Detail Action
The office action is in response to the communications filed on 10/13/2025.
Notice of 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 .
Claims Status
Claims 1 and 28-29 have been amended.
Claims 1-29 are pending in this application.
Prior Art Made of Record
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kwon et al. (Patent No. US 11,425,646), the prior art discloses that the partial sensing is a sensing scheme for monitoring transmission resources during part of a predetermined sensing period with no necessity to monitor the full sensing period; see column 5 lines 34-36.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 14-22 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Examiner Notes
Claim 1 was objected to because was missing a transitional phrase (e.g. "comprising"). However, the new claims, filed on 10/13/2025, have corrected the objection by adding the transitional phrase. Therefore, the objection has been withdrawn.
Claim 8 was objected to because of the “Np” abbreviation (e.g. acronym or initialism). However, the new claims, filed on 10/13/2025, have corrected the objection by removing the “Np” abbreviation. Therefore, the objection has been withdrawn.
Claim 1-27, the claims were rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter of the invention. In specific, are no structural elements or means-plus-functions recited within the claim to support the machine statutory category. However, Applicant’s arguments and claim amendments with respect to 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) rejection have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 112(b) has been withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
Applicant remarks, filed on 10/13/2025, argues that the cited portion of the prior art, individually or in combination, fails to discloses the features presented by the amended claim 1. In specific, Applicant indicates that the features reciting “wherein the at least one parameter of the partial sensing is at least one out of o a step size describing a time interval between two consecutive sensing intervals of the partial sensing is dependent, time instances of the partial sensing” are not disclosed by the prior art. Examiner agrees, based on the remarks, that the amendments to claim 1 overcome the prior art rejection. However, a new ground of rejection necessitated by the claim amendments is presented. The new grounds of rejection discloses that the partial sensing configuration information may include a partial sensing offset, and wherein the partial sensing offset indicates an offset of the first time unit of a partial sensing window; see Guo ¶ 0071 & table 2. Therefore, the claim is met by the prior art.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under AIA 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 1-13 and 23-29 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Khoryaev et al. (Publication No. US 2020/0029245, hereinafter referred as Khoryaev) in view of Guo et al. (Publication No. US 2023/0066041, hereinafter referred as Guo).
Regarding claims 1, 28, and 29, Khoryaev discloses a transceiver of a wireless communication network comprising:
a signal processor and a transceiver unit (It is inherent that the node includes a signal processor and a transceiver unit in order to perform the wireless communication.),
wherein the transceiver is configured to operate in a sidelink in-coverage, out of coverage or partial coverage scenario, in which the transceiver is configured or preconfigured to allocate or schedule resources for a sidelink communication over a sidelink autonomously or network controlled (Generating a plurality of partial sensing windows to sense one or more resources for a resource (re)selection to be used in a direct communication [sidelink] with another UE; wherein the partial sensing window durations comprising different lengths of the plurality of partial sensing windows based on a UE specific pre-configuration or a cell-common pre-configuration [network controlled]; see figure 14 numeral 1410, ¶ 0187, & ¶ 0192. For example, eNB can pre-configure the set of partial windows to be sensed for each of UE; see ¶ 0200. Furthermore, the communications between UEs that may be served by an evolved universal terrestrial access network (E-UTRAN) or at least one of communicating UE may be out of network coverage; see ¶ 0086.),
wherein the transceiver is configured to determine, for said sidelink communication, a set of candidate resources out of resources of the sidelink by means of partial sensing said resources of the sidelink prior to a sidelink transmission to another transceiver of the wireless communication network (Generating [determine] a resource candidate set according to an exclusion of one or more of the occupied resources; wherein the generation of the resource candidate set is based on monitoring continuously the plurality of partial sensing windows; wherein the resource candidate set is used in a direct communication [sidelink] with another UE; see figure 14 numeral 1420-1430 & ¶¶ 0187-0189.),
