DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office Action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/29/2025 has been entered and made of record.
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 Status
Claim 1, 4, 7, 14, 18 and 23 are amended.
No new claims is/are added.
Claims 1-2, 4-10, 13-18, 21-23 and 49 are currently pending for examination.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments (remark pages 11-13), filed on 12/29/2025, with respect to claims 1-2, 4-10, 13-18, 21-23 and 49 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground of rejection below which better address the claimed invention as amended.
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.
Claims 1-2, 4-9, 13-17, 21-23, and 49 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being unpatentable over Di Girolamo et al (US 20230014303 A1), hereinafter “Girolamo”, in view of Kang et al. (US 20220158776 A1), hereinafter “Kang”.
Per Claim 1, 14, 23 and 49:
Claim 23 is ‘A sidelink terminal, being a target node’ and Claim 1 is the method of claim 23.
Claim 49 is ‘A sidelink terminal, being a sidelink peer terminal of a target node’, which implements the method of claim 14.
Regarding claim 23, Girolamo teaches ‘A sidelink terminal, being a target node for determining DRX configuration’ (Girolamo: [FIG.5]: “UE1” with sidelinks to other UEs; FIG.5]: [Abstract]: “UE behavior for sidelink DRX operation”); ‘comprising: a processor, configured to read a program in a memory and perform the following processes’ (Girolamo: [FIG.26F]: “Processor”, “Memory”, [0459]: “computer-executable instructions (software) stored in a memory of, and executing on a processor”);
‘determining sidelink DRX configuration corresponding to a specific target of the sidelink interface’ (Girolamo: [FIG.19]: Step 282 “Determine SL DRX Parameters”; [FIG.5]: type of sidelink interface; [TABLE 2]: “Sidelinks per DRX Model”, DRX configuration for different target of sidelink interface);
‘a transceiver, configured to receive and transmit data’ (Girolamo: [FIG.26F]: “Transceiver”, [0439]: “transceivers for communicating with different wireless networks”); ‘under the control of the processor’ (this is implied);
‘wherein the specific target is a combination of the sidelink interface source identity, the sidelink interface destination identity and a cast type of the sidelink interface’ (Girolamo: [TABLE 2]: “Sidelinks per DRX Model”, “Per source/destination pair”, “Per cast type”; [FIG.5]: “SL Comm 1: unicast Unidirectional TX”, Source “UE1”, destination “UE2”; [0149]: “a SL DRX operation that applies to a specific source/destination pair”; [0148]: “Per cast type: A SL DRX operation applies to a specific cast type (e.g., unicast, groupcast, or broadcast)”). However, Girolamo fails to expressly teach a combination of source identity, destination identity and a cast type;
‘wherein the determining sidelink DRX configuration corresponding to a specific target of the sidelink interface comprises one of the following: when the cast type of the sidelink interface is unicast, the target terminal being any terminal participating in unicast communication of the sidelink interface’ (this is optional);
‘when the cast type of the sidelink interface is broadcast or groupcast or multicast, the target terminal being a transmitting terminal participating in the broadcast or groupcast or multicast communication of the sidelink interface’ (Girolamo: [TABLE 2]: “Sidelinks per DRX Model”, “Per cast type”; [0148]: “A SL DRX operation applies to a specific cast type (e.g., unicast, groupcast, or broadcast). Communication of a certain cast type will follow the SL DRX operation associated to that cast type (e.g., unicast, groupcast, or broadcast)”; [0002]: “groupcast (between a UE and a fixed number of other UEs), or broadcast (between a UE and all other UEs in proximity)”; [0114]: “The terms groupcast and multicast may be used interchangeably”, for cast type of broadcast or groupcast (multicast), the target UE would be a transmitting UE in the broadcast or groupcast(multicast) respectively);
