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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/03/2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The following is an office action in response to applicant’s amendment filed on 11/21/2025 for response of the final office action mailed on 10/01/2025. Independent Claims 1, 14, 27, 40 and 53 and dependent Claims 7-12 and 20-25 are amended. Claims 4-5 and 17-18 are (previously) canceled. Claims 1-3, 6-16, 19-27, 40, and 53 are pending in the application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments filed on 11/21/2025 with respect to independent claims 1, 14, 27, 40 and 53 have been fully considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities:
In ¶0105 of specification, which describes FIG. 10, applicant states “. . . the resource block 1000 includes PSCCH/PSSCH data 1002, CSI-RS 1004, and PSFCH data that includes a gap, or guard band, before and after the signal (1006, 1010).” [emphasis added]. This is repeated in ¶0106, in describing FIG. 11.
In both instances, Examiner advises applicant change “guard band” to - - - guard period - - - or - - - -guard period (GP) - - - - which aligns with time domain symbol (TDM) positioning.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-3, 6-16, 19-27, 40, and 53 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1, line 6, “the mapped CSI-RS” should read - - -the mapped TDM CSI-RS - - -.
Claim 1, line 11, and line 13, and line 17, “the CSI-RS” should read - - -the TDM CSI-RS - - -
Claim 6, line 1, “the CSI-RS” should read - - - the TDM CSI-RS - - -.
Claim 12, line 1, “CSI-RS” should read - - - the TDM CSI-RS - - -.
Claim 13, line 1, “CSI-RS” should read - - - the TDM CSI-RS - - -.
Claims 2-3 and 6-13 are objected to by virtue of being dependent (directly or indirectly) on Claim 1.
Claim 14, line 8, “the mapped CSI-RS” should read - - -the mapped TDM CSI-RS - - -.
Claim 14, line 13, and line 15, and line 19, “the CSI-RS” should read - - -the TDM CSI-RS - - -.
Claim 19, line 1, “the CSI-RS” should read - - - the TDM CSI-RS - - -.
Claim 21, line 1, “CSI-RS is request configured” should read - - - the CSI-RS request is configured - - -.
Claim 25, line 1, and Claim 26, line 2, “CSI-RS” should read - - - the TDM CSI-RS - - -.
Claims 22-26 are objected to by virtue of being dependent (directly or indirectly) on Claim 14.
Independent Claims 27, 40 and Claim 53 are objected to on the same basis as independent Claim 1.
Appropriate correction is required.
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 non- obviousness.
Claims 1-3, 6-8, 10, 13-16, 19-21, 23, 26-27, 40 and 53 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HWANG et al. (US 20220394722 A1), hereinafter HWANG, in view of SHIN et al. (US 20210022139 A1), SHIN hereinafter.
Regarding Claim 1,
HWANG teaches a method for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE) (HWANG, Abstract, operating method of UE in a wireless communication system; see also ¶0128), comprising: establishing a sidelink communication channel (HWANG, FIG. 12A, ¶0128-0130, the transmitting UE 1201 establishes a PSSCH, a “sidelink communication channel”);
receiving time-division multiplexed (TDM) channel state information-reference signals (CSI-RS) (HWANG, FIG. 12A, ¶0130, the transmitting UE 1201 transmits N SL CSI-RSs to the receiving UE 1202.; see also ¶0126, a SL CSI-RS may be mapped to be confined in a time-frequency resource to which a PSSCH is allocated or scheduled) mapped over a plurality of interlaced physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) resource blocks (HWANG, FIG. 12A, ¶0130 TX UE may include the CSI-RS on the PSSCH; transmit SL CSI-RS 1 1212 related to PSSCH 1 to SL CSI-RS N 1214 related to PSSCH N to the receiving UE 1202 through a plurality of transmission antenna ports; see also ¶0122, CSI-RS may be confined within PSSCH transmission);
wherein the mapped CSI-RS are interlaced with resource elements in at least a portion of the plurality of interlaced PSSCH resource blocks (HWANG, FIG. 6, ¶0083, each element may be referred to as a Resource Element (RE) within a resource grid and one complex symbol may be mapped to each element); see also ¶0141, the multiplexing for the PSSCH and the SL CSI-RS may be that the transmitting UE maps the PSSCH and the SL CSI-RS to the same time-frequency resource and transmits them; ¶0132, the transmitting UE 1201 of FIG. 12A may transmit some of SL CSI-RS 1 1212 related to PSSCH 1 to SL CSI-RS N 1214 related to PSSCH N to the receiving UE 1202 in the same time resource domain and frequency resource domains that partially overlap; the overlapping of CSI-RSs is interpreted as “interlaced blocks”), . . .
