DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 3/16/2026 has been entered.
PRIOR ART
The following references are prior art:
1. (10/21/2024 PTO-892) Appl. No.: 17/756,144 (Lee) is prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) since it was published under section 122(b) as US 2022/0416969 A1, names another inventor (Seungmin LEE), and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
2. (7/23/2025 PTO-892) Appl. No.: 17/020,707 (Gulati) is prior art under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) since it was published US Patent No. US 11,870,718 B2, names another inventor (Kapil Gulati), and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
CLAIM REJECTIONS — 35 U.S.C. 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:
35 U.S.C. 103 Conditions for patentability; non-obvious subject matter.
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, 5-8, 11, 13-16, & 18-22
Claims 1, 5-8, 11, 13-16, and 18-22 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US 2022/0416969 A1) for the reasons given below.
Claim 1
With respect to claim 1, Lee taught:
A method for operating a first user equipment (UE) (Lee [0326] taught that FIG. 23 shows a procedure for a TX UE to transmit a CSI report request and a CSI-RS, based on an embodiment of the present disclosure.),
the method comprising: transmitting information including a latency bound for a sidelink (SL) channel state information (CSI) report (Lee [0114] Referring to FIG. l0(a)… the UE 1 may transmit a sidelink control information (SCI) to the UE 2 through a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), and thereafter transmit data based on the SCI to the UE 2 through a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH). [0162] the first SCI including a first SCI configuration field group may be referred to as a 1st SCI or 1st-stage SCI, and the second SCI including a second SCI configuration field group may be referred to as a 2nd SCI or 2nd-stage SCI. For example, the first SCI may be transmitted through a PSCCH. For example, the second SCI may be transmitted through a (independent) PSCCH. For example, the second SCI may be piggybacked and transmitted together with data through a PSSCH. [0305] in various embodiments of the present disclosure, the latency bound related to the SL CSI report may be a time window/domain from a SL CSI-RS reception/
transmission time to a latency budget in which the SL CSI report is performed. For example, the latency bound related to the SL CSI report may be pre-configured for the TX UE and the RX UE. For example, the latency bound related to the SL CSI report may be exchanged between the TX UE and the RX UE through PC5 RRC signaling (e.g., RRC reconfiguration sidelink message). [0306] Table 10 shows an example of an RRC reconfiguration sidelink message.);
transmitting first-stage sidelink control information (SCI) including information on a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) (Lee [0325] Referring to FIG. 22, in step S2210, the TX UE may transmit a first SCI for scheduling of a PSSCH and a second SCI to the RX UE through a PSCCH. In addition, the TX UE may transmit the second SCI including a field indicating a CSI report request and a CSI-RS to the RX UE through the PSSCH. [0327] referring to FIG. 23, in step S2310, the TX UE may transmit a first SCI for scheduling of a PSSCH and a second SCI to the RX UE through a PSCCH. In addition, the TX UE may transmit the second SCI including a field indicating a CSI report request and a CSI-RS to the RX UE through the PSSCH.);
transmitting second-stage SCI including CSI request information to a second UE (Lee [0325] Referring to FIG. 22, in step S2210, the TX UE may transmit a first SCI for scheduling of a PSSCH and a second SCI to the RX UE through a PSCCH. In addition, the TX UE may transmit the second SCI including a field indicating a CSI report request and a CSI-RS to the RX UE through the PSSCH. [0327] taught, referring to FIG. 23, in step S2310, the TX UE may transmit a first SCI for scheduling of a PSSCH and a second SCI to the RX UE through a PSCCH. In addition, the TX UE may transmit the second SCI including a field indicating a CSI report request and a CSI-RS to the RX UE through the PSSCH.);
