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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of claims 1-5, 9-11, 13-18, 23-24, 32 and 34 in the reply filed on 04/29/2024 is acknowledged.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 10/01/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the claim(s) have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Applicant's arguments filed 10/01/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that the UE1 of Li does not correspond to the claimed terminal device because in Li it is UE2 that sends the CSI feedback to UE1, and that Li does not teach that the terminal device which is to send the feedback is the entity that obtains the resource for sending the feedback from the base station.
The Examiner respectfully disagrees. Li discloses that a UE sends a request to the scheduler for resources to send to or receive from the other UEs on sidelink (0365, the UE may send a request to the Scheduler for resource(s) to send to or receive from the Other UE(s) on sidelink; 0269, the vehicle UE, e.g. a transmitting or receiving UE, may send a request for resource or a request for scheduling). Li further discloses that the scheduler grants or schedules the resource to the transmitting UE or to both the transmitting and receiving UE (0366, the Scheduler may grant or schedule the resource(s) to transmitting UE or to both transmitting and receiving UE indicated by SA SCI carried on NR-PSCCH). Li goes on to disclose that where the request is sent from the receiving UE, the transmitting UE transmits at the allocated resource and the receiving UE receives at the resource indicated by the Lead (0275). Li discloses that the scheduler is a gNB or eNB where the sidelink resource allocation is network controlled (0347, sidelink resource allocation fully controlled by a gNB or eNB; 0119, The vehicular UE and eNB use the Uu interface to schedule the communications on Sidelink). Li discloses that the sidelink resource allocation is sent to a UE per a UE's request using a dedicated RRC message over the Uu interface (0167).
Thus, all the claimed and argued limitations have been met.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-2, 4-5, 15-16, 18, 32 and 34 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2021/0219268 A1 herein Li in view of US 2019/0150138 A1 herein Tang and further in view of US 2023/0018092 A1 herein Ji.
Claim 1, Li discloses a method in a terminal device (Abstract, Method) comprising:
transmitting, to a base station, at least one request for allocating a resource for at least one sidelink channel state information (CSI) feedback on a sidelink (0401, an SL-CSI-RS request indication in the SA SCI, and SL-CSI feedback (e.g., sidelink CSI reporting) in slot SL2) for the terminal device to use the resource to send the at least one sidelink CSI feedback to a peer terminal device on the sidelink with the terminal device (0365, the UE may send a request to the Scheduler for resource(s) to send to or receive from the Other UE(s) on sidelink; 0269, the vehicle UE, e.g. a transmitting or receiving UE, may send a request for resource or a request for scheduling), wherein the terminal device and the base station operate with centralized resource allocation (0119, Mode 3 uses the centralized eNB scheduler. The vehicular UE and eNB use the Uu interface to schedule the communications on Sidelink; 0347, sidelink resource allocation fully controlled by a gNB or eNB); and
receiving, from the base station, resource allocation of a sidelink shared channel for a sidelink CSI feedback in response to the at least one request (0366, the Scheduler may grant or schedule the resource(s) to transmitting UE or to both transmitting and receiving UE; 0167, Sidelink resource or resource pool configuration or allocation may also be specifically sent to a UE periodically or aperiodically, which may be per a UE's request, using dedicated RRC message over Uu interface), wherein the sidelink shared channel is a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) (0402, the feedback SCI is carried on a new physical sidelink feedback channel or multiplexed with a NR-PSSCH or carried on a specially mapped NR-PSSCH at higher layer).
Li may not explicitly disclose wherein the at least one request includes a CSI specific scheduling request; indicating a number of bits of the sidelink CSI feedback; the physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) containing only the sidelink CSI feedback.
Tang discloses wherein the at least one request includes a CSI specific scheduling request (0056, a terminal device transmits a resource request message to a network device according to the channel state information (CSI) meeting a CSI trigger condition, where the resource request message is used to request the network device to assign a transmission resource for transmitting the CSI);
indicating a number of bits of the sidelink CSI feedback (0088, the resource request message includes: a number of the CSI and a size of each of the CSI, thus a number of bits of the CSI feedback). 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 Li to include a resource request indicating the number of the CSI and the size of each of the CSI, as taught by Tang, so as to configure a corresponding transmission resource and avoid the waste of transmission resource (0089).
