one or more other UEs (e.g., ACKs in response to at least one other volunteer message have been detected), the operation may proceed to 722. At 722 , the first UE may perform a comparison to determine if the number of ACKs received in response to the first volunteer message is greater than the number of ACKs (e.g., intended for other UE(s)) in response to the at least one other volunteer message. As discussed supra, such a comparison may be performed to determine whether the first UE or another different UE received a greater number of ACKs.
if, at 722, it is determined that the number of ACKs received by the first UE in response to the first volunteer message is greater than the number of ACKs received by the at least one other UE (e.g., the first UE has the greatest number of ACKs), the operation may proceed to720 where the first UE may determine to become the head of the group as discussed supra. Thus, in accordance with one aspect, the first UE may determine to become the head of the group when the number of ACKs received in response to the first volunteer message within the predetermined time period is greater than the number
of ACKs received by other UEs in response to their volunteer message transmissions.
Regarding claim 8, the combination of CAO and Hahn discloses all features with respect to claim 1.
CAO further discloses wherein the feedback information comprises priorities of the plurality of candidate terminal apparatuses serving as scheduling terminal apparatuses, and the method further comprises: determining, by the first terminal apparatus, the first terminal apparatus to be the scheduling terminal apparatus based on a priority that is in the received feedback signal for the pilot signal[0069]-[0072] UEs 406 and 410 may be both interested in becoming the head and transmit their respective volunteer messages 414 and 412, respectively. UE 410 transmitted the first volunteer message 412, where the UE 410 monitors for a response to the first volunteer message 412 from other neighboring UEs, UE 406 may have transmitted a second volunteer message 414 (with the intention of forming a group and becoming a head) that may be heard by the UEs 402, 404, 408, and 410;When monitoring for responses, UE 410 and UE 406 may both hear the ACKs, 416, 418, and 420, and may determine how many ACKs each of the UEs 410 and 406 received in response to its own volunteer message transmission (412 and 414). Wherein the UE (406 or 410) that may receive the most ACKs in response to its transmitted volunteer message may form the group and become the head. Thus, UE 410 and UE 406 may each individually determine whether to form the group and become the head based on the number of ACKs received in response to its own volunteer message as compared to the number of ACKs intended for the other candidate. For example, an indication in the ACKs 416, 418, and 420, UE 406 and UE 410 may each determine (e.g., at 424 and 422 respectively) that only one ACK (ACK 420) is received in response to the second volunteer message 414 transmitted by UE 406, whereas two ACKs (ACK 416 and 418) are received in response to the first volunteer message transmitted by UE 410. Accordingly, in this example, UE 410 determine to form the group and become the head while UE 406 may yield and determine to not form a group and become the head).
( See also fig. 7 AND [0090]-[0102] If, at 718, it is determined that the received ACKs include one or more ACKs intended for one or more other UEs (e.g., ACKs in response to at least one other volunteer message have been detected), the operation may proceed to 722. At 722 , the first UE may perform a comparison to determine if the number of ACKs received in response to the first volunteer message is greater than the number of ACKs (e.g., intended for other UE(s)) in response to the at least one other volunteer message. As discussed supra, such a comparison may be performed to determine whether the first UE or another different UE received a greater number of ACKs.
if, at 722, it is determined that the number of ACKs received by the first UE in response to the first volunteer message is greater than the number of ACKs received by the at least one other UE (e.g., the first UE has the greatest number of ACKs), the operation may proceed to720 where the first UE may determine to become the head of the group as discussed supra. Thus, in accordance with one aspect, the first UE may determine to become the head of the group when the number of ACKs received in response to the first volunteer message within the predetermined time period is greater than the number
of ACKs received by other UEs in response to their volunteer message transmissions.
Regarding claim 9, the combination of CAO and Hahn discloses all features with respect to claim 1.