‘wherein the determining sidelink DRX configuration corresponding to a specific target of the sidelink interface comprises one of the following or a combination thereof: determining the DRX configuration corresponding to the specific target of the sidelink interface based on a connection state of Uu interface of the target terminal’ (Girolamo: [0113]: “a UE that has a Uu interface to its serving cell and the UE may execute operations that may include communicating with SL communication with one or more other peer UEs … extending the active time based on Uu activities related to SL communication”; [0202]: “UE 201 may use a configured sidelink DRX operation. The DRX operation is modeled after Uu RRC CONNECTED mode DRX operation”; [0214]: “SL DRX may be enabled/disabled based on the status of the Uu interface. For example, the SL DRX may be enabled when the Uu DRX enters the OFF state, and disabled when the Uu DRX enters the ON state … SL DRX may be enabled when the Uu interface enters RRC_INACTIVE state, and disabled when the UE leaves RRC_INACTIVE state. As another example, SL DRX may be enabled when the Uu interface enters RRC_CONNECTED state, and disabled when the UE leaves RRC_CONNECTED state”; [FIG.5]: “Uu Connection”; [0096]: “In cases where the UE has an active connection over the Uu interface with its serving cell, in addition to active sidelink communication, the UE may engage in DRX operation on Uu”; [0098]: “In cases where the UE has an active connection over the Uu interface with its serving cell, in addition to active sidelink communication, the UE may engage in DRX operation on Uu”; [0099]: “Uu DRX-SL DRX Interaction”);
‘determining the DRX configuration corresponding to the specific target of the sidelink interface based on implementation of the target terminal’ (this is optional).
First, it is an obvious alternate to combine “Per source/destination pair” with ““Per cast type” for finer classification of DRX model for SL interface.
Moreover, Kang in the same field of endeavor teaches a combination of source index (identity), destination index (identity) and cast type about SL interface (Kang: [Table 8]: “Destination Index”, “Source Index”, “Cast type (broadcast, groupcast, unicast)”, “SL”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Kang’s teaching with that of Girolamo in order to further classify SL interface for SL DRX configuration.
Regarding claim 1, claim 1 recites the method implemented by the sidelink terminal of claim 23 (discussed above).
Regarding claim 14, Girolamo teaches ‘A DRX processing method’ (Girolamo: [Abstract]: “SL DRX mechanism is used for power savings … Methods”); ‘applied to a sidelink peer terminal of a target node for determining DRX configuration’ (Girolamo: [FIG 19]: peer terminal “UEa” of “UE2”); ‘comprising:
receiving DRX configuration information corresponding to a specific target of a sidelink interface’ (Girolamo: [0061]: [FIG 19]: Step 283 “SL DRX Configuration Request”, “UEa” receives the DRX configuration from “UE2”; [TABLE 2]: “Sidelinks per DRX Model”, specific target such as “Per source/destination pair” or “per cast type”);
‘wherein the DRX configuration information corresponding to the specific target of the sidelink interface is determined by the target terminal based on the specific target of the sidelink interface’ (Girolamo: [TABLE 2]: “Sidelinks per DRX Model”, DRX configuration for different target of sidelink interface; [0149]: “a SL DRX operation that applies to a specific source/destination pair”; [FIG.5]: type of sidelink interface);
‘the specific target of the sidelink interface; the specific target is a combination of the sidelink interface source identity, the sidelink interface destination identity and a cast type of the sidelink interface’ (Girolamo: [TABLE 2]: “Sidelinks per DRX Model”, “Per source/destination pair”, “Per cast type”; [FIG.5]: “SL Comm 1: unicast Unidirectional TX”, Source “UE1”, destination “UE2”; [0149]: “a SL DRX operation that applies to a specific source/destination pair”; [0148]: “Per cast type: A SL DRX operation applies to a specific cast type (e.g., unicast, groupcast, or broadcast)”). However, Girolamo fails to expressly teach a combination of source identity, destination identity and a cast type;
