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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 1/13/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The RCE and amendment filed 1/13/2026 has been entered
Claims 1-5, 8-12, 15-18, 20-22, and 24-25 are rejected.
Claims 6-7, 13-14, 19, and 23 are canceled.
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.
Claims 1-2, 4-5, 8-9, 11-12, 15, and 24-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US 2020/0169986) in view of Wang (US 2019/0208441) (hereinafter as Wang’441).
Regarding Claim 1, Lee teaches a carrier selection method, wherein the method comprises:
obtaining channel busy ratios (CBR) of a plurality of candidate carriers (Lee, paragraph 169, the UE may know the CBR level of each carrier either by measuring CBR by a lower layer on the carrier or by receiving a CBR value from a cell, support in provisional 62/536,977, page 43, second from last paragraph);
selecting a carrier from the plurality of carriers according to the CBRs of the plurality of carriers (Lee, paragraph 169, the UE may (randomly) select one or more carriers of which CBR value is below the threshold among the indicated carriers, support in provisional 62/536,977, page 43, second from last paragraph);
Lee does not explicitly teach the below limitations:
determining whether a CBR of a first carrier exceeds a threshold, wherein the first carrier is a carrier used by a terminal device in current data transmission; and
if the CBR of the first carrier exceeds the threshold, (selecting a carrier from the plurality of carriers according to the CBRs of the plurality of carriers); and
if the CBR of the first carrier does not exceed the threshold, selecting a carrier having the smallest CBR in the plurality of candidate carriers as a to-be-used carrier; or
selecting any carrier in the plurality of candidate carriers as a to-be-used carrier.
However Wang’441 teaches the below limitations:
determining whether a CBR of a first carrier exceeds a threshold, wherein the first carrier is a carrier used by a terminal device in current data transmission (Wang’441, paragraph 74, if a channel busy ratio is higher than a fourth threshold, then determine to select resources); and
if the CBR of the first carrier exceeds the threshold, (selecting a carrier from the plurality of carriers according to the CBRs of the plurality of carriers) (Wang’441, paragraph 74, if a channel busy ratio is higher than a fourth threshold, then determine to select resources); and
if the CBR of the first carrier does not exceed the threshold, selecting a carrier having the smallest CBR in the plurality of candidate carriers as a to-be-used carrier; or
selecting any carrier in the plurality of candidate carriers as a to-be-used carrier (Wang’441, paragraph 74, if a channel busy ratio is higher than a fourth threshold, then determine to select resources, hence if the CBR is lower than or equal to the threshold then carrier reselection would not occur and the same carrier is used for transmission, it is interpreted that the currently used carrier may be considered a candidate carrier, hence in this case not reselecting and therefore using the same carrier is interpreted as the same as selecting the current carrier to be (continued to be) used).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lee by adding carrier selection when a CBR of a current carrier is above or below a threshold as taught by Wang’441. Because Lee and Wang’441 teach channel busy ratio, and specifically Wang’441 teaches carrier selection when a CBR of a current carrier is above or below a threshold for the benefit of the analogous art of transmission of sidelink signals to other UEs (Wang’441, paragraph 15).
Regarding Claim 2, Lee and Wang’441 further teach wherein the plurality of carriers comprise the first carrier (Lee, paragraph 169, the UE may know the CBR level of each carrier by measuring CBR by a lower layer on the carrier, Wang’441, paragraph 74, if a channel busy ratio is higher than a fourth threshold, then determine to select resources, hence the currently used carrier must be measured to determine whether to select a different carrier).
Regarding Claim 4, Lee and Wang’441 further teach wherein the method is performed by the terminal device, and the obtaining CBRs of the plurality of candidate carriers comprises (Lee, paragraph 169, the UE may know the CBR level of each carrier by measuring CBR by a lower layer on the carrier, support in provisional 62/536,977, page 43, second from last paragraph):
measuring, by the terminal device, the CBRs of the plurality of carriers, to obtain the CBRs of the plurality of carriers (Lee, paragraph 169, the UE may know the CBR level of each carrier by measuring CBR by a lower layer on the carrier, support in provisional 62/536,977, page 43, second from last paragraph).
Regarding Claim 5, Lee and Wang’441 further teach wherein the method further comprises:
obtaining, by the terminal device, the threshold preconfigured in the terminal device (Lee, paragraph 169, the UE may know the CBR level of each carrier by measuring CBR by a lower layer on the carrier, the UE may select one or more carriers, Wang’441, paragraph 74, if a channel busy ratio is higher than a fourth threshold, then determine to select resources, hence this threshold would have been preconfigured in the terminal device as part of determining whether to select a new carrier); or
receiving, by the terminal device, configuration information sent by the network device, wherein the configuration information comprises the threshold.