Li may not explicitly disclose the physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) containing only the sidelink CSI feedback.
Ji discloses the physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) containing only the sidelink CSI feedback (0108, only the feedback bits, rather than the high-layer data, are carried in the PSSCH (i.e., no TB is mapped to the PSSCH); 0028, the feedback information may include at least one of retransmission acknowledgement information and a CSI measurement result). 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 Li to include carrying only the feedback bits in the PSSCH, as taught by Ji, so as to improve the resource utilization rate of the system and the spectrum efficiency (0024).
Claim 2, Li in view of Tang and further in view of Ji discloses the method of claim 1.
Li may not explicitly disclose wherein each of the at least one request is transmitted according to a corresponding configuration of the sidelink CSI feedback.
Tang discloses wherein each of the at least one request is transmitted according to a corresponding configuration of the sidelink CSI feedback (0067, the terminal device receives a CSI trigger condition message from the network device; 0068, the terminal device determines the CSI trigger condition according to the CSI trigger condition message). 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 Li to include a resource request indicating the number of the CSI and the size of each of the CSI, as taught by Tang, so as to configure a corresponding transmission resource and avoid the waste of transmission resource (0089).
Claim 4, Li in view of Tang and further in view of Ji discloses the method of claim 1.
Li may not explicitly disclose wherein one request is transmitted for multiple sidelink CSI feedbacks.
Tang discloses wherein one request is transmitted for multiple sidelink CSI feedbacks (0088, the resource request message includes: a number of the CSI and a size of each of the CSI). 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 Li to include a resource request indicating the number of the CSI and the size of each of the CSI, as taught by Tang, so as to configure a corresponding transmission resource and avoid the waste of transmission resource (0089).
Claim 5, Li in view of Tang and further in view of Ji discloses the method of claim 1.
Li may not explicitly disclose wherein the sidelink CSI feedback is an aperiodic signaling; and the at least one request is transmitted aperiodically in response to a trigger of the sidelink CSI feedback.
Tang discloses wherein the sidelink CSI feedback is an aperiodic signaling (0004, Currently, the UE reports CSI to the BS periodically or aperiodically), and the at least one request is transmitted aperiodically in response to a trigger of the sidelink CSI feedback (0056, a terminal device transmits a resource request message to a network device according to the channel state information (CSI) meeting a CSI trigger condition). 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 Li to include a resource request indicating the number of the CSI and the size of each of the CSI, as taught by Tang, so as to configure a corresponding transmission resource and avoid the waste of transmission resource (0089).
Claim 15, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 1.
Claim 16, Li in view of Tang and further in view of Ji discloses the method of claim 15.
Li may not explicitly disclose sending corresponding configuration of the sidelink CSI feedback to the terminal device; wherein each of the at least one request is received according to the corresponding configuration.
Tang discloses sending corresponding configuration of the sidelink CSI feedback to the terminal device (0100, the network device transmits a CSI trigger condition message to the terminal device, where the CSI trigger condition message is used by the terminal device to determine the trigger condition for CSI transmission), wherein each of the at least one request is received according to the corresponding configuration (0103, the CSI trigger condition message is used to instruct the terminal device to transmit the resource request message to the network device according to a value of the CSI meeting a threshold). 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 Li to include a resource request indicating the number of the CSI and the size of each of the CSI, as taught by Tang, so as to configure a corresponding transmission resource and avoid the waste of transmission resource (0089).
Claim 18, Li in view of Tang and further in view of Ji discloses the method of claim 15.
Li may not explicitly disclose wherein one request is received for multiple sidelink CSI feedbacks.
Tang discloses wherein one request is received for multiple sidelink CSI feedbacks (0114, the resource request message includes: a number of the CSI and a size of each of the CSI). 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 Li to include a resource request indicating the number of the CSI and the size of each of the CSI, as taught by Tang, so as to configure a corresponding transmission resource and avoid the waste of transmission resource (0089).
Claim 32, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 1.
