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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicants’ arguments filed on 12 June 2026 have been fully considered but they are moot in view of the new ground of rejection.
By the amendment filed 12 June 2026, claims 1, 7, 9 and 15 have been amended.
Claims 1, 3, 5-9, 11, and 13-16 are now pending.
Claims 1, 3, 5-9, 11, and 13-16 are rejected.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1, 3, 5-9, 11, and 13-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over FUJITSU: "Sidelink DRX for Power Saving", 3GPP DRAFT; R2-2009133, 3RD GENERATION PARTNERSHIP PROJECT (3GPP), RAN WG2, e-Meeting; 20201102 - 20201113, 21 October 2020, XP051940893, hereinafter Fujitsu, in view of Jeong et al. (US 2022/0030661 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Fujitsu discloses a method for a User Equipment (UE) to configure sidelink discontinuous reception (DRX) for sidelink groupcast communication associated with a group (§3, fig. 2, DRX cycle with On Duration; sec. 4, fig. 4, examples of two groupcasts; §5.1: how to align DRX wake-up time based on existing parameters for the sidelink DRX, for a side/ink groupcast of a group of UE, e.g. UE1-UE5), comprising:
obtaining or being configured with a sidelink DRX configuration for the sidelink groupcast communication associated with the group, wherein the sidelink DRX configuration comprises at least one of an on-duration timer length used for determining an on-duration for each sidelink DRX cycle and/or a sidelink DRX cycle length used for determining a length of each sidelink DRX cycle;(§3, Fig. 2, DRX cycle with On Duration; §4, Fig. 4; DRX cycle includes On-Duration and Opportunity for DRX; §5.1, aligning DRX wake-up time based on existing parameters for sidelink DRX)
deriving or determining at the UE a value for a startOffset, … wherein the startOffset is a time to start of on-duration for each sidelink DRX cycle or start of each sidelink DRX cycle and is not included in the sidelink DRX configuration;(§4.1, Eq. 1; proposal 5: DRX wake-up time for UEs in Groupcast-1 is aligned based on destination L2 ID1 and DRX wake-up time for UEs in Groupcast-2 is aligned based on destination L2 ID2; wake-up time derived from group identifier and DRX cycle parameters; StartOffset in eq 1, DRX-StartOffset is the start offset of DRX)
monitoring at the UE a sidelink control channel, associated with the group, based on the sidelink DRX configuration and the startOffset.(§3–4: on-duration of DRX for groupcast is when communication between peer UEs takes place; UE monitors control channel/signaling during on-duration)
Fujitsu does not expressly teach wherein a value of the startOffset is equal to a derived value of a part of an identifier associated with the group mod the sidelink DRX cycle length or a derived value of the identifier associated with the group mod the sidelink DRX cycle length.
However, Jeong et al. discloses determining sidelink DRX starting timing based on an identifier associated with a group modulo the sidelink DRX cycle length. In particular, Jeong et al. teaches determining the starting timing according to “[(SFN*10)+subframe number] modulo (SL DRX cycle) = (L1/L2 destination id) modulo (SL DRX cycle)” (¶109). Jeong et al. further teaches that, instead of the L1/L2 destination ID, any identifier capable of distinguishing the groupcast/broadcast group may be used in the calculation (¶111). Jeong et al. further teaches determining a starting subframe based on “(groupcast/broadcast id) modulo (SL DRX cycle)” (¶129), and similarly teaches determining sidelink DRX on-duration timing using “(groupcast/broadcast id) modulo (SL DRX cycle)” (¶140).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Fujitsu's determination of the startOffset based on the group identifier and DRX cycle parameters to determine the startOffset according to Jeong et al.'s group-identifier-based sidelink DRX timing determination, such that the value of the startOffset is derived from the identifier associated with the group modulo the sidelink DRX cycle length. One would have been motivated to do so in order to provide a group-specific starting timing for sidelink DRX operation based on an identifier distinguishing the group, thereby aligning the sidelink DRX monitoring timing of UEs associated with the same group.
Regarding claim 3, Fujitsu further discloses wherein a unit of the time to start of on-duration for each sidelink DRX cycle or start of each sidelink DRX cycle is subframe (§4.1, eq 1, wake-up time and its alignment, StartOffset in eq 1).
Regarding claim 5, Fujitsu further discloses wherein the UE have information indicating one or more time to start of on-duration for each sidelink DRX cycle or start of each sidelink DRX cycle, and/or the UE derives or determines the time to start of on-duration for each sidelink DRX cycle or start of each sidelink DRX cycle based on at least the identifier associated with the group and the information (§4.1, eq 1, wake-up time and its alignment; fig. 5, Groupcast-1 associated with Destination L2 ID1, Groupcast-2 associated with L2 ID2).
Regarding claim 6, Fujitsu further discloses wherein the UE derives or determines an index based on at least the identifier associated with the group, and the UE derives or determines the time to start of on-duration for each sidelink DRX cycle or start of each sidelink DRX cycle, from the one or more time to start of on-duration for each sidelink DRX cycle or start of each sidelink DRX cycle, based on the index (§4.1, slot index).
Regarding claim 7, Fujitsu further discloses wherein the identifier associated with the group is a part of groupcast destination Layer-2 identity (ID), or wherein the identifier associated with the group is a groupcast destination Layer-2 ID (§4.1, destination L2 ID(s)).
Regarding claim 8, Fujitsu further discloses wherein the UE monitoring the sidelink control channel, associated with the group, in a period, and wherein the period is determined based on the sidelink DRX configuration and the time to start of on-duration for each sidelink DRX cycle or start of each sidelink DRX cycle, and/or wherein the period is an active time on which at least the on-duration timer is running (§3-4.1: wake-up time/DRX On Duration for Side/ink DRX).
Regarding claim 9, Fujitsu discloses a User Equipment (UE), comprising:
a processor (sec. 2, UE); and
a memory operatively coupled to the processor (sec. 2, UE);
wherein the processor is configured to execute a program code stored in the memory to essentially perform the method of claim 1, and is thus similarly rejected.
Claims 11 and 13-16 recite substantially identical subject matter as recited in claims 3 and 5-8, respectively, and are thus similarly rejected.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LUAT T PHUNG whose telephone number is (571)270-3126. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 9 AM - 6 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Asad Nawaz can be reached on (571) 272-3988. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Luat Phung/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2468
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