Regarding Claim 8, Lee teaches a communication device, comprising (Lee, Fig 9, UE 900):
a processor (Lee, Fig 9, paragraph 221, a UE 900 includes a processor 901, a memory 902, and a transceiver 903, the memory 902 is coupled to the processor 901, and stores a variety of information for driving the processor 901, support in provision 62/536,977, page 47 last paragraph);
a memory having stored thereon an instruction, wherein the processor is configured to invoke the instruction stored in the memory to perform (Lee, Fig 9, paragraph 221, a UE 900 includes a processor 901, a memory 902, and a transceiver 903, the memory 902 is coupled to the processor 901, and stores a variety of information for driving the processor 901, support in provision 62/536,977, page 47 last paragraph):
obtaining channel busy ratios (CBR) of a plurality of candidate carriers (Lee, paragraph 169, the UE may know the CBR level of each carrier either by measuring CBR by a lower layer on the carrier or by receiving a CBR value from a cell, support in provisional 62/536,977, page 43, second from last paragraph);
selecting a carrier from the plurality of carriers according to the CBRs of the plurality of carriers (Lee, paragraph 169, the UE may (randomly) select one or more carriers of which CBR value is below the threshold among the indicated carriers, support in provisional 62/536,977);
Lee does not explicitly teach the below limitations:
determining whether a CBR of a first carrier exceeds a threshold, wherein the first carrier is a carrier used by the communication device in current data transmission; and
if the CBR of the first carrier exceeds the threshold, (selecting a carrier from the plurality of carriers according to the CBRs of the plurality of carriers); and
if the CBR of the first carrier does not exceed the threshold, selecting a carrier having the smallest CBR in the plurality of candidate carriers as a to-be-used carrier; or
selecting any carrier in the plurality of candidate carriers as a to-be-used carrier.
However Wang’441 teaches the below limitations:
determining whether a CBR of a first carrier exceeds a threshold, wherein the first carrier is a carrier used by the communication device in current data transmission (Wang’441, paragraph 74, if a channel busy ratio is higher than a fourth threshold, then determine to select resources); and
if the CBR of the first carrier exceeds the threshold, (selecting a carrier from the plurality of carriers according to the CBRs of the plurality of carriers) (Wang’441, paragraph 74, if a channel busy ratio is higher than a fourth threshold, then determine to select resources); and
if the CBR of the first carrier does not exceed the threshold, selecting a carrier having the smallest CBR in the plurality of candidate carriers as a to-be-used carrier; or
selecting any carrier in the plurality of candidate carriers as a to-be-used carrier (Wang’441, paragraph 74, if a channel busy ratio is higher than a fourth threshold, then determine to select resources, hence if the CBR is lower than or equal to the threshold then carrier reselection would not occur and the same carrier is used for transmission, it is interpreted that the currently used carrier may be considered a candidate carrier, hence in this case not reselecting and therefore using the same carrier is interpreted as the same as selecting the current carrier to be (continued to be) used).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lee by adding carrier selection when a CBR of a current carrier is above or below a threshold as taught by Wang’441. Because Lee and Wang’441 teach channel busy ratio, and specifically Wang’441 teaches carrier selection when a CBR of a current carrier is above or below a threshold for the benefit of the analogous art of transmission of sidelink signals to other UEs (Wang’441, paragraph 15).
Regarding Claim 9, Lee and Wang’441 further teach wherein the plurality of carriers comprise the first carrier (Lee, paragraph 169, the UE may know the CBR level of each carrier by measuring CBR by a lower layer on the carrier, Wang’441, paragraph 74, if a channel busy ration is higher than a fourth threshold, then determine to select resources, hence the currently used carrier must be measured to determine whether to select a different carrier).
Regarding Claim 11, Lee and Wang’441 further teach wherein the communication device is a terminal device, and the processor is configured to invoke the instruction stored in the memory to perform (Lee, paragraph 169, the UE may know the CBR level of each carrier by measuring CBR by a lower layer on the carrier, support in provisional 62/536,977, page 43, second from last paragraph):
measuring, by the terminal device, the CBRs of the plurality of carriers, to obtain the CBRs of the plurality of carriers (Lee, paragraph 169, the UE may know the CBR level of each carrier by measuring CBR by a lower layer on the carrier, support in provisional 62/536,977, page 43, second from last paragraph).