processing the CSI-RS received over the plurality of interlaced PSSCH resource blocks (HWANG, ¶0021 a second device may comprise at least one processor and at least one transceiver, […]executes the instructions to: control the at least one transceiver to receive, from the first device, a first SL CSI-RS related to a first PSSCH in a first resource domain, wherein the first resource domain is based on a slot format or a time domain allocated for transmission of the first PSSCH; see also ¶0177-0178; ¶0196); and
determining from the processing a channel quality of the sidelink communication channel from the portion of the plurality of interlaced PSSCH resource blocks comprising the mapped CSI-RS (HWANG, ¶0121, QoS prediction, initial transmission parameter setting, link adaptation, link management, admission control, or the like, SL measurement and reporting (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ) between UEs may be considered in SL; channel status information (CSI) for V2X may include a channel quality indicator (CQI); see also ¶0122 the receiving UE may measure CQI or RI based on the CSI-RS).
As cited herein, HWANG teaches the CSI-RS may be confined within PSSCH transmission, e.g. the transmitting UE may perform transmission to the receiving UE by including the CSI-RS on the PSSCH (HWANG, ¶0122) and the CSI-RS is mapped to a last symbol position of the PSSCH (HWANG, ¶0148).
Yet, HWANG does not explicitly teach . . . one or more of the plurality of interlaced PSSCH resource blocks are separated from one or more physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) blocks by a gap, wherein the CSI-RS is mapped to a symbol preceding the gap before the one or more PSFCH blocks.
However, in the analogous art, SHIN explicitly discloses . . . one or more of the plurality of interlaced PSSCH resource blocks are separated from one or more physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) blocks by a gap, wherein the CSI-RS is mapped to a symbol preceding the gap before the one or more PSFCH blocks (SHIN, Abstract; a plurality of granted transmission resources for SL communication; FIG. 6, ¶0103, the PSSCH 625 may be mapped to at least a part of the control information SCI . . .[t]hereafter, the gap 630 exists, and the PSFCH 635; see also ¶0104, the gap 630 [exists] between the PSSCH 625 and the PSFCH 635; ¶TBD, the PSSCH which contains CSI-RS); (see also HWANG ¶0148 cited herein, CSI-RS is mapped to a symbol preceding the gap before the one or more PSFCH blocks).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine HWANG’s method for transmitting a sidelink CSI-RS in a wireless communication system with SHIN’s method and apparatus for controlling congestion in a wireless communication system. The motivation would be to improve probability of successful transmission [SHIN, ¶0117].
Regarding Claim 2, HWANG and SHIN teach Claim 1.
HWANG further teaches the TDM CSI-RS occupies one resource element in each of the plurality of interlaced PSSCH resource blocks (HWANG, ¶0137, the transmitting UE may transmit the SL CSI-RS for different transmit antenna ports by mapping it to different time-frequency resources (e.g., resource element (RE))).
Regarding Claim 3, HWANG and SHIN teach Claim 1.
HWANG further teaches the TDM CSI-RS occupies two contiguous resource elements in each of the plurality of interlaced PSSCH resource blocks (HWANG, FIG. 6, ¶0082, ¶0148, “SL [sidelink] CSI-RSs corresponding to two different antenna ports may be CDMed in two adjacent REs in a frequency domain within one symbol.”; two adjacent RE’s interpreted as contiguous resource elements).