wherein the transceiver is configured to perform said sidelink transmission using selected resources selected out of the set of candidate resources (Generating a transmission based on selected resources from the resources (re)selection with the resource candidate set; see figure 14 numeral 1450 & ¶ 0191.),
Khoryaev fails to disclose “wherein at least one parameter of the partial… wherein the transceiver…. wherein the parameters of the discontinuous … wherein the at least one parameter of the partial”. However, in analogous art, Guo discloses that “at least one parameter of the partial sensing depends on a discontinuous reception, DRX, and/or discontinuous transmission, DTX, configuration of the transceiver,
wherein the transceiver is configured to perform said partial sensing and said sidelink transmission during an active period of the discontinuous transmission, DTX, and/or an active period of the discontinuous reception, DRX (The UE may compare a priority of a partial sensing procedure and a priority of a SL DRX procedure; see ¶ 0074. When a SL DRX procedure has a higher priority than a partial sensing procedure according to comparing results, the UE may perform a sensing operation in on sensing duration of the partial sensing procedure, when the on sensing duration is located within on duration of the SL DRX procedure; see ¶ 0077.),
wherein the parameters of the discontinuous transmission, DTX, and/or discontinuous reception, DRX, depend on at least one parameter of the transceiver or the wireless communication network (The new radio (NR) sidelink (SL) latency [network parameter] is set with [10 ms, 30 ms, 50 ms, 100 ms], a SL DRX procedure may have a cycle of [10 ms, 30 ms, 50 ms, 100 ms]; see ¶ 0082.),
wherein the at least one parameter of the partial sensing is at least one out of
-a step size describing a time interval between two consecutive sensing intervals of the partial sensing is dependent ,
-time instances of the partial sensing (The partial sensing configuration information may include a partial sensing offset, wherein the partial sensing offset indicates an offset of the first time unit of a partial sensing window; see ¶ 0071 & table 2.),”
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Khoryaev partial sensing mechanism with the DRX mechanism of Guo in order to save power while performing the sensing operation; see ¶ 0052.
Regarding claim 2, Khoryaev fails to disclose that “the transceiver is configured to adjust at least one parameter of the partial sensing in dependence on at least one out of the state of the transceiver, the state of the wireless communication network, the parameters of the sidelink or the sidelink communication”. However, in analogous art, Guo disclose partial sensing configuration information may include parameters: ‘Partial Sensing Cycle Gap’, ‘Partial Sensing Active Time’, ‘Partial Sensing Offset’, ‘Partial Sensing Priority’, or a combination thereof; see table 2 & ¶ 0071. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Khoryaev partial sensing mechanism with the partial sensing configuration of Guo in order to save power while performing the sensing operation; see ¶ 0052.
Regarding claim 3, Khoryaev fails to disclose that the transceiver is configured to adjust at least one parameter of the partial sensing depending on a received control information. However, in analogous art, Guo disclose partial sensing configuration information [control information] may include parameters: ‘Partial Sensing Cycle Gap’, ‘Partial Sensing Active Time’, ‘Partial Sensing Offset’, ‘Partial Sensing Priority’, or a combination thereof; see table 2 & ¶ 0071. Furthermore, the RX UE reports partial sensing configuration information, to the TX UE, by SCI signaling [physical layer] or a MAC CE; see ¶ 0092. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Khoryaev partial sensing mechanism with the partial sensing configuration of Guo in order to save power while performing the sensing operation; see ¶ 0052.
Regarding claim 4, Khoryaev fails to disclose that the control information is transmitted on either physical layer or higher layers. However, in analogous art, Guo disclose partial sensing configuration information [control information] may include parameters: ‘Partial Sensing Cycle Gap’, ‘Partial Sensing Active Time’, ‘Partial Sensing Offset’, ‘Partial Sensing Priority’, or a combination thereof; see table 2 & ¶ 0071. Furthermore, the RX UE reports partial sensing configuration information, to the TX UE, by SCI signaling [physical layer] or a MAC CE; see ¶ 0092. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Khoryaev partial sensing mechanism with the control information of Guo in order to save power while performing the sensing operation; see ¶ 0052.
Regarding claim 5, Khoryaev discloses that the at least one parameter of the partial sensing is pre-configured (The configured set of partial sensing windows could be described with the set of preconfigured values K; see ¶ 0106).
