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 .
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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 18 September 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding claims 1, 7, 10-15, and 19-28, the applicant argued, “…refer to overall timing lines…used for performing Uu transmissions or sidelink transmission…Uu timing and sidelink timing are not aligned…In the case that the as claimed SL timing is not aligned with the as claimed UL timing, which one of the SL and UL timings should be used…In this way, in case of the Uu timing being not aligned with SL timing…” on pages 7-10.
In response to applicant’s argument, the examiner respectfully disagrees with the above argument.
In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to show certain features of the invention, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies (i.e., “refer to overall timing lines…used for performing Uu transmissions or sidelink transmission…Uu timing and sidelink timing are not aligned…In the case that the as claimed SL timing is not aligned with the as claimed UL timing, which one of the SL and UL timings should be used…In this way, in case of the Uu timing being not aligned with SL timing…”) are not recited in the rejected claim(s). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 7, 10-15, and 19-28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by 3GPP R1-1912587 “Discussion on NR sidelink resource allocation for Mode 1” (hereinafter referred to as “3GPP”). NOTE: 3GPP was cited by the applicant in the IDS received 13 July 2023.
As to claims 1, 14, and 23, 3GPP teaches a resource determining method, comprising:
determining, by a terminal, a time domain resource of a target uplink channel based on a time interval Y2 and a time domain location TPSFCH_Uu of a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH), wherein the time interval Y2 is a time interval between the PSFCH and the target uplink channel (§2.4, pages 7-8; figure 2: UE determines PUCCH occasion based on reference point PSFCH and K1, K1 is the offset between PFSCH and PUCCH), and
transmitting, by the terminal to a control node, a sidelink hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information on the target uplink channel, wherein the sidelink HARQ-ACK information is obtained from the PSFCH (§2.4, pages 7-8; figure 2: after receiving PSFCH, UE can decide PUUCH timing for SL HARQ feedback report to gNB, the report being transmitted by the UE via the determined PUCCH);
wherein the time domain resource of the target uplink channel meets any one of the following conditions:
being the Ath time domain resource within a time range of TPSFCH_Uu + Y2 (§2.4, pages 7-8; figure 2: PUCCH occurs within PSFCH occasion plus K1 offset);
being the Ath time domain resource that overlaps with TPSFCH_Uu + Y2 (§2.4, pages 7-8; figure 2: PUCCH overlaps with PFSCH occasion plus K1 offset);
being the Ath time domain resource not earlier than TPSFCH_Uu + Y2 (§2.4, pages 7-8; figure 2: PUCCH must overlap with the slot containing the PSFCH or occur after), wherein
A is an integer greater than or equal to 1, the time domain location TPSFCH_Uu of the PSFCH is a time domain location of the PSFCH that is determined based on Uu timing (§2.4, pages 7-8; figure 2: the slot containing PFSCH is the reference point, the timing of PSFCH is derived from the timing of PSCCH/PSSCH, PDCCH schedules SL resources, and so the PFSCH reference point is determined based on Uu timing via the PDCCH), and there is a timing offset between a sidelink timing for the terminal to perform sidelink transmission and the Uu timing for performing transmission between the terminal and the control node (§2.4, pages 7-8; figure 2: slot offset between PDCCH and SL timing and/or slot offset between SL and PUCCH timing).
As to claims 7, 19, and 25, 3GPP teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein Y1 is determined based on a sidelink subcarrier spacing, or Y2 is determined based on an uplink subcarrier spacing (§2.4, pages 7-8; figure 2).
As to claims 10, 15, and 24, 3GPP teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the Ath time domain resource comprises the Ath sidelink time domain resource or the Ath Uu time domain resource (§2.4, pages 7-8; figure 2).
As to claims 11, 20, and 26, 3GPP teaches a resource determining method, comprising:
determining, by a control node, a time domain resource of a target uplink channel based on a time interval Y2 and a time domain location TPSFCH_Uu of a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH), wherein the time interval Y2 is a time interval between the PSFCH and the target uplink channel (pages 7-8; figure 2: gNB determines PUCCH occasion based on reference point PSFCH and K1, K1 is the offset between PFSCH and PUCCH), and
receiving, by the control node from a terminal, a sidelink hybrid automatic repeat request acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK) information on the target uplink channel, wherein the sidelink HARQ-ACK information is obtained from the PSFCH (pages 7-8; figure 2: after receiving PSFCH, UE can decide PUUCH timing for SL HARQ feedback report to gNB, the report being received by the gNB via the determined PUCCH);
wherein the time domain resource of the target uplink channel meets any one of the following conditions:
being the Ath time domain resource within a time range of TPSFCH_Uu + Y2 (pages 7-8; figure 2: PUCCH occurs within PSFCH occasion plus K1 offset);
being the Ath time domain resource that overlaps with TPSFCH_Uu + Y2 (pages 7-8; figure 2: PUCCH overlaps with PFSCH occasion plus K1 offset);
being the Ath time domain resource not earlier than TPSFCH_Uu + Y2 (pages 7-8; figure 2: PUCCH must overlap with the slot containing the PSFCH or occur after), wherein
A is an integer greater than or equal to 1, the time domain location TPSFCH_Uu of the PSFCH is a time domain location of the PSFCH that is determined based on Uu timing (§2.4, pages 7-8; figure 2: the slot containing PFSCH is the reference point, the timing of PSFCH is derived from the timing of PSCCH/PSSCH, PDCCH schedules SL resources, and so the PFSCH reference point is determined based on Uu timing via the PDCCH), and there is a timing offset between a sidelink timing for the terminal to perform sidelink transmission and the Uu timing for performing transmission between the terminal and the control node (§2.4, pages 7-8; figure 2: slot offset between SL and PUCCH timing).
As to claims 12, 21, and 28, 3GPP teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein Y1 is determined based on a sidelink subcarrier spacing, or Y2 is determined based on an uplink subcarrier spacing (§2.4, pages 7-8; figure 2).
As to claims 13, 22, and 27, 3GPP teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the Ath time domain resource comprises the Ath sidelink time domain resource or the Ath Uu time domain resource (§2.4, pages 7-8; figure 2).
As to claim 29, 3GPP teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the time domain location TPSFCH_Uu of the PSFCH uses the Uu timing for performing the transmission between the terminal and the control node as a timing reference (§2.4, pages 13-14; see figure 6).
As to claim 30, 3GPP teaches the method according to claim 1, further comprising:
when the sidelink timing for the terminal to perform the sidelink transmission is not aligned with the Uu timing for performing the transmission between the terminal and the control node, using the Uu timing as the timing reference for determining the time domain resource of the target uplink channel. (§2.2 and §2.4, pages 13-14; see figure 6: when SL DCI and Uu DCI timing is not aligned rely on NR Uu link timing for indicating PUCCH resource).
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 JUSTIN T VAN ROIE whose telephone number is (571)270-0308. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm.
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/JUSTIN T VAN ROIE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2469