transmitting a CSI reference signal (CSI-RS) for SL communication between the first UE and the second UE to the second UE (Lee [0327] taught that in step S2310, the TX UE may transmit a first SCI for scheduling of a PSSCH and a second SCI to the RX UE through a PSCCH. In addition, the TX UE may transmit the second SCI including a field indicating a CSI report request and a CSI-RS to the RX UE through the PSSCH.);
receiving, from the second UE, a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE) including the SL CSI report, wherein the SL CSI is generated based on the CSI-RS (Lee [0114] taught that a BS may schedule a SL resource to be used by the UE for SL transmission. For example, the BS may perform resource scheduling to a UE 1 through a PDCCH (more specifically, downlink control information (DCI)), and the UE 1 may perform V2X or SL communication with respect to a UE 2 according to the resource scheduling. For example, the UE 1 may transmit a sidelink control information (SCI) to the UE 2 through a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), and thereafter transmit data based on the SCI to the UE 2 through a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH). Lee [0313] FIG. 21 shows an example of SL CSI reporting MAC CE based on an embodiment of the present disclosure. Lee [0327] taught that the second SCI including a field indicating a CSI report request. Lee [0328] taught that in step S2320, the RX UE may obtain a CSI based on the CSI-RS. In addition, in step S2330, the TX UE may receive the CSI report from the RX UE. Lee [0329] For example, the UE may transmit and receive the CSI report based on Table 12. Lee [Table 12] taught The Sidelink Channel State Information (SL-CSI) reporting procedure is used to provide a peer UE with sidelink channel state information… instruct the Multiplexing and Assembly procedure to generate a Sidelink CSI Reporting MAC CE.),
wherein the SL CSI report is transmitted, by the second UE, based on the information including the latency bound for the SL CSI report, wherein the SL CSI report is generated based on the CSI-RS (Lee taught [0326] FIG. 23 shows a procedure for a TX UE to transmit a CSI report request and a CSI-RS. [0327] Referring to FIG. 23, in step S2310, the TX UE may transmit a first SCI for scheduling of a PSSCH and a second SCI to the RX UE through a PSCCH. In addition, the TX UE may transmit the second SCI including a field indicating a CSI report request and a CSI-RS to the RX UE through the PSSCH. [0328] Specifically, in step S2320, the RX UE may obtain a CSI based on the CSI-RS. In addition, in step S2330, the TX UE may receive the CSI report from the RX UE.).
wherein the information including the latency bound is transmitted through sidelink PC5 RRC signaling (Lee taught [0305] example, the latency bound related to the SL CSI report may be exchanged between the TX UE and the RX UE through PC5 RRC signaling (e.g., RRC reconfiguration sidelink message)).
While Lee explicitly taught that the latency bound is transmitted through RRC signaling on the PC5 interface (i.e., the UE to UE sidelink interface), Lee did not explicitly specify which channel the RRC signaling was sent on. Nevertheless, Lee suggested that the channel to be used for sidelink messages is PSSCH and/or a PSCCH and the RRC reconfiguration sidelink message including the latency bound is a sidelink message. Lee [0175] explicitly taught: “in the present disclosure, sidelink information may include at least one of a sidelink message, a sidelink packet, a sidelink service, sidelink data, sidelink control information, and/or a sidelink transport block (TB). For example, sidelink information may be transmitted through a PSSCH and/or a PSCCH.” Accordingly, Lee suggested that “the information including the latency bound is transmitted on the PSSCH” as claimed.
The Examiner finds that it 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 to transmit the PC5 RRC Signaling/RRC reconfiguration sidelink message, which includes the latency bound information, on the PSSCH channel because such a message/signal is a sidelink message (i.e., because PC5 is the sidelink interface and the RRC signaling is a sidelink message), and Lee explicitly teaches that sidelink messages are transmitted through PSSCH and/or PSCCH, which is a teaching/suggestion/motivation to use the PSSCH channel to send the sidelink message including the latency bound information.
