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 .
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.
Claims 1-6, 8-10, 19, 21-22 and 24-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lei [WO 2023/137755] in view of Wang [WO 2023173437].
As claims 1, 24, 28 and 30, Lei [WO 2023/137755] discloses a wireless node for wireless communication, comprising: one or more memories; and one or more processors, coupled to the one or more memories, configured to cause the wireless node to: configure, for a sidelink unicast link and based at least in part on communication with another wireless node, a plurality of feedback occasions within a feedback response window, wherein the plurality of feedback occasions correspond to a sidelink control information (SCI) communication, associated with a communication channel [Par. 0029, 0035-0036, 0038-0041 discloses RX and TX establishes unicast communication channel for conveying data and feedback which is configured with occasions within window “window includes TOs” via SCI to the other device]; transmit a communication on the communication channel [Fig 1, Ref 110a and 110c exchanges data via channel]. However, Lei fails to disclose monitor for feedback on the plurality of feedback occasions based at least in part on a discontinuous transmission counter, wherein the discontinuous transmission counter is reset when the feedback is within the plurality of feedback occasions within the feedback response window and wherein the discontinuous transmission counter is incremented when the feedback is not received within the plurality of feedback occasions within the feedback response window. In the same field of endeavor, Wang [WO 2023173437] discloses monitor for feedback on the plurality of feedback occasions based at least in part on a discontinuous transmission counter [Par. 0035-0039, 0044-0051, 0065-0070, 0116, 0123 discloses monitoring feedback on the feedback occasions “K occasions within window in slot #n+2 to slot n+2K” based on DTX counter], wherein the discontinuous transmission counter is reset when the feedback is within the plurality of feedback occasions within the feedback response window [Par. 0065-0079 disclose when detecting feedback on the feedback occasions within window then resetting counter value to zero] and wherein the discontinuous transmission counter is incremented when the feedback is not received within the plurality of feedback occasions within the feedback response window [Par. 0065-0079, 0116, 0123 discloses when no detecting feedback on the feedback occasions within window then incrementing 1 for DTX counter].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to apply a method and system comprising monitor for feedback on the plurality of feedback occasions based at least in part on a discontinuous transmission counter, wherein the discontinuous transmission counter is reset when the feedback is within the plurality of feedback occasions within the feedback response window and wherein the discontinuous transmission counter is incremented when the feedback is not received within the plurality of feedback occasions within the feedback response window as disclosed by Wang into the teaching of Lei. The motivation would have been to prevent data loss.
As claims 2, 25 and 29, Lei/Wang discloses the feedback response window is configured based at least in part on the sidelink unicast link being associated with a decentralized channel access mechanism [Lei discloses Par. 0040, UE configured with TOs via SCI, Wang discloses Par. 0035-0036, 0047].
As claims 3 and 26, Lei/Wang discloses the configuration of the feedback response window is associated with establishing the sidelink unicast link with the other wireless node, and wherein the configuration of the feedback response window is based at least in part on signaling between the wireless node and the another wireless node [Lei discloses Par. 0040, UE configured with TOs and Wang discloses Par. 0049-0051].
As claims 4 and 27, Wang discloses perform radio link failure (RLF) detection based at least in part on monitoring for the feedback [Par. 0064-0068 TX UE declares an RLF for SL communication with the RX UE based on the DTX-related counter reaching a maximum threshold value]
As claim 5, Lei/Wang discloses the plurality of feedback occasions are distributed in at least one of a frequency domain or a time domain [Fig 3, Wang discloses time and frequency domain and Lei discloses at Fig 3].
As claim 6, Lei discloses the plurality of feedback occasions are pre-configured for the wireless node [Par. 0040, UE configured with TOs and Wang discloses at Par. 0049].
As claim 8, Wang discloses wherein, to monitor for feedback on the plurality of feedback occasions based at least in part on the discontinuous transmission counter, the one or more processors are configured to cause the wireless node to: increment the discontinuous transmission counter if no feedback is detected on any feedback occasion of the plurality of feedback occasions; or reset the discontinuous transmission counter if the feedback is detected on any feedback occasion of the plurality of feedback occasions [Par. 0065-0079].