‘wherein, when the cast type of the sidelink interface is unicast, the target terminal is any terminal participating in unicast communication of the sidelink interface’ (Girolamo: [TABLE 2]: “Sidelinks per DRX Model”, “Per cast type”; [0148]: “A SL DRX operation applies to a specific cast type (e.g., unicast, groupcast, or broadcast). Communication of a certain cast type will follow the SL DRX operation associated to that cast type (e.g., unicast”; for unicast, target UE would be any terminal in the unicast communication);
‘when the cast type of the sidelink interface is broadcast or groupcast or mulicast, the target terminal is a transmitting terminal participating in broadcast or groupcast or mulicast communication of the sidelink interface’ (Girolamo: [TABLE 2]: “Sidelinks per DRX Model”, “Per cast type”; [0148]: “A SL DRX operation applies to a specific cast type (e.g., unicast, groupcast, or broadcast). Communication of a certain cast type will follow the SL DRX operation associated to that cast type (e.g., unicast, groupcast, or broadcast)”; [0002]: “groupcast (between a UE and a fixed number of other UEs), or broadcast (between a UE and all other UEs in proximity)”; [0114]: “The terms groupcast and multicast may be used interchangeably”; for cast type of broadcast or groupcast (multicast), the target UE would be a transmitting UE in the broadcast or groupcast(multicast) respectively);
‘wherein the sidelink DRX configuration corresponding to a specific target of the sidelink interface is determined as follows: determining the DRX configuration corresponding to the specific target of the sidelink interface based on a connection state of Uu interface of the target terminal’ (Girolamo: [0113]: “a UE that has a Uu interface to its serving cell and the UE may execute operations that may include communicating with SL communication with one or more other peer UEs … extending the active time based on Uu activities related to SL communication”; [0202]: “UE 201 may use a configured sidelink DRX operation. The DRX operation is modeled after Uu RRC CONNECTED mode DRX operation”; [0214]: “SL DRX may be enabled/disabled based on the status of the Uu interface. For example, the SL DRX may be enabled when the Uu DRX enters the OFF state, and disabled when the Uu DRX enters the ON state … SL DRX may be enabled when the Uu interface enters RRC_INACTIVE state, and disabled when the UE leaves RRC_INACTIVE state. As another example, SL DRX may be enabled when the Uu interface enters RRC_CONNECTED state, and disabled when the UE leaves RRC_CONNECTED state”; [FIG.5]: “Uu Connection”; [0096]: “In cases where the UE has an active connection over the Uu interface with its serving cell, in addition to active sidelink communication, the UE may engage in DRX operation on Uu”; [0098]: “In cases where the UE has an active connection over the Uu interface with its serving cell, in addition to active sidelink communication, the UE may engage in DRX operation on Uu”; [0099]: “Uu DRX-SL DRX Interaction”);
‘determining the DRX configuration corresponding to the specific target of the sidelink interface based on implementation of the target terminal’ (this is optional).
First, it is an obvious alternate to combine “Per source/destination pair” with ““Per cast type” for finer classification of DRX model for SL interface.
Moreover, Kang in the same field of endeavor teaches a combination of source index (identity), destination index (identity) and cast type about SL interface (Kang: [Table 8]: “Destination Index”, “Source Index”, “Cast type (broadcast, groupcast, unicast)”, “SL”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Kang’s teaching with that of Girolamo in order to further classify SL interface for SL DRX configuration.
Regarding claim 49, Girolamo teaches ‘A sidelink terminal, being a sidelink peer terminal of a target node for determining DRX configuration’ (Girolamo: [FIG.5]: “UE1” with sidelinks to other UEs; FIG.5]: [Abstract]: “UE behavior for sidelink DRX operation); ‘comprising: a processor, configured to read a program in a memory’ (Girolamo: [FIG.26F]: “Processor”, “Memory”; [0459]: “computer-executable instructions (software) stored in a memory of, and executing on a processor”);
‘perform the DRX processing method according to claim 14’ (see rejection of claim 14 above).
Per Claim 2 and 15:
Regarding claim 2, combination of Girolamo and Kang teaches the method of claim 1 (discussed above).