Regarding claim 6, Khoryaev fails to disclose that the state of the transceiver is at least one out of a geo location of the transceiver, a relative position of the transceiver with respect to another transceiver of the wireless communication network, a status of a battery of the transceiver, a DRX/DTX configuration, a network coverage. However, in analogous art, Guo disclose that the UE may compare a priority of a partial sensing procedure and a priority [DRX configuration] of a SL DRX procedure; see ¶ 0074. When a SL DRX procedure has a higher priority than a partial sensing procedure according to comparing results, the UE may perform a sensing operation in on sensing duration of the partial sensing procedure, when the on sensing duration is located within on duration [state of transceiver] of the SL DRX procedure; see ¶ 0077. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Khoryaev partial sensing mechanism with the DRX mechanism of Guo in order to save power which performing the sensing operation; see ¶ 0052.
Regarding claim 7, Khoryaev fails to disclose that the parameters of the sidelink or the sidelink communication are at least one out of a subcarrier spacing, a type of the sidelink communication, a QoS of the sidelink communication, a priority of the sidelink communication, HARQ configuration, configured grants (type 1, type 2). However, in analogous art, Guo disclose that the UE receives SL DRX configuration information containing a priority of the SL DRX procedure; wherein the UE may compare a priority of a partial sensing procedure and a priority [DRX configuration] of a sidelink (SL) DRX procedure; see ¶ 0074 & ¶ 0077. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Khoryaev partial sensing mechanism with the SL DRX mechanism of Guo in order to save power which performing the sensing operation; see ¶ 0052.
Regarding claim 8, Khoryaev discloses that the state of the wireless communication network is at least one out of
- a number of other transceivers, Np, that are in range of the transceiver,
- a number of other transceivers, that are located in the same communication area than the transceiver,
- a minimum communication range with respect to sidelink (if UE has a 100 ms transmission but congestion level [state of the network] is too high (above the defined threshold for number of UEs [other transceivers] in a coverage area [communication area] detected), the UE can use the 200 ms or 400 ms reservation interval instead of a 100 ms reservation interval, or modify processing to another interval based on the congestion level; see ¶ 0154.).
Regarding claim 9, Khoryaev fails to disclose that the transceiver is configured to select the step size out of a set of different step sizes in dependence on at least one out of
- the state of the transceiver,
- the state of the wireless communication network,
-the parameters of the sidelink or the sidelink communication, and/or
in dependence on a received control information that depends on at least one out of
- the state of the transceiver,
- the state of the wireless communication network,
-the parameters of the sidelink or the sidelink communication. However, in analogous art, Guo disclose partial sensing configuration information [control information] may include parameters: ‘Partial Sensing Offset’ [Step]; see table 2 & ¶ 0071. Furthermore, Partial To indicate an offset of the first time unit of an a partial sensing window Offset from a certain reference time unit; wherein the time unit can be a frame, a subframe, a timeslot, or a symbol; see table 2. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Khoryaev partial sensing mechanism with the partial sensing configuration of Guo in order to save power while performing the sensing operation; see ¶ 0052.
Regarding claim 10, Khoryaev fails to disclose that the transceiver is configured to determine the time instances of the sensing intervals of the partial sensing in dependence on the selected step size. However, in analogous art, Guo disclose partial sensing configuration information [control information] may include parameters: ‘Partial Sensing Offset’ [Step]; see table 2 & ¶ 0071. Furthermore, indicating an offset of the first time unit [size] of an a partial sensing window from a certain reference time unit; wherein the time unit can be a frame, a subframe, a timeslot, or a symbol; see table 2. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Khoryaev partial sensing mechanism with the partial sensing configuration of Guo in order to save power while performing the sensing operation; see ¶ 0052.
Regarding claim 11, Khoryaev fails to disclose that the transceiver is configured to determine the number of the sensing intervals of the partial sensing in dependence on at least one out of
- the state of the transceiver,
- the state of the wireless communication network,
- the parameters of the sidelink or the sidelink communication, and/or
in dependence on a received control information that depends on at least one out of
- the state of the transceiver,
- the state of the wireless communication network,
- the parameters of the sidelink or the sidelink communication. However, in analogous art, Guo disclose partial sensing configuration information may include parameters: ‘Partial Sensing cycle gap, wherein the partial sensing cycle gap indicates the duration of a partial sensing cycle; wherein the partial sensing cycle length [number of sensing interval] is defined as a duration which equals to one ‘ON time’ plus one ‘OFF time’, the value of a partial sensing cycle length may be expressed in one or more time units, wherein the time unit can be a frame, a subframe, a timeslot, or a symbol..; see table 2 & ¶ 0071. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Khoryaev partial sensing mechanism with the partial sensing configuration of Guo in order to save power while performing the sensing operation; see ¶ 0052.