As claim 9, Wang discloses wherein, to monitor for feedback on the plurality of feedback occasions based at least in part on the discontinuous transmission counter, the one or more processors are configured to cause the wireless node to: increment the discontinuous transmission counter if no feedback is detected on an earliest feedback occasion of the plurality of feedback occasions [Par. 0065-0079 discloses the DTX counter may be incremented by 1 based on not detecting the HARQ feedback is due to a channel state or a PSSCH decoding failure of a receiving UE.]; or reset the discontinuous transmission counter if the feedback is detected on any feedback occasion of the plurality of feedback occasions [Par. 0065-0079 discloses the DTX counter may be incremented by 1 based on not detecting the HARQ feedback is due to a channel state or a PSSCH decoding failure of a receiving UE or reinitializing counter].
As claim 10, Wang [WO 2023173437 A1] discloses wherein, to monitor for feedback on the plurality of feedback occasions based at least in part on the discontinuous transmission counter, the one or more processors are configured to cause the wireless node to: increment, based at least in part on the configuring, the discontinuous transmission counter each time no feedback is detected on a feedback occasion of the plurality of feedback occasions; [Par. 0065-0079 discloses the DTX counter may be incremented by 1 based on not detecting the HARQ feedback is due to a channel state or a PSSCH decoding failure of a receiving UE.] and reset the discontinuous transmission counter if the feedback is detected on any feedback occasion of the plurality of feedback occasions [Par. 0065-0079 discloses the DTX counter may be incremented by 1 based on not detecting the HARQ feedback is due to a channel state or a PSSCH decoding failure of a receiving UE or reinitializing counter].
As claim 19, Wang [WO 2023173437 A1] teaches wherein, teach wherein the configuration of the feedback response window is based at least in part on an indication associated with a selected mode for the feedback response window. (Wang teaches [0035] “As shown in Fig. 1, a PSSCH transmission is transmitted on slot #n, and candidate PSFCH resources on transmission opportunities, e.g., slots #n+2, #n+4, and #n+6 are allocated for the PSSCH transmission, where the number of transmission opportunities is 3, and a PSFCH period is 2 slots. The transmission opportunities are to be used by Rx UE for reporting the HARQ feedback information, thus hereinafter, the transmission opportunities may be also referred to as HARQ feedback occasions. From the perspective of Tx UE, the transmission opportunities correspond to PSFCH reception occasions or PSFCH occasions. That is, Tx UE is likely to receive the HARQ feedback information on the PSFCH reception occasions.”) Wang teaches on the claim limitation “selected mode for the feedback response window” by teaching that the number of transmission opportunities and PSFCH period are selected and configured (i.e., mode) for the feedback response window.
As claim 21, Wang [WO 2023173437 A1] teaches wherein, teach wherein the selected mode indicates at least one of: a number of the plurality of feedback occasions, whether to duplicate feedback on two or more feedback occasions, whether to provide the feedback via sidelink control information, or whether to provide a feedback codebook indicating three possible states or two possible states. (Wang teaches [0055] “A scaling factor M may be associated with the number of HARQ feedback occasions, K. For example, a value of the scaling factor M may be equal to the value of K.”; [0035] “As shown in Fig. 1, a PSSCH transmission is transmitted on slot #n, and candidate PSFCH resources on transmission opportunities, e.g., slots #n+2, #n+4, and #n+6 are allocated for the PSSCH transmission, where the number of transmission opportunities is 3, and a PSFCH period is 2 slots.) and Lei discloses Par. 0040.
As claim 22, Lei discloses wherein the indication is provided in the SCI communication, transmitted by the wireless node, wherein the SCI communication requests a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) response from a second wireless node [Par. 0036 discloses receiving a request for sending feedback via TO].
Claim 7 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US-20230080600-A1) and Lei [WO 2023/137755] and further in view of Di Girolamo [WO 2023/091959] or Park [USP 2024/0381390].
Regarding claim 7, Wang and Lei teach the wireless node of claim 1 but fails to disclose what DI GIROLAMO/Park discloses the plurality of feedback occasions are based at least in part on dynamic triggering [DI GIROLAMO discloses Par. 0262 discloses occasions is redefined based on transmission success or Park ’90 discloses Par. 0196, 0211 discloses occasion resources are selection based on dynamic triggering in order to prevent collision].