Girolamo teaches ‘wherein the cast type of the sidelink interface is unicast, groupcast, broadcast; or, unicast and multicast’ (Girolamo: [FIG.5]; [0119]: “UE sidelink communication may include SL unicast, SL groupcast or sidelink broadcast”; [0114]: “The terms groupcast and multicast may be used interchangeably”).
Regarding claim 15, combination of Girolamo and Kang teaches the method of claim 14 (discussed above).
Girolamo teaches ‘wherein the cast type of the sidelink interface is unicast, groupcast, broadcast; or, unicast and multicast’ (Girolamo: [FIG.5]; [0119]: “UE sidelink communication may include SL unicast, SL groupcast or sidelink broadcast”; [0114]: “The terms groupcast and multicast may be used interchangeably”).
Regarding claim 4, combination of Girolamo and Kang teaches the method of claim 1 (discussed above).
Girolamo teaches ‘for the sidelink interface, determining the DRX configuration corresponding to the specific target of the sidelink interface based on rules defined in protocol or based on preconfiguration’ (Girolamo: [0178]–[0179]: “The UEs may be (pre)provisioned, preconfigured … to be used in the determination of the SL DRX configuration”, SL is sidelink).
Regarding claim 5, combination of Girolamo and Kang teaches the method of claim 1 (discussed above).
Girolamo teaches ‘if the connection state of the Uu interface of the target terminal is a RRC connected state, obtaining DRX configuration information corresponding to the specific target of the sidelink interface from a network side device serving the target node through dedicated signaling, and determining the DRX configuration corresponding to the specific target of the sidelink interface according to the DRX configuration information’ (Girolamo: [0226]: “serving cell 205 configures the SL DRX for UE 201”; [0020]: “a UE-specific cycle is configured via RRC signalling”; [0178]-[0179]: UEs may be “configured through dedicated signaling, or through system information … to be used in the determination of the SL DRX configuration”, configured through dedicated signaling for RRC connected state and through system information for RRC idle state; [TABLE 2]: “Sidelinks per DRX Model”, specific target such as “Per source/destination pair” or “per cast type”);
‘if the connection state of the Uu interface of the target terminal is a RRC idle state or inactive state, obtaining the DRX configuration information corresponding to the specific target of the sidelink interface from the network side device serving the target node through broadcast, and determining the DRX configuration corresponding to the specific target of the sidelink interface according to the DRX configuration information; if the connection state of the Uu interface of the target terminal is an off-network state, obtaining the DRX configuration information corresponding to the specific target of the sidelink interface from pre-configured information, and determining the DRX configuration corresponding to the specific target of the sidelink interface according to the DRX configuration information’ (these are optional).
Regarding claim 6, combination of Girolamo and Kang teaches the method of claim 5 (discussed above).
Girolamo teaches ‘identification information of the specific target of the sidelink interface’ (this is optional); ‘the DRX configuration corresponding to the specific target of the sidelink interface’ (Girolamo: [0240]:“UE 201 may provide an indication that it wants DRX for a certain … cast type”; [TABLE 2]: “Sidelinks DRX Model”, specific target such as “Per source/destination pair” or “per cast type”).
Regarding claim 7, combination of Girolamo and Kang teaches the method of claim 1 (discussed above).
Girolamo teaches ‘receiving, by the target terminal, first assistant information from a sidelink peer terminal of the target node, wherein a content of the first assistant information includes the DRX configuration corresponding to the specific target of the sidelink interface proposed by the sidelink peer terminal’ (Girolamo: [0256]: “UE 201 may send UE Assistance Information to the peer UEs for which it would like to use SL DRX. In the example call flow, it may be assumed that UE 201 only would like to use SL DRX with UE 203. This information may include one or more of the following indication of the requested DRX parameters”, the specific target proposed is “Per source/destination pair” between “UE201” and “UE 203”; the target terminal (“peer UEs”) would receive the UE assistant information from its sidelink peer “UE 201”; [0257]: describe the SL DRX for specific target such as cast type and peer UE);
‘if the connection state of the Uu interface of the target terminal is the RRC connected state, transmitting, by the target node, second assistant information to a base station serving the target node, wherein a content of the second assistant information includes the DRX configuration corresponding to the specific target of the sidelink interface proposed by the target node or the sidelink peer terminal of the target node’ (these are optional).
