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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendment filed on 08/05/2025 has been entered. Independent Claim 6 has been amended. Dependent claims 12-18 and 20-23 have been amended. No claims have been cancelled. No claims are new and have been entered. Claims 1-23 are still pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 6, 11, and 19, under 35 USC § 103, 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 specified challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim(s) 1-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention. The claims are not clearly written to define metes and bounds of the claimed invention.
Regarding Claim 1, Claim 6, Claim 11, and Claim 19
The claims recite “distance-based HARQ”. The claim is not clear as to how distance factors into the claim. A HARQ is simply an automatic response, and the state of the art does not have distance inherently tied to it, a HARQ message with the current state of the art is a message, a signal being sent from a device to another device, there is no associated physical property with distance that’s being used. Due to the unclear nature, Examiner is interpreting “distance-based HARQ” as a feedback system.
Claims 1-5, 7-10, 12-18, and 20-23 is/are rejected based upon claim dependency, or similarity to claim 1.
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.
Claim(s) 1-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shu (Pub. No.: US 20200234391 A1, hereafter “Shu”) in view of Lee (Pub. No.: US 20200178039 A1, hereafter “Lee”).
Regarding Claim 1, Claim 6, Claim 11, and Claim 19
Shu teaches a method and device
A method performed (Shu Fig. 4: 430, Determining Module) at a receiving (Shu Fig. 4: 410, Receiving Module) user equipment (UE) device (Shu Fig. 1: 112), the method comprising: receiving (Shu Fig. 4: 410, Receiving Module) a location unavailable configuration (Shu Fig. 8: 803) from a transmitting UE device (Shu ¶0129: of the first terminal), the location unavailable configuration indicating whether hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback (Shu ¶0127: GPS location availability and can be further described in Fig. 7: 730) should be provided for groupcast transmissions comprising a distance-based HARQ feedback configuration (Shu ¶0116: if GPS location is unavailable, the processing engine may obtain a determination whether a GPS switch of the first terminal is on) when location information is unavailable (Shu Fig. 8: 803, determining whether a GPS location of the first terminal is available; Shu teaches a determining module inside of a UE and receiving information from a first terminal wherein it includes the information if the GPS location is available and a feedback system wherein the system asks for the status of the GPS system in the transmitting device);
determining (Shu Fig. 8: 804, determining) that location information (Shu Fig. 8: 804, GPS location) is unavailable (Shu Fig. 8: 804, is unavailable; Shu teaches determining if the GPS location information that has been provided is available); determining (Shu Fig. 8: 805) whether the location unavailable configuration requires transmission of a HARQ feedback message (Shu Fig. 8: 805, obtaining data if the GPS switch of the first terminal is off; Shu teaches obtaining data from the terminal’s GPS switch is off); transmitting (Shu Fig. 8: 811, sending) the HARQ feedback message if the location unavailable configuration requires transmission of the HARQ feedback message (Shu Fig. 8: 811; Shu teaches sending a message if the GPS location is unavailable); and refraining from transmitting the HARQ feedback message if the location unavailable configuration does not require transmission of the HARQ feedback message (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim).
Shu does not explicitly teach
determining a data portion of a groupcast data transmission from a transmitting UE device was not successfully received, the groupcast data transmission comprising a distance-based HARQ feedback configuration;
However, Lee teaches
determining (Lee ¶0133: UE may transmit) a data portion (Lee ¶0133: transport block) of a groupcast data transmission from a transmitting UE device was not successfully received (Lee ¶0133: fails to decode a transport block), the groupcast data transmission (Lee ¶0135: connection-less groupcast) comprising a distance-based HARQ feedback configuration (Lee ¶0133-¶0135: distance-based HARQ feedback; Lee teaches the UE determining to transmit a distance-based HARQ feedback message in response to a failure to decode);
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Shu by way of Lee, to include an element that teaches a distance-based HARQ feedback communication for a groupcast and wherein the UE determining to transmit a distance-based HARQ feedback message in response to a failure to decode, as taught by Lee in ¶0133-¶0135, to better improve communication systems by allowing more flexibility during periods without location data associated with UE behavior and enabling system communications with sidelink capabilities to assist in a groupcast setting.
Claim 6 differs by the following limitation, which is also taught by the prior art, Shu teaches
a receiver (Shu Fig. 4: 410) configured to receive (Shu Fig. 4: 410, Receiving Module)
a controller (Shu Fig. 4: 430) configured to determine (Shu Fig. 4: 430, Determining Module):
a transmitter (Shu Fig. 4: 450) configured to transmit (Shu Fig. 4: 450, Sending Module)
Regarding Claim 2, Claim 7
Shu in view of Lee teaches the method and device as explained above in Claim 1. Shu further discloses
wherein receiving the location unavailable configuration (Shu Fig. 8: 801, e.g. Fig. 5: 510, see 0125) comprises receiving a control signal (Shu ¶0087: service order; Shu teaches the location unavailable information being sent via a service order, i.e. a request).
Regarding Claim 3, Claim 8
Shu in view of Lee teaches the method and device as explained above in Claim 2. Lee further discloses
wherein receiving the location unavailable configuration (Lee ¶0183: incapable of locating a location of a transmitting UE due to restricted information) comprises receiving a Sidelink Control Channel (SCCH) (Lee ¶0185: PSCCH) signal in a groupcast transmission (Lee ¶0183: discovery message; Lee teaches a PSCCH signal being used when the location information is unknown).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Shu by way of Lee, to include an element that teaches a PSCCH signal being used when the location information is unknown, as taught by Lee in ¶0183-¶0185, to better improve communication systems by allowing more flexibility during periods without location data associated with UE behavior and enabling system communications with sidelink capabilities to assist in a groupcast setting.
