DETAILED ACTION
This communication is responsive to applicant’s response filed under 37 C.F.R §1.111 in response to a non-final office action. Claim(s) 1, 5, and 10 have been amended; Claims 2-4, 6-9, and 11 have been canceled; No Claim(s) have been added. Claim(s) 1, 5, and 10 are subject to examination.
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 Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 01/23/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant’s Arguments:
Applicant argues in substance that XI in view of YE does not teaches determining a modulation order and a target code rate in order to suggest a relationship between the target code rate and the MCS table and the MCS index. Rather, XI teaches the MCS table comprises entries of low code rates.
Examiner’s Response:
The examiner respectfully disagrees. XI teaches that an MCS table comprises entries of a variety of code rates (such as highest and lowest code rates) and corresponding modulation order (XI: para 209). These code rates, including entries of low code rates, are the target code rate. The entries are identified via MCS index (XI: 232 and YE: para 152).
For the purposes of further prosecution, the rejection is reformatted below.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 5, and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over XI et al. (US 20200287654 A1) (see 892 10/24/2025), hereby referred to as XI, in view of YE et al. (US 20200053835 A1) (see 892 10/24/2025), hereby referred to as YE.
Claim 1:
XI teaches A terminal comprising: a control unit configured to determine a modulation order and a target code rate (XI: para 209 (“One or more MCS tables…may include entries with a modulation order…first code rate (e.g., a highest code rate…a lowest code rate…”)) used for transmission of a sidelink channel using an MCS (Modulation and Coding Scheme) table (XI: para 209 (“One or more MCS tables (e.g., MCS table 1 and MCS table 3) may include entries with a modulation order (e.g., a highest modulation order) of 64QAM.”) and para 227 (“An MCS table selection may be indicated…for example in Sidelink Control Information…If the bit field in SCI…is 0, MCS table 1 may be selected. If the bit field in SCI…is not 0, an MCS table for the SL (e.g., MCS table 3) may be selected.”) wherein an MCS table for determining a modulation order is selected for sidelink) and an MCS index (XI: para 209 (“One or more MCS tables…may include entries with a modulation order…first code rate (e.g., a highest code rate…a lowest code rate…”) and para 232 (“A set of identified entries…MCS index…”) wherein MCS table entries are indexed); and a transmission unit configured to transmit the sidelink channel, based on the determined modulation order (XI: para 227 (“…MCS table for the SL (e.g., MCS table 3) may be selected…”) wherein SL transmission is performed based on selected MCS table/modulation order), wherein the control unit configures the MCS table, wherein the MCS table is one of MCS tables available for physical downlink shared channel transmission and reused for the sidelink channel (XI: para 212 (“A WTRU may be configured with a selection of…MCS table 1, which may be configured through RRC signaling…”mcs-table” parameter in the “PDSCH-config” IE set to MCS table 1…configured with an additional RNTI…may indicate a change from the first MCS table…to a second MCS table (e.g., MCS table 2)…”) wherein Table 1 and Table 3 are also used for PDSCH), wherein the control unit configures a plurality of MCS tables from among the MCS tables available for the physical downlink shared channel transmission (XI: para 209 (“…there may be multiple MCS tables…MCS table 1, MCS table 2, and MCS table 3…PDSCH-config…”) wherein there are a plurality of MCS tables available for PDSCH) and the transmission unit indicates, to another terminal via control information, one of the configured plurality of MCS tables, and wherein the control information is an SCI (Sidelink Control Information) format (XI: para 227 (“An MCS table selection may be indicated…for example in Sidelink Control Information…”) wherein MCS tables are indicated in sidelink to another terminal via SCI).
However, XI does not explicitly disclose physical sidelink shared channel and configuring the MCS table for each sidelink resource pool.
YE, in the same field of endeavor, teaches physical sidelink shared channel (YE: para 150-153 (“The MCS entry based on the given MCS table may be configured in the IEs of SL-PSSCH-TXParameters…both MCS table index and MCS entry index may be configured…select the MCS index within the configured MCS table…”)wherein MCS tables are configured for PSSCH transmission) and configuring the MCS table for each sidelink resource pool (YE: para 155-157 (“…the MCS table selection and MCS index selection may be indicated to the receiving WTRU via explicit SCI contents from the transmitting WTRU…MCS table selection can indicated in association (e.g., by) the communication resource pools.”) wherein MCS tables are configured for resource pools for sidelink communication).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to have modified XI with YE for the benefit of flexibility and efficient scheduling (YE: para 2 and para 110).
Claim 5:
XI teaches a communication method of a terminal. For further limitations, see rejection for claim 1 above.