Claim 5
With respect to claim 5, Lee taught:
The method of claim 1 (see rejection above),
wherein a resource for transmitting the CSI-RS is configured by the base station (Lee [0063] taught layers of a radio interface protocol between the UE and the network can be classified into a first layer (L1), a second layer (L2), and a third layer (L3) based on the lower three layers of the open system interconnection (OSI) model that is well-known in the communication system. Among them, a physical (PHY) layer belonging to the first layer provides an information transfer service by using a physical channel, and a radio resource control (RRC) layer belonging to the third layer serves to control a radio resource between the UE and the network. For this, the RRC layer exchanges an RRC message between the UE and the BS. Lee [0093] taught that the [bandwidth adaptation] BA may be performed when the BS/network configures the BWP to the UE and the BS/network informs the UE of the BWP currently in an active state among the configured BWPs. Lee [0094] taught that the BWP may be at least any one of an active BWP, an initial BWP, and/or a default BWP... the UE may not receive PDCCH, physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), or channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS) (excluding RRM) outside the active DL BWP. For example, the UE may not trigger a channel state information (CSI) report for the inactive DL BWP. Lee [0095] taught that The SL BWP may be (pre-)configured in a carrier with respect to an out-of-coverage NR V2X UE and an RRC_IDLE UE. For the UE in the RRC_CONNECTED mode, at least one SL BWP may be activated in the carrier. The Examiner finds that Lee taught a resource (i.e., BWP) for transmitting the reference signal (i.e., a BWP for CSI-RS) is configured by the base station)).
Claim 6
With respect to claim 6, Lee taught:
The method of claim 1 (see rejection above),
wherein the SL CSI report is received within a preconfigured period from a transmission time of the second-stage SCI, and a higher layer message including information indicating the preconfigured period is received from the base station (Lee [0063] taught layers of a radio interface protocol between the UE and the network can be classified into a first layer (L1), a second layer (L2), and a third layer (L3) based on the lower three layers of the open system interconnection (OSI) model that is well-known in the communication system. Among them, a physical (PHY) layer belonging to the first layer provides an information transfer service by using a physical channel, and a radio resource control (RRC) layer belonging to the third layer serves to control a radio resource between the UE and the network. For this, the RRC layer exchanges an RRC message between the UE and the BS. Lee [0305] In various embodiments of the present disclosure, the latency bound related to the SL CSI report may be a time window/domain from a SL CSI-RS reception/transmission time to a latency budget in which the SL CSI report is performed. For example, the latency bound related to the SL CSI report may be pre-configured for the TX UE and the RX UE. For example, the latency bound related to the SL CSI report may be exchanged between the TX UE and the RXUE through PCS RRC signaling (e.g., RRC reconfiguration sidelink message). The Examiner finds that Lee taught that the SL CSI report (i.e., SL CSI report) is received within a preconfigured period from a transmission time of the SCI (i.e., the latency bound is the preconfigured period), and a higher layer message (i.e., RRC) including information indicating the preconfigured period (i.e., RRCReconfigurationSidelink-IEs-r16 includes sl-LatencyBoundCSI-report-r16) is received from the base station (i.e., RRC is received from the base station)).
Claim 7
With respect to claim 7, Lee taught:
The method of claim 1 (see rejection above),
wherein the SL CSI report includes a channel quality indicator (CQI) and a rank indicator (RI), (Lee [0143] taught that examples of channel status information (CSI) for V2X may include a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrix index (PM), a rank indicator (RI). Lee [0298] taught that For example, the SL CSI may be transmitted through a MAC CE. The Examiner finds that Lee taught that the SL CSI report includes a channel quality indicator (CQI) and a rank indicator (RI) (i.e., the CSI for V2X includes CQI and RI),).
Claim 8
Claim 8 recites limitations similar to claim 1 and is rejected by the same reasoning.
Claim 11
With respect to claim 11, Lee taught:
The method according to claim 8 (see rejection above),
wherein the SL CSI is measured based on the CRI-RS received from the first UE (Lee [0298] Referring to FIG. 20, in step S2010, the TX UE may transmit a CSI-RS to the RX UE. For example, the TX UE may be a UE which triggers/requests a SL CSI report. In step S2020, the RX UE may measure a channel state between the TX UE and the RX UE based on the CSI-RS. For example, the RX UE may obtain SL CSI based on the CSI-RS. In step S2030, the RX UE may report the SL CSI to the TX UE. For example, the SL CSI may be transmitted through a MAC CE. [0327] taught that in step S2310, the TX UE may transmit a first SCI for scheduling of a PSSCH and a second SCI to the RX UE through a PSCCH. In addition, the TX UE may transmit the second SCI including a field indicating a CSI report request and a CSI-RS to the RX UE through the PSSCH. Lee [0328] taught that in step S2320, the RX UE may obtain a CSI based on the CSI-RS. In addition, in step S2330, the TX UE may receive the CSI report from the RX UE. The Examiner finds that Lee taught wherein the SL CSI (i.e., the sidelink CSI for the RX UE’s CSI report) is measured based on a reference signal (i.e., the CSI-RS) received from the first UE (i.e., the TC UE)).