Regarding Claim 6, HWANG and SHIN teach Claim 1.
HWANG further teaches the CSI-RS is mapped to a last symbol position of the PSSCH (HWANG, ¶0148, Table 5, the reference point for ln may be the next symbol of the last symbol to which the PSCCH is mapped in the slot in which the SL CSI-RS is transmitted).
Regarding Claim 7, HWANG and SHIN teach Claim 1.
HWANG further teaches a CSI-RS request is configured as sidelink control information (SCI) (HWANG, ¶0151, pattern information for the SL CSI-RS (or SL CSI-RS related resource mapping information) may be indicated by SCI).
Regarding Claim 8, HWANG and SHIN teach Claim 7.
HWANG further teaches the CSI-RS request is configured in a second stage of SCI (HWANG, FIG. 10A, ¶0109, the UE 1 may transmit a sidelink control information (SCI) to the UE 2 through a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH); examiner interprets as “a first stage of SCI”, and thereafter transmit data based on the SCI to the UE 2 through a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), examiner interprets as “a second stage of SCI”).
Regarding Claim 9, HWANG and SHIN teach Claim 8.
HWANG does not explicitly teach the CSI-RS is configured to indicate whether or not a last PSSCH symbol is to be dropped.
However, in the analogous art, SHIN explicitly discloses the CSI-RS request is configured to indicate whether or not a last PSSCH symbol is to be dropped (SHIN, FIG. 10, ¶0196, the terminal [UE] should drop the transmission of the PSSCH in slot n or satisfy the CR limit of Equation 2 via the terminal implementation; PSSCH in slot n interpreted as “a last PSSCH symbol”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine HWANG’s method for transmitting a sidelink CSI-RS in a wireless communication system with SHIN’s method and apparatus for controlling congestion in a wireless communication system. The motivation would be to improve probability of successful transmission [SHIN, ¶0117].
Regarding Claim 10, HWANG and SHIN teach Claim 7.
HWANG further teaches the CSI-RS request is configured in a first stage of SCI (HWANG, FIG. 10A, ¶0109, the UE 1 may transmit a sidelink control information (SCI) to the UE 2 through a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), interpreted as “a first stage of SCI”).
Regarding Claim 11, HWANG and SHIN teach Claim 10.
HWANG does not explicitly teach the CSI-RS request is configured to indicate whether or not a last PSSCH symbol is to be dropped.
However, in the analogous art, SHIN explicitly discloses the CSI-RS request is configured to indicate whether or not a last PSSCH symbol is to be dropped (SHIN, FIG. 10, ¶0196, the terminal [UE] should drop the transmission of the PSSCH in slot n or satisfy the CR limit of Equation 2 via the terminal implementation; PSSCH in slot n interpreted as “a last PSSCH symbol”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine HWANG’s method for transmitting a sidelink CSI-RS in a wireless communication system with SHIN’s method and apparatus for controlling congestion in a wireless communication system. The motivation would be to improve probability of successful transmission [SHIN, ¶0117].
Regarding Claim 13, HWANG and SHIN teach Claim 1.
HWANG further teaches decoding CSI-RS in all interlaces before decoding data in the PSSCH (HWANG, ¶0124 the receiving UE may be a UE which transmits SL HARQ feedback information (to the transmitting UE) based on whether…. the detection/decoding of a PSCCH (related to the scheduling of a PSSCH) transmitted by the transmitting UE succeeds)).
Regarding Claims 14-16, 19-24, and 26, the claims disclose similar features of Claims 1-3, 6-11 and 13 respectively, and are rejected based on the same rationales of Claims 1-3, 6-11 and 13, discussed above, in apparatus form (a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication (HWANG, FIG. 16; FIG. 18, UE/First Device 100/Second Device 200; disclosed throughout), comprising: at least one processor (HWANG, ¶0205, processor 102/202); and a memory coupled to the at least one processor (HWANG, FIG. 16, ¶0205 memory 104).