Claim 10:
XI teaches a communication system comprising: a first terminal; and a second terminal (XI: para 227 sidelink procedures), wherein the first terminal includes: a control unit configured to determine a modulation order and a target code rate (XI: para 209 (“One or more MCS tables…may include entries with a modulation order…first code rate (e.g., a highest code rate…a lowest code rate…”)) used for transmission of a sidelink channel using an MCS (Modulation and Coding Scheme) table (XI: para 209 (“One or more MCS tables (e.g., MCS table 1 and MCS table 3) may include entries with a modulation order (e.g., a highest modulation order) of 64QAM.”) and para 227 (“An MCS table selection may be indicated…for example in Sidelink Control Information…If the bit field in SCI…is 0, MCS table 1 may be selected. If the bit field in SCI…is not 0, an MCS table for the SL (e.g., MCS table 3) may be selected.”) wherein an MCS table for determining a modulation order is selected for sidelink and indicated from one terminal to another in SCI) and an MCS index (XI: para 209 (“One or more MCS tables…may include entries with a modulation order…first code rate (e.g., a highest code rate…a lowest code rate…”) and para 232 (“A set of identified entries…MCS index…”) wherein MCS table entries are indexed); and a transmission unit configured to transmit the sidelink channel to the second terminal, based on the determined modulation order (XI: para 227 (“…MCS table for the SL (e.g., MCS table 3) may be selected…”) wherein SL transmission is performed based on selected MCS table/modulation order), wherein the control unit configures the MCS table, wherein the MCS table is one of MCS tables available for physical downlink shared channel transmission and reused for the physical sidelink shared channel (XI: para 212 (“A WTRU may be configured with a selection of…MAC table 1, which may be configured through RRC signaling…”mcs-table” parameter in the “PDSCH-config” IE set to MCS table 1…configured with an additional RNTI…may indicate a change from the first MCS table…to a second MCS table (e.g., MCS table 2)…”) wherein Table 1 and Table 3 are also used for PDSCH), wherein the control unit configures a plurality of MCS tables from among the MCS tables available for the physical downlink shared channel transmission and the transmission unit indicates, to another terminal via control information, one of the configured plurality of MCS tables (XI: para 209 (“…there may be multiple MCS tables…MCS table 1, MCS table 2, and MCS table 3…PDSCH-config…”) wherein there are a plurality of MCS tables available for PDSCH), and wherein the control information is an SCI (Sidelink Control Information) format (XI: para 227 (“An MCS table selection may be indicated…for example in Sidelink Control Information…”) wherein MCS tables are indicated in sidelink to another terminal via SCI).
However, XI does not explicitly disclose physical sidelink shared channel, and configuring the MCS table for each sidelink resource pool, and the second terminal includes: a control unit configured to determine the modulation order using the MCS table; and a reception unit configured to receive the physical sidelink shared channel from the first terminal, based on the determined modulation order.
YE, in the same field of endeavor, teaches physical sidelink shared channel (YE: para 150-153 (“The MCS entry based on the given MCS table may be configured in the IEs of SL-PSSCH-TXParameters…both MCS table index and MCS entry index may be configured…select the MCS index within the configured MCS table…”) wherein MCS tables are configured for PSSCH transmission), configuring the MCS table for each sidelink resource pool (YE: para 155-157 (“…the MCS table selection and MCS index selection may be indicated to the receiving WTRU via explicit SCI contents from the transmitting WTRU…MCS table selection can indicated in association (e.g., by) the communication resource pools.”) wherein MCS tables are configured for resource pools for sidelink communication), and the second terminal includes: a control unit configured to determine the modulation order using the MCS table (YE: para 155-157 (“…the MCS table selection and MCS index selection may be indicated to the receiving WTRU via explicit SCI contents from the transmitting WTRU…”) wherein MCS index is used to access MCS table to find modulation order and TBS index); and a reception unit configured to receive the physical sidelink shared channel from the first terminal, based on the determined modulation order (YE: para 150-157 (“…the MCS table selection and MCS index selection may be indicated to the receiving WTRU via explicit SCI contents from the transmitting WTRU…”) wherein MCS index is used to access MCS table to find modulation order and TBS index for receiving PSSCH).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date, to have modified XI with YE for the benefit of flexibility and efficient scheduling (YE: para 2 and para 110).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 ANGELIE T NGO whose telephone number is (571)272-0180. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Thur: 8am - 5pm; 2nd Fri: 8am - 3pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Noel Beharry can be reached at (571) 270-5630. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/A.T.N./Examiner, Art Unit 2416
/NOEL R BEHARRY/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2416
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