Regarding Claim 4, Claim 9, Claim 17
Shu in view of Lee teaches the method and device as explained above in Claim 3. Lee further teaches
wherein receiving the location unavailable configuration comprises receiving a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) (Lee Fig. 2: MAC) in the SCCH channel (Lee ¶0133: UE decodes PSCCH, e.g. the Physical SCCH; Lee teaches the communication protocol being sent through a MAC CE).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Shu by way of Lee, to include an element that teaches the communication protocol being sent through a MAC CE, as taught by Lee in Fig. 2 and ¶0183, to better improve communication systems by allowing more flexibility during periods without location data associated with UE behavior and enabling system communications with sidelink capabilities to assist in a groupcast setting.
Regarding Claim 5, Claim 10, Claim 18, and Claim 23
Shu in view of Lee teaches the method and device as explained above in Claim 4. Lee further teaches
wherein the SCCH signal is transmitted in accordance with at least one revision least one revision of a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR) V2X communication specification (Lee ¶0134: NR V2X).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Shu by way of Lee, to include an element that teaches that the communication system is in New Radio, as taught by Lee in ¶0134, to better improve communication systems by allowing more flexibility during periods without location data associated with UE behavior and enabling system communications with sidelink capabilities to assist in a groupcast setting.
Regarding Claim 12
Shu in view of Lee teaches the method and device as explained above in Claim 11. Shu further discloses
wherein the determining (Shu Fig. 4: 430) is performed by (Shu Fig. 8: 804, determining) the transmitting UE device (Shu Fig. 1: 112; Shu teaches the determination module being performed by a UE).
Regarding Claim 13
Shu in view of Lee teaches the method and device as explained above in Claim 11. Shu teaches
wherein the determining (Shu ¶0124: process 800 may be implemented in the storage) is performed by a base station (Shu Fig. 1: 150) serving the transmitting UE device (Shu Fig. 1: 112; Shu teaches the process can be implemented by an element within a network).
Regarding Claim 14
Shu in view of Lee teaches the method and device as explained above in Claim 11. Shu teaches
wherein the determining is performed by (Shu ¶0124: process 800 may be implemented in the storage) a network (Shu Fig. 1: 150) serving the transmitting UE device (Shu Fig. 1: 112) and the receiving UE device (Shu Fig. 1: 140; Shu teaches the determining can be performed by an element within a network).
Regarding Claim 15
Shu in view of Lee teaches the method and device as explained above in Claim 11. Shu teaches
wherein the determining is performed by (Shu ¶0124: process 800 may be implemented by the storage 150 and/or executed by the processing engine 112) a combination of at least two of: the transmitting UE device (Shu Fig. 1: 110), a base station serving the transmitting UE device (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim); and a network serving the transmitting UE device and the receiving UE device (Shu Fig. 1: 150; Shu teaches that the process can be handled by an element in the network and the processing engine).
Regarding Claim 16 and Claim 21
Shu in view of Lee teaches the method and device as explained above in Claim 11. Lee teaches
Wherein the determining comprises evaluating at least one of: a quality of service (QoS) of communications with the receiving UE device (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), a number of UE devices in a group receiving the groupcast transmission (Not given patentable weight due to non-selective option in the claim), and available Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH) resources (Lee ¶0133: transmitting UE via a PSFCH; Lee teaches using the PSFCH for groupcast transmissions).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Shu by way of Lee, to include an element that teaches using the PSFCH for groupcast transmissions, as taught by Lee in ¶0133, to better improve communication systems by allowing more flexibility during periods without location data associated with UE behavior and enabling system communications with sidelink capabilities to assist in a groupcast setting.
Regarding Claim 20
Shu in view of Lee teaches the method and device as explained above in Claim 19.
wherein the controller (Shu Fig. 4: 430) is configured to determine (Shu ¶0125: receiving order is further described in ¶0087 due to its similarity) the location unavailable configuration at partially based on information received from a base station (Shu ¶0087: may be obtained from 150) serving the transmitting UE device (Shu ¶0087: 112; Shu teaches that the controller can receive information from the storage associated with the network).
Regarding Claim 22
Shu in view of Lee teaches the method and device as explained above in Claim 19. Lee further teaches
wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit the location unavailable configuration by transmitting a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) (Lee Fig. 2: MAC) in a Sidelink Control Channel (SCCH) (Lee ¶0133: PSCCH) signal in a groupcast transmission, the CE indicative of the location unavailable configuration (Lee ¶0133: HARQ feedback; Lee teaches the MAC with a PSCCH signal containing the HARQ feedback information).
It would have been obvious for one skilled in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Shu by way of Lee, to include an element that teaches the MAC with a PSCCH signal containing the HARQ feedback information, as taught by Lee in Fig. 2 and ¶0133, to better improve communication systems by allowing more flexibility during periods without location data associated with UE behavior and enabling system communications with sidelink capabilities to assist in a groupcast setting.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUSTIN MICHAEL WHITAKER whose telephone number is (703)756-4763. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 7:30am - 4:00pm.
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/JUSTIN MICHAEL WHITAKER/Examiner, Art Unit 2415
/Sudesh M. Patidar/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2415
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