Regarding claim 8, combination of Girolamo and Kang teaches the method of claim 1 (discussed above).
Girolamo teaches ‘when the cast type of the sidelink interface is unicast, transmitting, by the target terminal, the DRX configuration information corresponding to the specific target of the sidelink interface to the sidelink peer terminal by unicast singling of the sidelink interface’ (Girolamo: [FIG 19]: Step 283 “SL DRX Configuration Request”, the request is unicast from UE2 to UEa; [0149]: “a SL DRX operation that applies to a specific source/destination pair”; [FIG 5]: “SL Comm 1: Unicast Unidirectional Tx”, UE201 and UE202; [TABLE 2]: “Sidelinks per DRX Model”, specific target is “Per source/destination pair” for unicast between “UE2” and “UEa”);
‘or, when the cast type of the sidelink interface is groupcast, transmitting, by the target terminal, the DRX configuration information corresponding to the specific target of the sidelink interface to the sidelink peer terminal by a groupcast mode of the sidelink interface; or, when the cast type of the sidelink interface is broadcast, transmitting, by the target terminal, the DRX configuration information corresponding to the specific target of the sidelink interface to the sidelink peer terminal by a broadcast mode of the sidelink interface’ (these are optional).
Regarding claim 16, combination of Girolamo and Kang teaches the method of claim 14 (discussed above).
Girolamo teaches ‘when the cast type of the sidelink interface is unicast, receiving the DRX configuration information corresponding to the specific target of the sidelink interface from the target terminal by unicast signaling of the sidelink interface’ (Girolamo: [FIG.5]: “SL Comm1: Unicast Unidirectional TX”; [TABLE 2]: “Sidelinks per DRX Model”, specific target is “Per source/destination Pair” for unicast between “UE2” and “UEa”; [0149]: “a SL DRX operation that applies to a specific source/destination pair”; [FIG.19]: Step 283 “SL DRX Configuration Request”, UEa would receive unicast request from UE2);
‘or, when the cast type of the sidelink interface is groupcast, receiving the DRX configuration information corresponding to the specific target of the sidelink interface from the target terminal by a groupcast mode of the sidelink interface; or, when the cast type of the sidelink interface is broadcast, receiving the DRX configuration information corresponding to the specific target of the sidelink interface from the target terminal by a broadcast mode of the sidelink interface’ (these are optional).
Per Claim 9 and 17:
Regarding claim 9, combination of Girolamo and Kang teaches the method of claim 8 (discussed above).
Girolamo teaches ‘PC5 Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling’ (Girolamo: [0114]: “SL communication between the two peer UEs also has a PC5-RRC signaling connection”); ‘PC5 Media Access Control Control Element (MAC CE) or PC5 Physical Layer (PHY) signaling’ (these are optional).
Regarding claim 17, combination of Girolamo and Kang teaches the method of claim 16 (discussed above).
Girolamo teaches ‘PC5 Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling’ (Girolamo: [0114]: “SL communication between the two peer UEs also has a PC5-RRC signaling connection”); ‘PC5 Media Access Control Control Element (MAC CE) or PC5 Physical Layer (PHY) signaling’ (these are optional).
Per Claim 13 and 22:
Regarding claim 13, combination of Girolamo and Kang teaches the method of claim 1 (discussed above).
Girolamo teaches ‘a DRX start point, a DRX cycle length, a DRX active period length, a DRX inactive period length, a Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) Round Trip Time (RTT) timer, a HARQ retransmission timer’ (these are optional); ‘a DRX inactive timer’ (Girolamo: [TABLE 5]: “SL DRX Configuration Parameters”, “drx-InactivityTimerSL”).
Regarding claim 22, combination of Girolamo and Kang teaches the method of claim 14 (discussed above).