Claim 13
Claim 13 recites limitations similar to claim 5 and is rejected by the same reasoning.
Claim 14
Claim 14 recites limitations similar to claim 6 and is rejected by the same reasoning.
Claim 15
Claim 15 recites limitations similar to claim 7 and is rejected by the same reasoning.
Claim 16
Claim 16 recites limitations similar to claim 8 except that claim 16 additionally recites that the second UE comprises “a processor; and a memory storing one or more instructions executable by the processor, wherein the one or more instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the second UE to” perform operations of claim 16 which are similar to those of claim 8. These limitations are taught by Lee [0362] “The second wireless device 200 may include one or more processors 202 and one or more memories 204… the memory(s) 204 may store software code including commands for performing a part or the entirety of processes controlled by the processor(s) 202 or for performing the descriptions, functions, procedures, proposals, methods, and/or operational flowcharts taught in this document. Claim 16 is rejected for this reason along with the reasons given for claim 8.
Claim 18
Claim 18 recites limitations similar to claim 11 and is rejected by the same reasoning.
Claim 19
Claim 19 recites limitations similar to claim 14 and is rejected by the same reasoning.
Claim 20
Claim 20 recites limitations similar to claim 15 and is rejected by the same reasoning.
Claim 21
With respect to claim 21, Lee taught:
The method of claim 1 (see rejection above),
wherein the information for the SL CSI report includes information on a latency bound value for transmitting the SL CSI report (Lee [0305] taught the latency bound related to the SL CSI report may be exchanged between the TX UE and the RX UE through PCS RRC signaling (e.g., RRC reconfiguration sidelink message). [0306] Table 10 shows an example of an RRC reconfiguration sidelink message. [0307] Referring to Table 10, the RRC reconfiguration sidelink message may include sl-LatencyBoundCSI-Reportr16. For example, if sl-LatencyBoundCSI-Report-r16 indicates 10, a SL CSI report may be requested within 10 slots from a slot in which the SL CSI report is triggered ( e.g., SL CSI reference slot).).
Claim 22
With respect to claim 22, Lee taught:
The method of claim 1 (see rejection above),
wherein the information on the CSI report includes information on at least one resource for the CSI-RS (Lee taught [0095] Meanwhile, the BWP may be defined for SL. The same SL BWP may be used in transmission and reception. For example, a transmitting UE may transmit a SL channel or a SL signal on a specific BWP, and a receiving UE may receive the SL channel or the SL signal on the specific BWP. [0144] the receiving UE may report channel state information (CSI) to the transmitting UE. SL-related measurement and reporting may include measurement and reporting of CBR and reporting of location information. Examples of channel status information (CSI) for V2X may include a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrix index (PM), a rank indicator (RI), reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), pathgain/pathloss, a sounding reference symbol (SRS) resource indicator (SRI), a SRI-RS resource indicator (CRI), an interference condition, a vehicle motion, or the like. [0145] For example, the transmitting UE may transmit CSI-RS to the receiving UE, and the receiving UE may measure CQI or RI based on the CSI-RS. For example, the CSI-RS may be referred to as SL CSI-RS. For example, the CSI-RS may be confined within PSSCH transmission. For example, the transmitting UE may perform transmission to the receiving UE by including the CSI-RS on the PSSCH. [0147] the RX UE may be a UE which performs SL CSI transmission to the TX UE based on SL CSI-RS(s) and/or a SL CSI report request indicator received from the TX UE. For example, the RX UE is a UE which transmits a SL (L1) RSRP measurement value, to the TX UE, measured based on (pre-defined) reference signal(s). [0198] Meanwhile, for example, in order for a first UE to obtain/calculate SL CSI information, a non-zero power (NZP) CSI-RS and a channel state information-interference measurement (CSI-IM) may be configured for the first UE. For example, a second UE may transmit the NZP CSI-RS and/or the CSI-IM to the first