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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 10/7/2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendments filed 10/7/2025 have been entered. Claims 1-3, 15-17, 22-24, and 30 have been amended.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 15, 22, and 30 have been 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.
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 nonobviousness.
Claims 1-6, 8, and 15-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. (US 2024/0146482), hereinafter Lee, in further view Liu (US 2022/0095321), hereinafter Liu.
Regarding Claim 1, Lee teaches: A method for wireless communications at a first user equipment (UE), comprising: identifying a distance parameter associated with the first UE and a second UE: “A coverage level or range of a WTRU may be used. A WTRU may determine a resource or set of resources for transmission of a control channel such as a PSCCH based on a coverage level or range of the WTRU. The range of the WTRU may be a distance to another WTRU or to the intended recipient of the PSCCH” (Lee ¶ 0111); selecting one or more first frequency resources within a time window for a frequency multiplexed sidelink communication to a third UE: “a gNB may configure a PSCCH resource pool 210, which may include a set of PRUs, and the PRUs in the PSCCH resource pool may be split into one or more range-specific PSCCH resource pools such that the range-specific PSCCH resource pool may be used by WTRUs having the corresponding range” (Lee ¶ 0122); and transmitting, via the one or more first frequency resources, the frequency multiplexed sidelink communication based at least in part on the selection: “a WTRU may send an SCI message in the selected PSCCH resource 270” (Lee ¶ 0133).
Lee does not teach: the one or more first frequency resources are selected in accordance with the time window including one or more second frequency resources allocated to the second UE and are selected based at least in part on whether the distance parameter is less than a threshold
Regarding Claim 1, Liu teaches: the one or more first frequency resources are selected in accordance with the time window including one or more second frequency resources allocated to the second UE and are selected based at least in part on whether the distance parameter is less than a threshold: “to further reduce the co-channel interference, a frequency difference between the time-frequency resources allocated by the controller 01 or the transceiving access node to the two wireless terminals located in different radio access cells may be greater than a specific threshold, where the distance between the two terminals is less than the second threshold. In other words, the time-frequency resources allocated to the two wireless terminals may be spaced at a given distance in frequency domain” (Liu ¶ 0145).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed application to combine the disclosure of Lee with Liu for the purpose of avoiding co-channel interference in sidelink. According to Liu: “because the frequencies of the operating channels of the plurality of radio access nodes in the first radio access cell are the same, and the co-channel interference is avoided, a distance between neighboring radio access nodes can be relatively small, and each radio access node may use an operating channel with a relatively wide bandwidth. This effectively improves a system capacity and a data transmission rate” (Liu ¶ 0008).
Regarding Claim 2, Lee teaches: The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining that a distance between the first UE and the second UE is less than a second threshold in accordance with the distance parameter being less than the threshold: “a first subset or number of PRUs may be used if the distance between a first WTRU and a second WTRU is less than a first threshold” (Lee ¶ 0115); and selecting the one or more first frequency resource for the frequency multiplexed sidelink communication within the time window based at least in part on the distance between the first UE and the second UE being less than the threshold: “A coverage level or range of a WTRU may be used. A WTRU may determine a resource or set of resources for transmission of a control channel such as a PSCCH based on a coverage level or range of the WTRU. The range of the WTRU may be a distance to another WTRU or to the intended recipient of the PSCCH” (Lee ¶ 0111).
Regarding Claim 3, Lee teaches: The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining that a distance between the first UE and the second UE is greater than a second threshold in accordance with the distance parameter being greater than the threshold: “a second subset or number of PRUs may be used if the distance between a first WTRU and a second WTRU is greater than the first threshold or greater than the first threshold and less than a second threshold, and so on” (Lee ¶ 0115); identifying a restriction for the one or more first frequency resources for the frequency multiplexed sidelink communication based at least in part on the distance between the first UE and the second UE being greater than the second threshold; and selecting the one or more first frequency resource for the frequency multiplexed sidelink communication based at least in part on the restriction: “a resource pool may corresponds to a range, for example, a distance or a proximity, between 2 WTRUs” (Lee ¶ 0120) and see Lee Fig. 2 below. The restriction is interpreted as the resource pool according to applicant specification ¶ 6: “the first UE or the base station may select frequency resources based on one or more restrictions. For example, the first UE or the base station may select frequency resources within a different time window or may select frequency resources at an offset from frequency resources reserved by the one or more UEs.”