Li discloses A terminal device (0043, Each of the WTRUs may be any type of apparatus or device configured to operate and/or communicate in a wireless environment) comprising: at least one processor (0099, the example WTRU may include a processor, a transceiver, a transmit/receive element); and at least one memory, the at least one memory containing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the terminal device to (0104, the processor may access information from, and store data in, any type of suitable memory, such as the non-removable memory and/or the removable memory; 0115, computer executable instructions (e.g., program code) stored on a computer-readable storage medium which instructions, when executed by a processor).
Claim 34, as analyzed with respect to the limitations as discussed in claim 1.
Li discloses A base station (0045, may be a Base Transceiver Station (BTS), a Node-8, an eNode B, a Home Node B, a Home eNode B, a Next Generation Node-8 (gNode B)) comprising: at least one processor (0078, core network entities may be logical entities that are implemented in the form of computer-executable instructions (software) stored in a memory of, and executing on a processor of, an apparatus configured for wireless and/or network communications or a computer system); and at least one memory, the at least one memory containing instructions which, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the base station to (0109, may be controlled primarily by computer readable instructions, which may be in the form of software, wherever, or by whatever means such software is stored or accessed; 0111, Memories coupled to system bus include random access memory (RAM) and read only memory (ROM)).
Claim(s) 3, 9-11 and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over over Li in view of Tang in view of Ji and further in view of US 2014/0204856 A1 herein Chen.
Claim 3, Li in view of Tang and further in view of Ji discloses the method of claim 2.
Li may not explicitly disclose wherein each of the at least one request is transmitted with one of multiple predetermined resources, wherein each of the multiple predetermined resources indicates a corresponding configuration of the sidelink CSI feedback.
Tang discloses wherein each of the at least one request is transmitted with one of multiple predetermined resources (0062, the terminal device may transmit the resource request message to the network device via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) to request the network device to assign the transmission resource. The network device may configure a PUCCH resource for the terminal device through a down-link signaling, thus one of the resources on which a request is transmitted). 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 Li to include a resource request indicating the number of the CSI and the size of each of the CSI, as taught by Tang, so as to configure a corresponding transmission resource and avoid the waste of transmission resource (0089).
Li may not explicitly disclose wherein each of the multiple predetermined resources indicates a corresponding configuration of the sidelink CSI feedback.
Chen discloses wherein each of the multiple predetermined resources indicates a corresponding configuration of the sidelink CSI feedback (0070, The resources for the uplink channel carrying CSI may be one or more sets of resources that are configured by higher layers (e.g., RRC); 0073, each set of resources configured by RRC may contain information identifying the resources to transmit CSI (e.g., location, bandwidth, modulation order, rank, precoding, etc.), information identifying the CSI mode/type). 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 Li to include multiple configured sets of resources each identifying a CSI mode and type, as taught by Chen, so as to efficiently assign uplink resources for a large amount of CSI feedback (0058).
Claim 9, Li in view of Tang and further in view of Ji discloses the method of claim 1.
Li may not explicitly disclose determining a scheduling priority for the at least one sidelink CSI feedback corresponding to the at least one request; wherein the at least one request is transmitted based on the determined scheduling priority.
Chen discloses determining a scheduling priority for the at least one sidelink CSI feedback corresponding to the at least one request (0054, The particular downlink component carrier, for which such reports are made, is determined according to a reporting priority scheme. For example, downlink component carriers may be prioritized based on the configured reporting type), wherein the at least one request is transmitted based on the determined scheduling priority (0054, Once the downlink component carrier is identified for reporting, the CQI/PMI/RI for the other downlink component carriers may be dropped, thus the transmission follows the determined priority). 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 Li to include a reporting priority scheme for the CSI feedback, as taught by Chen, so as to resolve collision between the various CSI types (0054).
Claim 10, Li in view of Tang in view of Ji and further in view of Chen discloses the method of claim 9.
Li may not explicitly disclose wherein when at least one second request for allocating a resource for data and the at least one request for the sidelink CSI feedback are both transmitted, a scheduling priority for the data corresponding to the at least one second request is determined; and wherein the at least one request and the at least one second request are transmitted based on the scheduling priorities determined for the at least one sidelink CSI feedback and the data.