Regarding Claim 27, the claim discloses similar features of Claim 1 and is rejected based on the same rationales of Claim 1, in apparatus form (HWANG, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code at a user equipment (UE), comprising code (HWANG, ¶0019, ¶0180).
Regarding Claim 40, the claim discloses similar features of Claim 1 and is rejected based on the same rationale of Claim 1, in apparatus form (HWANG, a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication (FIG. 16; FIG. 18, UE/First Device 100/Second Device 200; disclosed throughout).
Regarding Claim 53, the claim discloses similar features of Claim 1, and is rejected based on the same rationales of Claim 1, in apparatus form (a user equipment (UE) for wireless communication ((HWANG, FIG. 16, UE/First Device 100/Second Device 200), comprising: a transceiver (HWANG, FIG. 16, transceiver, 106/206); a memory (HWANG, FIG. 16, memory 104/204; FIG. 18, 112/130); and a processor coupled to the transceiver and the memory (HWANG, FIG. 16, processor 102/202).
Claims 12 and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over HWANG in view of SHIN and further in view of PENG et al. (US 20220271892 A1), PENG hereinafter.
Regarding Claim 12, HWANG and SHIN teach Claim 1.
HWANG and SHIN do not explicitly teach if CSI-RS is not triggered, process resource elements associated with a potential pool of CSI-RS resources as being punctured.
However, in the analogous art, PENG explicitly discloses if CSI-RS is not triggered, process resource elements associated with a potential pool of CSI-RS resources as being punctured (PENG FIG.6, ¶0122, a case of single-port transmission as shown in FIG. 6, the PSSCH DMRS is mapped in a comb 2 fashion. . . [t]ransmission of the PSSCH starts from a symbol next to the symbol at which a first DMRS of the PSSCH is located, and is rate-matched or punctured according to the second SCI).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of the ordinary skills in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine HWANG’s method for transmitting a sidelink CSI-RS in a wireless communication system and SHIN’s method and apparatus for controlling congestion in a wireless communication system with PENG’s sidelink control information transmission method. The motivation would be to improve PSSCH demodulation performance and system capacity [PENG, ¶0145].
Regarding Claim 25, the claim discloses similar features of Claim 12 and is rejected based on the same rationale as Claim 12.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
PARK et al. (US 20200351866 A1): Abstract; method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving sidelink HARQ feedback information; FIG. 2 teaches a plurality of PSSCH RBs separated by PSFCH blocks by a guard/ “a gap”; FIG. 16; FIG. 17, PSCCH-PSSCH-PSFCH multiplexing structure including GP/guard period/ “gap”.
SHIN et al. (US 20220201528 A1) Abstract; ¶0395; a reception UE measures a channel state and reports the same to a transmission UE in the sidelink. TABLE 11, teaches a time gap between PSSCH transmission and corresponding PSFCH reception in slots.
Jiao et al. (US 20220240280 A1): Abstract, method for determining channel state information reference signal resource mapping; FIG. 5, ¶0240 TD resource used to map a CSI-RS in PSSCH; ¶0242 CSI-RS may be a 12th symbol in the slot, “the last symbol” in the slot.
PARK et al. (US 20220385409 A1): Abstract; ¶0001, a power saving operation of a sidelink user equipment (UE).
S. -Y. Lien et al., "3GPP NR Sidelink Transmissions Toward 5G V2X," in IEEE Access, vol. 8, pp. 35368-35382, 2020, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2973706.; Section III. multiplexing of PSCCH, PSSCH and PSFCH, Fig. 2(a) slot including guard period/a” gap” between PSSCH and PSFCH.
SCI transmitted in 1st stage (SCI 1) and 2nd-State SCI (SCI 2).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TRACY L WILLIAMS whose telephone number is 571-270-7694. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 8:30-5:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ayman Abaza can be reached at 571-270-0422. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TRACY L WILLIAMS/Examiner, Art Unit 2465
/CHRISTOPHER T WYLLIE/Examiner, Art Unit 2465