Regarding claim 12, Khoryaev fails to disclose a duration of the sensing of the partial sensing in dependence on at least one out of
- the state of the transceiver,
- the state of the wireless communication network,
- the parameters of the sidelink or the sidelink communication, and/or
in dependence on a received control information that depends on at least one out of
- the state of the transceiver,
- the state of the wireless communication network,
- the parameters of the sidelink or the sidelink communication. However, in analogous art, Guo disclose partial sensing configuration information may include parameters: ‘Partial Sensing Active time’ [number of sensing intervals], wherein the partial sensing active time indicates the duration of one sensing window; wherein the value of partial sensing active time be express in one or more time units; see table 2 & ¶ 0071. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Khoryaev partial sensing mechanism with the partial sensing configuration of Guo in order to save power while performing the sensing operation; see ¶ 0052.
Regarding claim 13, Khoryaev fails to disclose that the transceiver is configured to receive a control information,
wherein the control information comprises an information about at least one configurable parameter of the partial sensing,
wherein the transceiver is configured to determine time instances of the partial sensing in dependence on the at least one configurable parameter. However, in analogous art, Guo disclose partial sensing configuration information [control information] may include parameters: ‘Partial Sensing Offset’ [Step]; see table 2 & ¶ 0071. Furthermore, indicating an offset of the first time unit [size] of an a partial sensing window from a certain reference time unit; wherein the time unit can be a frame, a subframe, a timeslot, or a symbol; see table 2. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Khoryaev partial sensing mechanism with the partial sensing configuration of Guo in order to save power while performing the sensing operation; see ¶ 0052.
Regarding claim 23, Khoryaev fails to disclose that the transceiver is configured to receive a control information, wherein the control information comprises an information about at least one configurable parameter of the partial sensing, wherein the transceiver is configured to determine a duration of sensing of the partial sensing in dependence on the at least one parameter. However, in analogous art, Guo disclose partial sensing configuration information may include parameters: ‘Partial Sensing Active time’ [number of sensing intervals], wherein the partial sensing active time indicates the duration of one sensing window; wherein the value of partial sensing active time be express in one or more time units; see table 2 & ¶ 0071. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Khoryaev partial sensing mechanism with the partial sensing configuration of Guo in order to save power while performing the sensing operation; see ¶ 0052.
Regarding claim 24, Khoryaev fails to disclose that the sidelink communication is a new radio, NR, sidelink communication. However, in analogous art, Guo disclose that the NR network, wherein the sidelink mode 1 or mode 2; see ¶ 0053. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Khoryaev partial sensing mechanism with the sidelink modes of Guo in order to enable saving power by coordinating of a partial sensing mechanism and a SL DRX mechanism; see ¶¶ 0052-0053.
Regarding claim 25, Khoryaev fails to disclose that the transceiver is configured to operate in a new radio, NR, sidelink mode 1 or mode 2. However, in analogous art, Guo disclose that the NR network, wherein the sidelink mode 1 or mode 2; see ¶ 0053. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Khoryaev partial sensing mechanism with the sidelink modes of Guo in order to enable saving power by coordinating of a partial sensing mechanism and a SL DRX mechanism; see ¶¶ 0052-0053.
Regarding claim 26, Khoryaev fails to disclose that the transceiver is battery operated. However, in analogous art, Guo disclose that the NR sidelink is designed for vulnerable road users (VRUs) UE, wherein the UE includes a battery; see ¶ 0003. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Khoryaev partial sensing mechanism with the battery use case of Guo in order to enable the minimization of power consumption of this scenarios; see ¶ 0003.
Regarding claim 27, Khoryaev fails to disclose that the transceiver is a vulnerable road user equipment, VRU-UE. However, in analogous art, Guo disclose that the NR sidelink is designed for vulnerable road users (VRUs) UE; see ¶ 0003. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Khoryaev partial sensing mechanism with the VRU-UE use case of Guo in order to enable the minimization of power consumption of this scenarios; see ¶ 0003.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
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/H.R/Examiner, Art Unit 2472
/KEVIN T BATES/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2472