Regarding Claim 12, Lee and Wang’441 further teach wherein the processor is configured to invoke the instruction stored in the memory to perform:
obtaining, by a terminal device, the threshold preconfigured in the terminal device (Lee, paragraph 169, the UE may know the CBR level of each carrier by measuring CBR by a lower layer on the carrier, the UE may select one or more carriers, Wang’441, paragraph 74, if a channel busy ratio is higher than a fourth threshold, then determine to select resources, hence this threshold would have been preconfigured in the terminal device as part of determining whether to select a new carrier); or
receiving, by the terminal device, configuration information sent by the network device, wherein the configuration information comprises the threshold.
Regarding Claim 15, Lee and Wang’441 further teach a chip comprising a processor which is configured to invoke and run a computer program from a memory, to enable a device having the chip installed therein to perform the method according to claim 1 (Wang’441, paragraph 125, each functional block of each embodiment described can be realized by a Large-scale integrated (LSI) as an integrated circuit, and each process described in each embodiment may be controlled by LSI. They may be individually formed as chips, or one chip may be formed so as to include a part or all of the functional blocks. A reconfigurable processor in which the connections and the settings of circuits cells disposed inside the LSI can be reconfigured may be used. Hence the chip would have processing functionality to execute instructions).
Regarding Claim 24, Lee and Wang’441 further teach
wherein a CBR of each of the plurality of carriers is a CBR of a resource pool used by the terminal device on the carrier (Lee, paragraph 169, the UE may (randomly) select one or more carriers of which CBR value is below the threshold among the indicated carriers, support in provisional 62/536,977, page 43, second from last paragraph, paragraph 168, the network may indicate CBR level of a particular carrier or a particular resource pool, support in provisional 62/536,977, page 43, third and fourth bullets, paragraph 167 (support in provisional page 43, 3rd paragraph from bottom, 3rd bullet), the CBR threshold is per UE, per cell, per carrier, per frequency band or per resource pool),
wherein the resource pool used by the terminal device on the carrier is a resource pool in a plurality of resource pools that corresponds to a zone of the terminal device, and there are correspondences between the plurality of resource pools and a plurality of zones (Lee, paragraph 73, if mapping between the zones and V2X sidelink resource pools is configured, then the UE selects V2X sidelink resource pool based on the zone UE is located in, support in provisional 62/536,977, page 5, first paragraph).
Regarding Claim 25, Lee and Wang’441 further teach
wherein a CBR of each of the plurality of carriers is a CBR of a resource pool used by the terminal device on the carrier (Lee, paragraph 169, the UE may (randomly) select one or more carriers of which CBR value is below the threshold among the indicated carriers, support in provisional 62/536,977, page 43, second from last paragraph, paragraph 168, the network may indicate CBR level of a particular carrier or a particular resource pool, support in provisional 62/536,977, page 43, third and fourth bullets, paragraph 167 (support in provisional page 43, 3rd paragraph from bottom, 3rd bullet), the CBR threshold is per UE, per cell, per carrier, per frequency band or per resource pool),
wherein the resource pool used by the terminal device on the carrier is a resource pool in a plurality of resource pools that corresponds to a zone of the terminal device, and there are correspondences between the plurality of resource pools and a plurality of zones (Lee, paragraph 73, if mapping between the zones and V2X sidelink resource pools is configured, then the UE selects V2X sidelink resource pool based on the zone UE is located in, support in provisional 62/536,977, page 5, first paragraph)
Claims 3 and 10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US 2020/0169986) and Wang (US 2019/0208441) (hereinafter as Wang’441), and further in view of Wang (US 2020/0045719) (hereinafter as Wang’719).
Regarding Claim 3, Lee and Wang’441 partially teach wherein the selecting a carrier from the plurality of carriers comprises:
selecting a carrier having a smallest CBR as the to-be-used carrier from the plurality of carriers according to the CBRs of the plurality of carriers (Lee, paragraph 169, the UE may (randomly) select one or more carriers of which CBR value is below the threshold among the indicated carriers, support in provisional 62/536,977, page 43, second from last paragraph, paragraph 170, if the UE cannot find a carrier of which CBR value is below threshold, or if the UE needs additional carrier to transmit data, the UE may select a carrier with the lowest CBR value in an increasing order of the CBR value among the carriers of which CBR value is equal to or above the threshold, in this case the carrier with smallest CBR is selected, support in provisional 62/536,977, page 43 last paragraph).