Chen discloses wherein when at least one second request for allocating a resource for data and the at least one request for the sidelink CSI feedback are both transmitted, a scheduling priority for the data corresponding to the at least one second request is determined (0076, in a subframe where UE receives downlink-triggered CSI, and is also scheduled to transmit some other uplink signals (such as periodic CSI, SRS, SR, ACK/NAK, PUSCH, etc.), the downlink-triggered CSI may be multiplexed by UE with the other signals and/or some type of prioritization may be implemented), and wherein the at least one request and the at least one second request are transmitted based on the scheduling priorities determined for the at least one sidelink CSI feedback and the data (0076, when a regular PUSCH collides with a PUSCH resulting from a downlink-triggered CSI, UE may drop the PUSCH resulting from the downlink-triggered CSI. In implementations where parallel PUSCH transmission are allowed, UE may transmit both colliding PUSCH, thus each is transmitted according to its determined priority). 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 Li to include a reporting priority scheme for the CSI feedback, as taught by Chen, so as to resolve collision between the various CSI types (0054).
Claim 11, Li in view of Tang in view of Ji and further in view of Chen discloses the method of claim 9.
Li may not explicitly disclose wherein the scheduling priority for the sidelink CSI feedback is preconfigured as a fixed scheduling priority.
Chen discloses wherein the scheduling priority for the sidelink CSI feedback is preconfigured as a fixed scheduling priority (0054, Where multiple downlink component carriers have the same reporting mode/type, prioritization may be RRC-configured between the component carriers. For example, component carriers are generally provided a component carrier index within the carrier aggregation. The RRC-configured priority may give the highest priority of the component carriers having the same reporting mode/type to the component carrier with the lowest component carrier index). 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 Li to include a reporting priority scheme for the CSI feedback, as taught by Chen, so as to resolve collision between the various CSI types (0054).
Claim 17, Li in view of Tang and further in view of Ji discloses the method of claim 16.
Li may not explicitly disclose wherein each of the at least one request is received with one of multiple predetermined resources; wherein each of the multiple predetermined resources indicates a corresponding configuration of the sidelink CSI feedback.
Tang discloses wherein each of the at least one request is received with one of multiple predetermined resources (0095, The network device may configure a PUCCH resource for the terminal device through a RRC signaling, the PUCCH resource is used to transmit the resource request message, thus a resource the request is received with). 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 Li to include a resource request indicating the number of the CSI and the size of each of the CSI, as taught by Tang, so as to configure a corresponding transmission resource and avoid the waste of transmission resource (0089).
Li may not explicitly disclose wherein each of the multiple predetermined resources indicates a corresponding configuration of the sidelink CSI feedback.
Chen discloses wherein each of the multiple predetermined resources indicates a corresponding configuration of the sidelink CSI feedback (0070, The resources for the uplink channel carrying CSI may be one or more sets of resources that are configured by higher layers (e.g., RRC); 0073, each set of resources configured by RRC may contain information identifying the resources to transmit CSI (e.g., location, bandwidth, modulation order, rank, precoding, etc.), information identifying the CSI mode/type). 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 Li to include multiple configured sets of resources each identifying a CSI mode and type, as taught by Chen, so as to efficiently assign uplink resources for a large amount of CSI feedback (0058).
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US 20220150937 A1 - Disclosed herein are a method of controlling a plurality of antenna remote units by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system supporting sidelink, and an apparatus therefor. Disclosed herein are a method controlling a plurality of antenna remote units by a user equipment (UE) in a wireless communication system supporting sidelink including determining a first time interval based on channel state estimation capability or decoding capability, transmitting a control signal to each of the plurality of antenna remote units based on the first time interval, and performing channel state estimation or signal decoding based on a plurality of signals respectively received by the plurality of antenna remote units, wherein the control signal comprises control information indicating fixing of voltage gain of each of the plurality of antenna remote units during the first time interval, and an apparatus therefor.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Mehmood B. Khan whose telephone number is (571)272-9277. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30 am-6:30 pm. 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, 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. 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.
/Mehmood B. Khan/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2463