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of DI GIROLAMO/Park into the teaching of Lee and Lei. The motivation would have been to improve the quality of signal.
Claims 11-15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lei [WO 2023/137755] and Wang [WO 2023173437] as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Lee [US-20230080600].
As claim 11, Lei [WO 2023/137755] and Wang [WO 2023173437] fail to disclose what Lee [US-20230080600] discloses wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the wireless node to: skip monitoring on a particular feedback occasion of the plurality of feedback occasions. (Lee teaches [0173] “In step S1220, the TX UE may transmit a PSSCH to the RX UE based on the PSCCH. In step S1230, unlike S1130 of FIG. 11, the TX UE may not perform monitoring for HARQ feedback in a PSFCH resource.”) By teaching “the TX UE may not perform monitoring for HARQ feedback”, Lee teaches “skip monitoring on a particular feedback occasion”.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Lee [US-20230080600] into the teaching of Lei [WO 2023/137755] and Wang [WO 2023173437]. The motivation would have been to improve the quality of signal.
As claim 12, Wang [WO 2023173437] discloses wherein, to monitor for feedback on the plurality of feedback occasions based at least in part on the discontinuous transmission counter, the one or more processors are configured to cause the wireless node to: monitor for the feedback as if the particular feedback occasion is not configured. (Wang teaches [0134] “If no HARQ feedback information is detected on one of the K HARQ feedback occasions or each HARQ feedback occasion, the first terminal device 210 may increment a value of a consecutive DTX counter associated with the sidelink channel, for example, the numConsecutiveDTX is incremented by 1”) “Not configured” means the “particular feedback occasion” was not detected because it was “not configured” and Wang speaks on this claim limitation above.
As claim 13, Wang [WO 2023173437] discloses wherein, to monitor for feedback on the plurality of feedback occasions based at least in part on the discontinuous transmission counter, the one or more processors are configured to cause the wireless node to: monitor for the feedback assuming a non-discontinuous transmission result on the particular feedback occasion. (Wang teaches [0134] “Otherwise, if HARQ feedback information is detected on any of the K HARQ feedback occasions or each HARQ feedback occasion, the first terminal device 210 may determine that the RLF criterion is not met.”) Discontinuous transmission result means that feedback information was not detected, so “nondiscontinuous transmission result” means the feedback was detected.
As claim 14, Wang [WO 2023173437] discloses wherein, wherein, to monitor for feedback on the plurality of feedback occasions based at least in part on the discontinuous transmission counter, the one or more processors are configured to cause the wireless node to: monitor for the feedback assuming a discontinuous transmission result on the particular feedback occasion. (Wang teaches [0134] “If no HARQ feedback information is detected on one of the K HARQ feedback occasions or each HARQ feedback occasion, the first terminal device 210 may increment a value of a consecutive DTX counter associated with the sidelink channel, for example, the numConsecutiveDTX is incremented by 1”).
As claim 15, Wang [WO 2023173437] discloses wherein, wherein, to monitor for feedback on the plurality of feedback occasions based at least in part on the discontinuous transmission counter, the one or more processors are configured to cause the wireless node to: monitor for the feedback based at least in part on a priority of the communication. (Wang teaches [0062]; Table 3 “By way of still another example, the predefined or preconfigured list of candidate values of the scaling factor M may be associated with a priority of PSSCH or a priority of service or packet transmitted via PSSCH. Table 3 shows an example relationship between the list of candidate values of scaling factor M with the priority of PSSCH. [0063] When multiple candidate values of scaling factor M is defined or (pre-)configured, Tx UE of sidelink communication is able to flexibly adjust the value of scaling factor M to adapt to the current channel state or the service requirement in time.”).
Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lei [WO 2023/137755] and Wang [WO 2023173437] as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Wu (US 20210099269 A1).