CAO further discloses, wherein the determining, by a first terminal apparatus, that the first terminal apparatus is a scheduling terminal apparatus of a second terminal apparatus comprises: sending, by the first terminal apparatus, a pilot signal to another terminal apparatus; receiving, by the first terminal apparatus, feedback information of the at least one second terminal apparatus for the pilot signal, wherein the second terminal apparatus belongs to the another terminal apparatus, and the feedback information is used to indicate that the first terminal apparatus can schedule the at least one second terminal apparatus; and determining, by the first terminal apparatus, to be the scheduling terminal apparatus of the at least one second terminal apparatus that sends the feedback information[0069]-[0072] UEs 406 and 410 may be both interested in becoming the head and transmit their respective volunteer messages 414 and 412, respectively. UE 410 transmitted the first volunteer message 412, where the UE 410 monitors for a response to the first volunteer message 412 from other neighboring UEs, UE 406 may have transmitted a second volunteer message 414 (with the intention of forming a group and becoming a head) that may be heard by the UEs 402, 404, 408, and 410;When monitoring for responses, UE 410 and UE 406 may both hear the ACKs, 416, 418, and 420, and may determine how many ACKs each of the UEs 410 and 406 received in response to its own volunteer message transmission (412 and 414). Wherein the UE (406 or 410) that may receive the most ACKs in response to its transmitted volunteer message may form the group and become the head. Thus, UE 410 and UE 406 may each individually determine whether to form the group and become the head based on the number of ACKs received in response to its own volunteer message as compared to the number of ACKs intended for the other candidate. For example, an indication in the ACKs 416, 418, and 420, UE 406 and UE 410 may each determine (e.g., at 424 and 422 respectively) that only one ACK (ACK 420) is received in response to the second volunteer message 414 transmitted by UE 406, whereas two ACKs (ACK 416 and 418) are received in response to the first volunteer message transmitted by UE 410. Accordingly, in this example, UE 410 determine to form the group and become the head while UE 406 may yield and determine to not form a group and become the head).
( See also fig. 7 AND [0090]-[0102] If, at 718, it is determined that the received ACKs include one or more ACKs intended for one or more other UEs (e.g., ACKs in response to at least one other volunteer message have been detected), the operation may proceed to 722. At 722 , the first UE may perform a comparison to determine if the number of ACKs received in response to the first volunteer message is greater than the number of ACKs (e.g., intended for other UE(s)) in response to the at least one other volunteer message. As discussed supra, such a comparison may be performed to determine whether the first UE or another different UE received a greater number of ACKs.
if, at 722, it is determined that the number of ACKs received by the first UE in response to the first volunteer message is greater than the number of ACKs received by the at least one other UE (e.g., the first UE has the greatest number of ACKs), the operation may proceed to720 where the first UE may determine to become the head of the group as discussed supra. Thus, in accordance with one aspect, the first UE may determine to become the head of the group when the number of ACKs received in response to the first volunteer message within the predetermined time period is greater than the number
of ACKs received by other UEs in response to their volunteer message transmissions.
Regarding claim 10, the combination of CAO and Hahn discloses all features with respect to claim 9.
CAO does not disclose wherein the second terminal apparatus is located out of a coverage area of a network device.
Hahn discloses wherein the second terminal apparatus is located out of a coverage area of a network device [0096] The first terminal 710 may be located within cell coverage of the base station 700 and may perform V2X communication with the base station 700. Also, the first terminal 710 may perform V2X sidelink communication with the second terminal 720, where [0098] the second terminal 720 is located outside the cell coverage of the base station 700.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify CAO, by including wherein the second terminal apparatus is located out of a coverage area of a network device, as taught by Hahn, in order to perform the sidelink communication between the UEs (see Hahn [0076]).
Regarding claim 20 , the combination of CAO and Hahn discloses all features with respect to claim 14 .
CAO further discloses wherein the first terminal apparatus is one of a plurality of candidate terminal apparatuses of the scheduling terminal apparatus; and the step of determining that the first terminal apparatus is the scheduling terminal apparatus based on a quantity of pieces of feedback information comprises: receiving a quantity of pieces of feedback information received by another candidate terminal apparatus in the plurality of candidate terminal apparatuses; and when the quantity of pieces of feedback information received by the first terminal apparatus is greater than the quantity of pieces of feedback information received by the another candidate terminal apparatus, the first terminal apparatus is the scheduling terminal apparatus[0069]-[0072] UEs 406 and 410 may be both interested in becoming the head and transmit their respective volunteer messages 414 and 412, respectively. UE 410 transmitted the first volunteer message 412, where the UE 410 monitors for a response to the first volunteer message 412 from other neighboring UEs, UE 406 may have transmitted a second volunteer message 414 (with the intention of forming a group and becoming a head) that may be heard by the UEs 402, 404, 408, and 410;When monitoring for responses, UE 410 and UE 406 may both hear the ACKs, 416, 418, and 420, and may determine how many ACKs each of the UEs 410 and 406 received in response to its own volunteer message transmission (412 and 414). Wherein the UE (406 or 410) that may receive the most ACKs in response to its transmitted volunteer message may form the group and become the head. Thus, UE 410 and UE 406 may each individually determine whether to form the group and become the head based on the number of ACKs received in response to its own volunteer message as compared to the number of ACKs intended for the other candidate. For example, an indication in the ACKs 416, 418, and 420, UE 406 and UE 410 may each determine (e.g., at 424 and 422 respectively) that only one ACK (ACK 420) is received in response to the second volunteer message 414 transmitted by UE 406, whereas two ACKs (ACK 416 and 418) are received in response to the first volunteer message transmitted by UE 410. Accordingly, in this example, UE 410 determine to form the group and become the head while UE 406 may yield and determine to not form a group and become the head).