Girolamo teaches ‘a DRX start point, a DRX cycle length, a DRX active period length, a DRX inactive period length, a Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) Round Trip Time (RTT) timer, a HARQ retransmission timer’ (these are optional); ‘a DRX inactive timer’ (Girolamo: [TABLE 5]: “SL DRX Configuration Parameters”, “drx-InactivityTimerSL”).
Regarding claim 21, combination of Girolamo and Kang teaches the method of claim 14 (discussed above).
Girolamo teaches ‘transmitting first assistant information to the target terminal, wherein a content of the first assistant information includes the DRX configuration corresponding to the specific target of the sidelink interface proposed by the sidelink peer terminal of the target terminal’ (Girolamo: [0256]: “UE 201 may send UE Assistance Information to the peer UEs for which it would like to use SL DRX … This information may include one or more of the following indication of the requested DRX parameters”; [0257]: describe the SL DRX for specific target such as cast type and peer UE).
Claims 10 and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over combination of Girolamo and Kang, in view of Miao et al. (US 20230337140 A1), hereinafter “Miao”.
Per Claim 10 and 18:
Regarding claim 10, combination of Girolamo and Kang teaches the method of claim 8 (discussed above).
Combination of Girolamo and Kang does not expressly teach, but Miao in the same field of endeavor teaches ‘repeated transmissions according to a preset number of times’ (this is optional);
‘repeated transmissions according to a preset period T’ (Miao: [0097]: “the group sidelink DRX configuration may be transmitted using a periodical manner with a predefined period”);
‘repeated transmissions on a specific time or frequency domain resource’ (these are optional);
‘wherein the preset period T is determined according to a pre-configuration or a protocol agreement’ (Miao: [0097]: “the group sidelink DRX configuration may be transmitted using a periodical manner with a predefined period”, the preset period T may be determined based on the predefined period);
‘according to a period of the DRX configuration’ (Miao: [0006]: “a sidelink DRX configuration indicating a sidelink DRX cycle including a first duration during which sidelink communications are allowed to be performed among terminal devices in the communication network and a second duration during which the sidelink communications are not allowed to be performed”, period T may align with the duration during which sidelink communications are allowed);
‘wherein the specific time domain or frequency domain resource is determined according to a pre-configuration or a protocol agreement, or negotiated between terminals in sidelink’ (these are optional).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Miao’s teaching with that of Girolamo in order for terminal devices to efficiently communicate with each other using sidelink DRX operations (Miao: [Abstract]: “terminal devices can efficiently communicate with each other using sidelink DRX operations”).
Regarding claim 18, combination of Girolamo and Kang teaches the method of claim 16 (discussed above).
Combination of Girolamo and Kang does not expressly teach, but Miao teaches ‘repeated transmissions according to a preset number of times’ (this is optional);
‘repeated transmissions according to a preset period T’ (Miao: [0097]: “the group sidelink DRX configuration may be transmitted using a periodical manner with a predefined period”);
‘repeated transmissions on a specific time or frequency domain resource’ (these are optional);
‘wherein the preset period T is determined according to a pre-configuration or a protocol agreement’ (Miao: [0097]: “the group sidelink DRX configuration may be transmitted using a periodical manner with a predefined period”, the preset period T may be determined based on the predefined period);
‘according to a period of the DRX configuration’ (Miao: [0006]: “a sidelink DRX configuration indicating a sidelink DRX cycle including a first duration during which sidelink communications are allowed to be performed among terminal devices in the communication network and a second duration during which the sidelink communications are not allowed to be performed”, period T may align with the duration during which sidelink communications are allowed);
‘wherein the specific time domain or frequency domain resource is determined according to a pre-configuration or a protocol agreement, or negotiated between terminals in sidelink’ (this is optional).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Miao’s teaching with that of Girolamo in order for terminal devices to efficiently communicate with each other using sidelink DRX operations (Miao: [Abstract]: “terminal devices can efficiently communicate with each other using sidelink DRX operations”).
Conclusion
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/G.F./Examiner, Art Unit 2462
/YEMANE MESFIN/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2462