UE, and the first UE may calculate/obtain SL channel state information (CSI) information for the second UE based on the NZP CSI-RS and/or the CSI-IM. For example, the CSI-IM may be a zero power (ZP) CSI-RS. Herein, for example, the first UE may use the NZP CSI-RS for desired link quality/channel measurement/channel estimation, and the first UE may use the CSI-IM for interference measurement and/or interference estimation. [0199] For example, the second UE may transmit the NZP CSI-RS and/or the CSI-IM only on a (scheduled) PSSCH resource region. For example, the second UE may transmit the NZP CSI-RS and/or the CSI-IM only when transmitting a PSSCH. [0305] In various embodiments of the present disclosure, the latency bound related to the SL CSI report may be a time window/domain from a SL CSI-RS reception/transmission time to a latency budget in which the SL CSI report is performed. For example, the latency bound related to the SL CSI report may be pre-configured for the TX UE and the RX UE. For example, the latency bound related to the SL CSI report may be exchanged between the TX UE and the RX UE through PCS RRC signaling (e.g., RRC reconfiguration sidelink message. [0306] Table 10 shows an example of an RRC reconfiguration sidelink message. [0309] For example, if the TX UE receives the information related to the SL CSI (e.g., at least one of CSI_OFFVAL, CSI_QTVAL and/or CSIREF VAL) from the RX UE, the TX UE may derive a candidate location/time domain of a SL CSI-RS related to the SL CSI report (in the reverse direction of the time axis) from a time ( e.g., slot #N) when the SL CSI report is received, by using the information related to the SL CSL).
CLAIMS 2, 9 & 17
Claims 2, 9, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee (US 2022/0416969 A1) in view of Gulati (US 11,870,718 B2).
Claim 2
With respect to claim 2, Lee in view of Gulati taught:
The method of claim 1 (see rejection above).
With respect to claim 2, Gulati taught:
wherein the SL CSI report is multiplexed with SL data in the PSSCH (Gulati [c11:27-31] taught the one or more CSI reports may be multiplexed with PSSCH and transmitted as MAC_CE. In such cases, each report may be conveyed in an individual MAC_CE or a single MAC_CE may contain multiple (or all) of the reports).
The Examiner finds that it 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 to incorporate Gulati’s technique of using PSSCH for transmission of MAC CEs containing CSI reports to transmit Lee’s MAC CEs containing CSI reports since (as just mentioned) both Gulati and Lee describe MAC CEs containing CSI reports and because Lee’s wireless communication has already established a PSSCH (see [0162] for example) which is available for such transmissions. The Examiner finds no unexpected result in using PSSCH (as in Gulati) instead of PSFCH (as in Lee).
Claim 9
Claim 9 recites limitations similar to claim 2 and is rejected by the same reasoning.
Claim 17
Claim 17 recites limitations similar to claim 9 and is rejected by the same reasoning.
RESPONSE TO ARGUMENTS
Applicant’s arguments filed 3/16/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. On page 10 Applicant argued “In Lee, a "latency bound related to the SL CSI report may be exchanged between the TX UE and the RX UE through PC5 RRC signaling ( e.g., RRC reconfiguration sidelink message)… However, there is no teaching or suggestion in Lee that information (including a latency bound) is transmitted on a PSSCH and used to determine transmission of an SL CSI report, as claimed." The Examiner disagrees and asserts that Lee does in fact suggest that the PC5 RRC signaling/RRC reconfiguration sidelink message can be transmitted on PSSCH since the signal/message is a sidelink/PC5 message and Lee specifically taught that sidelink messages are transmitted on PSSCH and/or PSCCH.
CONCLUSION
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Christopher Davis whose telephone number is 703-756-1832. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri from 11AM to 7PM ET. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ayaz Sheikh, can be reached at telephone number 571-272-3795. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/C.R.D./
Examiner, Art Unit 2476
/AYAZ R SHEIKH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2476
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