However only selecting the carrier based on lowest CBR when there is no carrier with CBR below a threshold (in which case a random carrier of carriers whose CBR is below threshold is selected) in Lee is not the same as just selecting the carrier with the smallest CBR.
However Wang’719 teaches wherein the selecting a carrier from the plurality of carriers comprises:
selecting a carrier having a smallest CBR as the to-be-used carrier from the plurality of carriers according to the CBRs of the plurality of carriers (Wang’719, paragraph 47, the CBR for the resource pool of carrier CC1 is CBR1, the CBR for the resource pool of carrier CC2 is CBR2, and the CBR for the resource pool of carrier CC3 is CBR3, if CBR2<CBR1<CBR3, then the resource selector 220 selects the resources of the carrier CC2 first, as the resource pool of carrier CC2 has the lowest CBR).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lee and Wang’441 by adding carrier selection based on lowest CBR as taught by Wang’719. Because Lee, Wang’441, and Wang’719 teach channel busy ratio, and specifically Wang’719 teaches carrier selection based on lowest CBR for the benefit of the analogous art of selecting at least one resource across multiple carries for transmitting at least one packet in sidelink (Wang’719, paragraph 1).
Regarding Claim 10, Lee and Wang’441 partially teach wherein the processor is configured to invoke the instruction stored in the memory to perform:
selecting a carrier having a smallest CBR as the to-be-used carrier from the plurality of carriers according to the CBRs of the plurality of carriers (Lee, paragraph 169, the UE may (randomly) select one or more carriers of which CBR value is below the threshold among the indicated carriers, support in provisional 62/536,977, page 43, second from last paragraph, paragraph 170, if the UE cannot find a carrier of which CBR value is below threshold, or if the UE needs additional carrier to transmit data, the UE may select a carrier with the lowest CBR value in an increasing order of the CBR value among the carriers of which CBR value is equal to or above the threshold, in this case the carrier with smallest CBR is selected, support in provisional 62/536,977, page 43 last paragraph).
However only selecting the carrier based on lowest CBR when there is no carrier with CBR below a threshold (in which case a random carrier of carriers whose CBR is below threshold is selected) in Lee is not the same as just selecting the carrier with the smallest CBR.
However Wang’719 teaches wherein the processor is configured to invoke the instruction stored in the memory to perform:
selecting a carrier having a smallest CBR as the to-be-used carrier from the plurality of carriers according to the CBRs of the plurality of carriers (Wang’719, paragraph 47, the CBR for the resource pool of carrier CC1 is CBR1, the CBR for the resource pool of carrier CC2 is CBR2, and the CBR for the resource pool of carrier CC3 is CBR3, if CBR2<CBR1<CBR3, then the resource selector 220 selects the resources of the carrier CC2 first, as the resource pool of carrier CC2 has the lowest CBR).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lee and Wang’441 by adding carrier selection based on lowest CBR as taught by Wang’719. Because Lee, Wang’441, and Wang’719 teach channel busy ratio, and specifically Wang’719 teaches carrier selection based on lowest CBR for the benefit of the analogous art of selecting at least one resource across multiple carries for transmitting at least one packet in sidelink (Wang’719, paragraph 1).
Claims 16-18 and 20-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US 2020/0169986) and Wang (US 2019/0208441) (hereinafter as Wang’441), and further in view of Li (US 2019/0313405).
Regarding Claim 16, Lee and Wang’441 further teach wherein the determining whether a CBR of a first carrier exceeds a threshold comprises: determining whether a CBR of a first carrier exceeds a threshold (Wang’441, paragraph 74, if a channel busy ratio is higher than a fourth threshold, then determine to select resources).
Lee and Wang’441 do not explicitly teach the below limitation:
(wherein the determining whether a CBR of a first carrier exceeds a threshold comprises): when a value of a resource reselection counter C_resel is equal to 0, (determining whether a CBR of a first carrier exceeds a threshold);
However Li teaches the below limitation:
(wherein the determining whether a CBR of a first carrier exceeds a threshold comprises): when a value of a resource reselection counter C_resel is equal to 0, (determining whether a CBR of a first carrier exceeds a threshold) (Li, paragraph 103 that the resource re-selection is performed when the resource re-selection counter decrements to zero);
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lee and Wang’441 by adding resource selection when a resource re-selection counter decrements to zero as taught by Li. Because Lee, Wang’441, and Li teach resource selection, and specifically Li teaches resource selection when a resource re-selection counter decrements to zero for the benefit of the analogous art of resource selection or re-selection in a LTE D2D/V2X system (Li, paragraph 1).