Regarding claim 16, Lei [WO 2023/137755] and Wang [WO 2023173437] teach the wireless node of claim 1, however, the references do not teach wherein the configuration indicates to monitor only for a non-discontinuous transmission result on a first feedback occasion of the plurality of feedback occasions, and to monitor for a discontinuous transmission result and a non-discontinuous transmission result on a second feedback occasion of the plurality of feedback occasions. Wu teaches wherein the configuration indicates to monitor only for a non-discontinuous transmission result on a first feedback occasion of the plurality of feedback occasions, and to monitor for a discontinuous transmission result and a non-discontinuous transmission result on a second feedback occasion of the plurality of feedback occasions. (Wu teaches [0083] “Returning to FIG. 2, in some examples, there may not be explicit configuration of multiple feedback resource sets (e.g., as in some examples, different feedback resource set for different feedback modes or feedback types), however, the determination of a feedback resource for a data transmission may take into account the feedback mode or feedback type, such that for a different feedback mode (e.g., NACK-only mode or ACK/NACK mode) or different feedback type (positive acknowledgement or negative acknowledgement), the determined feedback resource would be different.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching as taught by Wu in the system of Lee and Lei, so that the configuration indicates to monitor only for a non-discontinuous transmission result on a first feedback occasion of the plurality of feedback occasions, and to monitor for a discontinuous transmission result and a non-discontinuous transmission result on a second feedback occasion of the plurality of feedback occasions. The modification would promote enhanced efficiency for high reliability and low latency operations (Wu, para. [0017]).
Claims 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lei [WO 2023/137755] and Wang [WO 2023173437] as applied to claim 1 above and further in view of Lei (US 20220052790 A1).
As claim 17, Lei ’755 fail to disclose what Wang [WO 2023173437] discloses to monitor for feedback on the plurality of feedback occasions based at least in part on the discontinuous transmission counter, the one or more processors are configured to cause the wireless node to: reset the discontinuous transmission counter upon reception of the feedback including a response corresponding to any hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) process for which the wireless node is monitoring for feedback [Par. 0065-0079 disclose the DTX counter may be incremented by 1 based on not detecting the HARQ feedback is due to a channel state or a PSSCH decoding failure of a receiving UE or reinitializing counter]. However, Wang and Lei fail to disclose feedback includes a valid codebook. However, Lei teaches feedback including a valid codebook. Lei teaches [0099] (“According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, one HARQ process may be indicated by tri-state TB-level HARQ-ACK information. In other words, three states may be used to indicate one HARQ process. The three states may be “ACK,” “NACK,” and “DTX.” All the HARQ processes may be firstly indicated by tri-state TB-level HARQ-ACK information in the first sub-codebook, and then the first x HARQ processes indicated by “NACK” in the first sub-codebook may be indicated by CBG-level HARQ-ACK information bits in the second sub-codebook.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching as taught by Lei in the system of Lei’ 755 and Wang, so that including a valid codebook. The modification provides a technical solution for HARQ-ACK codebook reduction, which can avoid extra blind detection effort at UE side and ensure both UE side and BS side have the same understanding on the reduced HARQ-ACK codebook. (Lei, para. [0012]).
As claim 18, Lei ‘755 fails to disclose what Lee teaches the wireless node of claim 1, and further, the references teach wherein, to monitor for feedback on the plurality of feedback occasions based at least in part on the discontinuous transmission counter, the one or more processors are configured to cause the wireless node to: receive the feedback; and increment the discontinuous transmission counter [Par. 0065-0079 discloses the DTX counter may be incremented by 1 based on not detecting the HARQ feedback is due to a channel state or a PSSCH decoding failure of a receiving UE or reinitializing counter,]. However, Wang and Lei ’755 fail to teach weighted number of negative acknowledgments indicated by a codebook of the feedback. However, Lei teaches in accordance with a weighted number of negative acknowledgments indicated by a codebook of the feedback. Lei teaches [0099] (“According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, one HARQ process may be indicated by tri-state TB-level HARQ-ACK information. In other words, three states may be used to indicate one HARQ process. The three states may be “ACK,” “NACK,” and “DTX.” All the HARQ processes may be firstly indicated by tri-state TB-level HARQ-ACK information in the first sub-codebook, and then the first x HARQ processes indicated by “NACK” in the first sub-codebook may be indicated by CBG-level HARQ-ACK information bits in the second sub-codebook. A decimal feedback value can be generated from the tri-state value for each HARQ process, where h(t) is a numeric value representing one of the three states (e.g. 0="ACK,” 1="NACK,” 2="DTX”) and N is the number of all the HARQ processes.”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching as taught by Lei in the system of Wang and Lei ‘755, in accordance with a weighted number of negative acknowledgments indicated by a codebook of the feedback. The modification provides a technical solution for HARQ-ACK codebook reduction, which can avoid extra blind detection effort at UE side and ensure both UE side and BS side have the same understanding on the reduced HARQ-ACK codebook. (Lei, para. [0012]).