( See also fig. 7 AND [0090]-[0102] If, at 718, it is determined that the received ACKs include one or more ACKs intended for one or more other UEs (e.g., ACKs in response to at least one other volunteer message have been detected), the operation may proceed to 722. At 722 , the first UE may perform a comparison to determine if the number of ACKs received in response to the first volunteer message is greater than the number of ACKs (e.g., intended for other UE(s)) in response to the at least one other volunteer message. As discussed supra, such a comparison may be performed to determine whether the first UE or another different UE received a greater number of ACKs.
if, at 722, it is determined that the number of ACKs received by the first UE in response to the first volunteer message is greater than the number of ACKs received by the at least one other UE (e.g., the first UE has the greatest number of ACKs), the operation may proceed to720 where the first UE may determine to become the head of the group as discussed supra. Thus, in accordance with one aspect, the first UE may determine to become the head of the group when the number of ACKs received in response to the first volunteer message within the predetermined time period is greater than the number
of ACKs received by other UEs in response to their volunteer message transmissions.
Claims 4-5 and 17-18 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over CAO et al WO2020006733A1 in view of Hahn US 20190239264 A1, in view of Perras et al. US 2021/0219116 Al.
Regarding claims 4 and 17, the combination of CAO and Hahn discloses all features with respect to claims 3 and 16, respectively.
The combination of CAO and Hahn does not explicitly disclose wherein the sending, by the first terminal apparatus, application information to a network apparatus comprises: sending, by the first terminal apparatus, the application information to the network apparatus when the quantity of second terminal apparatuses is greater than a preset threshold.
Perras et al. US 2021/0219116 Al discloses wherein the sending, by the first terminal apparatus, application information to a network apparatus comprises: sending, by the first terminal apparatus, the application information to the network apparatus when the quantity of second terminal apparatuses is greater than a preset threshold[0118]-[0120] discloses the platoon leader 602 determines the number of UEs joining the V2X platoon exceeds the maximum number of allowed UEs (i.e., threshold), the platoon leader 602 send request message to the V2X CF 655 (or PCF) through RAN 604 indicating that the threshold is reached, furthermore the request may include, but are not limited to, a group ID associated with the V2X application , a current number of platoon members, and a number of UEs joining the V2X platoon.
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 combination of CAO and Hahn, by including wherein the sending, by the first terminal apparatus, application information to a network apparatus comprises: sending, by the first terminal apparatus, the application information to the network apparatus when the quantity of second terminal apparatuses is greater than a preset threshold, as taught by Perras, in order to obtain additional coverage (i.e. range) (see Perras [0118]-[0120]).
Regarding claims 5 and 18, the combination of CAO, Hahn and Perras discloses all features with respect to claims 4 and 17, respectively.
The combination of CAO and Hahn does not explicitly disclose wherein the application information comprises the quantity of second terminal apparatuses.
Perras et al. US 2021/0219116 Al discloses wherein the application information comprises the quantity of second terminal apparatuses [0118]-[0120] discloses the platoon leader 602 determines the number of UEs joining the V2X platoon exceeds the maximum number of allowed UEs (i.e., threshold), the platoon leader 602 send request message to the V2X CF 655 (or PCF) through RAN 604 indicating that the threshold is reached, furthermore the request may include, but are not limited to, a group ID associated with the V2X application , a current number of platoon members, and a number of UEs joining the V2X platoon.
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 combination of CAO and Hahn, by including wherein the application information comprises the quantity of second terminal apparatuses, as taught by Perras, in order to obtain additional coverage (i.e. range) (see Perras [0118]-[0120]).
Conclusion
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/ABDELTIF AJID/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2478