Regarding Claim 17, Lee, Wang’441, and Li further teach wherein each of the plurality of candidate carriers is configured with a corresponding C_resel, and when a value of a resource reselection counter C_resel is equal to 0, the determining whether a CBR of a first carrier exceeds a threshold comprises: when a value of the C_resel corresponding to any one of the plurality of candidate carriers is equal to 0, determining whether a CBR of a first carrier exceeds a threshold (Wang’441, paragraph 74, if a channel busy ratio is higher than a fourth threshold, then determine to select resources, Lee, paragraph 169, the UE may (randomly) select one or more carriers of which CBR value is below the threshold among the indicated carriers, support in provisional 62/536,977, Li, paragraph 103 that the resource re-selection is performed when the resource re-selection counter decrements to zero, hence resource reselection would occur when a resource reselection counter of any singular or combination of carriers decrements to zero).
Regarding Claim 18, Lee and Wang’441 further teach wherein if the CBR of the first carrier exceeds the threshold, the selecting a carrier from the plurality of candidate carriers according to the CBRs of the plurality of carriers comprises: selecting a carrier from the plurality of candidate carriers according to the CBRs of the plurality of carriers (Wang’441, paragraph 74, if a channel busy ratio is higher than a fourth threshold, then determine to select resources, Lee, paragraph 169, the UE may (randomly) select one or more carriers of which CBR value is below the threshold among the indicated carriers, support in provisional 62/536,977).
Lee and Wang’441 do not explicitly teach (wherein if the CBR of the first carrier exceeds the threshold, the selecting a carrier from the plurality of candidate carriers according to the CBRs of the plurality of carriers comprises): if the CBR of the first carrier exceeds the threshold for a preset duration, (selecting a carrier from the plurality of candidate carriers according to the CBRs of the plurality of carriers).
However Li teaches (wherein if the CBR of the first carrier exceeds the threshold, the selecting a carrier from the plurality of candidate carriers according to the CBRs of the plurality of carriers comprises): if the CBR of the first carrier exceeds the threshold for a preset duration, (selecting a carrier from the plurality of candidate carriers according to the CBRs of the plurality of carriers) (Li, paragraph 103, After selecting a resource and occupying the resource for several cyclic periods, the device may release the resource, and re-perform resource selection).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lee and Wang’441 by adding resource selection when a CBR exceeds a threshold for a preset duration as taught by Li. Because Lee, Wang’441, and Li teach resource selection, and specifically Li teaches resource selection when a CBR exceeds a threshold for a preset duration for the benefit of the analogous art of resource selection or re-selection in a LTE D2D/V2X system (Li, paragraph 1).
Regarding Claim 20, Lee and Wang’441 further teach wherein the processor is configured to invoke the instruction stored in the memory to perform: determining whether a CBR of a first carrier exceeds a threshold (Wang’441, paragraph 74, if a channel busy ratio is higher than a fourth threshold, then determine to select resources).
Lee and Wang’441 do not explicitly teach the below limitation:
(wherein the processor is configured to invoke the instruction stored in the memory to perform): when a value of a resource reselection counter C_resel is equal to 0, (determining whether a CBR of a first carrier exceeds a threshold).
However Li teaches the below limitation:
(wherein the processor is configured to invoke the instruction stored in the memory to perform): when a value of a resource reselection counter C_resel is equal to 0, (determining whether a CBR of a first carrier exceeds a threshold) (Li, paragraph 103 that the resource re-selection is performed when the resource re-selection counter decrements to zero)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lee and Wang’441 by adding resource selection when a resource re-selection counter decrements to zero as taught by Li. Because Lee, Wang’441, and Li teach resource selection, and specifically Li teaches resource selection when a resource re-selection counter decrements to zero for the benefit of the analogous art of resource selection or re-selection in a LTE D2D/V2X system (Li, paragraph 1).
Regarding Claim 21, Lee, Wang’441, and Li further teach wherein each of the plurality of candidate carriers is configured with a corresponding C_resel, and the processor is configured to invoke the instruction stored in the memory to perform: when a value of the C_resel corresponding to any one of the plurality of candidate carriers is equal to 0, determining whether a CBR of a first carrier exceeds a threshold (Wang’441, paragraph 74, if a channel busy ratio is higher than a fourth threshold, then determine to select resources, Lee, paragraph 169, the UE may (randomly) select one or more carriers of which CBR value is below the threshold among the indicated carriers, support in provisional 62/536,977, Li, paragraph 103 that the resource re-selection is performed when the resource re-selection counter decrements to zero, hence resource reselection would occur when a resource reselection counter of any singular or combination of carriers decrements to zero).