Claims 20 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lei [WO 2023/137755] and Wang [WO 2023173437 A1] as applied to claim 19 above and further in view of Li (US 20130017825 A1).
Regarding claim 20, Lei and Wang teach the wireless node of claim 19, however, the references do not teach wherein the selected mode is based at least in part on a likelihood of a radio link failure of the sidelink unicast link. Li teaches wherein the selected mode is based at least in part on a likelihood of a radio link failure of the sidelink unicast link. (Li teaches [0029] “On the other hand, a size of a feedback set of the transmission points TP1-TP7 determined by a UE is preferably related to the signal quality, i.e., related to the quality region in which the signal quality locates. For example, the UE with a better signal quality only needs a feedback set with a small size (i.e. a small number of transmission points) for the COMP scheme, and the UE with a worse signal quality may need a feedback set with a large size (i.e. a large number of transmission points). In other words, the size of the feedback set increases when the signal quality decreases, and the size of the feedback set decreases when the signal quality increases. Besides, amount of channel information is related to the signal quality.”) The “signal quality decreases” results in radio link failure, thus, disclosure of “signal quality decreases” is interpreted as “likelihood of a radio link failure”.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching as taught by Li in the system of Lei and Wang so that the selected mode is based at least in part on a likelihood of a radio link failure of the sidelink unicast link. The modification would exploit the channel information for performing transmissions and receptions of signals according to the COMP scheme (e.g. the JP or the CS/CB) efficiently to obtain a better performance after receiving the channel information. (Li, para. [0029]).
Regarding claim 23, Lei and Wang teach the wireless node of claim 1, however, the references do not teach wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the wireless node to: transmit, to a network entity, an indication of a likelihood of a radio link failure of the sidelink unicast link, wherein sidelink resources associated with the plurality of feedback occasions are allocated based at least in part on the likelihood of the radio link failure of the sidelink unicast link. Li teaches wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the wireless node to: transmit, to a network entity, an indication of a likelihood of a radio link failure of the sidelink unicast link (Li teaches [0010] “the method comprises measuring signal quality between the mobile device and the plurality of transmission points...feeding back the channel information to the set of the plurality of transmission points, wherein the channel information is related to a plurality of channels between the mobile device and the set of the plurality of transmission points.”), wherein sidelink resources associated with the plurality of feedback occasions are allocated based at least in part on the likelihood of the radio link failure of the sidelink unicast link. (Li teaches [0029] “On the other hand, a size of a feedback set of the transmission points TP1-TP7 determined by a UE is preferably related to the signal quality, i.e., related to the quality region in which the signal quality locates. For example, the UE with a better signal quality only needs a feedback set with a small size (i.e. a small number of transmission points) for the COMP scheme, and the UE with a worse signal quality may need a feedback set with a large size (i.e. a large number of transmission points). In other words, the size of the feedback set increases when the signal quality decreases, and the size of the feedback set decreases when the signal quality increases. Besides, amount of channel information is related to the signal quality.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching as taught by Li in the system of Wang and Lei, so to transmit, to a network entity, an indication of a likelihood of a radio link failure of the sidelink unicast link, wherein sidelink resources associated with the plurality of feedback occasions are allocated based at least in part on the likelihood of the radio link failure of the sidelink unicast link. The modification would exploit the channel information for performing transmissions and receptions of signals according to the COMP scheme (e.g. the JP or the CS/CB) efficiently to obtain a better performance after receiving the channel information. (Li, para. [0029]).
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.
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/STEVEN HIEU D NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2414
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