Regarding Claim 22, Lee and Wang’441 further teach wherein the processor is configured to invoke the instruction stored in the memory to perform: selecting a carrier from the plurality of candidate carriers according to the CBRs of the plurality of carriers (Wang’441, paragraph 74, if a channel busy ratio is higher than a fourth threshold, then determine to select resources, Lee, paragraph 169, the UE may (randomly) select one or more carriers of which CBR value is below the threshold among the indicated carriers, support in provisional 62/536,977).
Lee and Wang’441 do not explicitly teach (wherein the processor is configured to invoke the instruction stored in the memory to perform): if the CBR of the first carrier exceeds the threshold for a preset duration, (selecting a carrier from the plurality of candidate carriers according to the CBRs of the plurality of carriers).
However Li teaches the below limitation:
Lee and Wang’441 do not explicitly teach (wherein the processor is configured to invoke the instruction stored in the memory to perform): if the CBR of the first carrier exceeds the threshold for a preset duration, (selecting a carrier from the plurality of candidate carriers according to the CBRs of the plurality of carriers) (Li, paragraph 103, After selecting a resource and occupying the resource for several cyclic periods, the device may release the resource, and re-perform resource selection).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Lee and Wang’441 by adding resource selection when a CBR exceeds a threshold for a preset duration as taught by Li. Because Lee, Wang’441, and Li teach resource selection, and specifically Li teaches resource selection when a CBR exceeds a threshold for a preset duration for the benefit of the analogous art of resource selection or re-selection in a LTE D2D/V2X system (Li, paragraph 1).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments have been fully considered but are respectfully not persuasive.
Applicant argues that Lee and Wang’441 do not teach the below limitation (Remarks, page 7, second from last paragraph):
“if the CBR of the first carrier does not exceed the threshold, selecting a carrier having the smallest CBR in the plurality of candidate carriers as a to-be used carrier; or selecting any carrier in the plurality of candidate carriers as a to-be-used carrier”.
Applicant argues that the citation from Wang’441 paragraph 74 “if a channel busy ratio measured within a CBR measurement window is higher than a fourth threshold, determining to select resources in the exceptional resource pool to use” does not teach a CBR of a first carrier used by that terminal device in data transmission, and further that the CBR measurement measured within a CBR measurement window is a CBR that how many resources of the total resources are occupied in the CBR measurement window (Remarks, page 8, paragraph 3). CBR measurement window is not explicitly defined in either the specification of the current invention or in Wang’441, so it is interpreted as any window or period or time CBR is measured. Paragraph 167 of Lee (page 43, 3rd paragraph from bottom, 3rd bullet of provisional 62/536,977) teaches that the CBR threshold is per UE, per cell, per carrier, per frequency band or per resource pool. Hence CBR being higher than a threshold is interpreted as being for a particular carrier, which would be one of the carriers that is currently being used, and if the CBR is higher than a threshold then resource reselection is triggered. Since resource reselection is triggered, this would additionally bolster than the CBR measured is the CBR of a carrier used currently in data transmission.
Referring to the same limitation cited above that Applicant claims Lee and Wang’441 do not teach, Applicant further argues that that Wang’441 does not teach selecting resources when the CBR of a first carrier used by the terminal device is not higher than the threshold (Remarks, page 8 paragraph 4). The limitation contains an “OR” statement, namely if the CBR if not above a threshold, then either select a carrier with lowest CBR, or select any carrier in the plurality of candidate carriers as a to-be-used carrier. A candidate carrier can be interpreted to be the currently used carrier. Examiner rejects based on the second condition in the “OR” (select any carrier in the plurality of candidate carriers as a to-be-used carrier). Since Wang’441 teaches a resource selection when CBR is above a threshold, therefore there would not be a resource selection when the CBR is below or equal to the threshold. Not having a resource reselection means that the same carrier is used for transmission, no changes, and this is interpreted as selecting the current carrier as the to-be-used carrier (no change).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THAD N DEFAUW whose telephone number is (571)272-6905. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday 8:30 am - 5:00 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Charles Jiang can be reached on (571) 270-7191. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/T.N.D/Examiner, Art Unit 2412 /CHARLES C JIANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2412
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