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Lee Fig. 2
Regarding Claim 4, Lee teaches: The method of claim 3, wherein selecting the one or more first frequency resources comprises: excluding, based at least in part on the restriction, one or more third frequency resources within the time window from candidate resources for selecting the one or more first frequency resources: see Lee Fig. 2 above where the PRUs per range exclude frequency resources within the transmission time window based on the restriction and “As an example, three range-specific PSCCH resource pools may be used, determined, or configured, for example, by a gNB. In an example shown in FIG. 2, the ranges may be labelled as Range 1, Range 2 and Range 3. A first range may be up to k1 meters, for example, k1=10, and may include one PRU per resource. Also, a second range may be up to k2 meters, for example, k2=50, and may include two PRUs per resource. Further, a third range may be k3 meters, for example, k3=100, and may include four PRUs per resource” (Lee ¶ 0123).
Regarding Claim 5, Lee teaches: The method of claim 3, wherein selecting the one or more first frequency resources comprises: selecting, based at least in part on the restriction, the frequency resource for the frequency multiplexed sidelink communication within the time window and offset in frequency from the one or more second frequency resources allocated to the second UE: see Lee Fig. 2 above where the PRUs per range exclude frequency resources within the transmission time window based on the restriction and “As an example, three range-specific PSCCH resource pools may be used, determined, or configured, for example, by a gNB. In an example shown in FIG. 2, the ranges may be labelled as Range 1, Range 2 and Range 3. A first range may be up to k1 meters, for example, k1=10, and may include one PRU per resource. Also, a second range may be up to k2 meters, for example, k2=50, and may include two PRUs per resource. Further, a third range may be k3 meters, for example, k3=100, and may include four PRUs per resource” (Lee ¶ 0123).
Regarding Claim 6, Lee teaches: The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the distance parameter comprises: determining the distance parameter based at least in part on measuring a reference signal received power from the second UE: “According to an example, if a measurement, for example, of a signal from a WTRU, is below a threshold, a first subset or a first number of PRUs may be used. If the measurement is above a threshold a second subset or number of PRUs may be used. The first subset may be larger than the second subset. The measurement may be an RSRP measurement, a channel state information (CSI) measurement or both” (Lee ¶ 0114), wherein the distance parameter and the threshold comprise respective reference signal received powers: from the above cited section of Lee the measurement is an RSRP measurement compared to a threshold, a separate RSRP value.
Regarding Claim 8, Lee teaches: The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the distance parameter comprises: determining the distance parameter based at least in part on a location of the first UE and an indication of a location of the second UE, wherein the distance parameter and the threshold comprise respective distances: “According to another example, a first subset or number of PRUs may be used if the distance between a first WTRU and a second WTRU is less than a first threshold. Further, a second subset or number of PRUs may be used if the distance between a first WTRU and a second WTRU is greater than the first threshold or greater than the first threshold and less than a second threshold, and so on” (Lee ¶ 0115) and “When positioning information is available, the number of PRUs, and/or the subset of PRUs, for PSCCH transmission and/or reception may be determined based on the distance between two WTRUs or based on positioning information” (Lee ¶ 0119).
Regarding Claim 15, Lee teaches: A method for wireless communications at a network entity, comprising: identifying a distance parameter associated with the first UE and a second UE: “A coverage level or range of a WTRU may be used. A WTRU may determine a resource or set of resources for transmission of a control channel such as a PSCCH based on a coverage level or range of the WTRU. The range of the WTRU may be a distance to another WTRU or to the intended recipient of the PSCCH” (Lee ¶ 0111); selecting one or more first frequency resources within a time window for a frequency multiplexed sidelink communication to a third UE: “a gNB may configure a PSCCH resource pool 210, which may include a set of PRUs, and the PRUs in the PSCCH resource pool may be split into one or more range-specific PSCCH resource pools such that the range-specific PSCCH resource pool may be used by WTRUs having the corresponding range” (Lee ¶ 0122); and allocating the one or more first frequency resources to the first UE for sidelink communication based at least in part on the selection: “the gNB schedules the resource for PSCCH transmission” (Lee ¶ 0117).
Lee does not teach: the one or more first frequency resources are selected in accordance with the time window including one or more second frequency resources allocated to the second UE and based at least in part on whether the distance parameter is less than the threshold
Regarding Claim 15, Liu teaches: the one or more first frequency resources are selected in accordance with the time window including one or more second frequency resources allocated to the second UE and are selected based at least in part on whether the distance parameter is less than a threshold: “to further reduce the co-channel interference, a frequency difference between the time-frequency resources allocated by the controller 01 or the transceiving access node to the two wireless terminals located in different radio access cells may be greater than a specific threshold, where the distance between the two terminals is less than the second threshold. In other words, the time-frequency resources allocated to the two wireless terminals may be spaced at a given distance in frequency domain” (Liu ¶ 0145).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed application to combine the disclosure of Lee with Liu for the purpose of avoiding co-channel interference in sidelink. According to Liu: “because the frequencies of the operating channels of the plurality of radio access nodes in the first radio access cell are the same, and the co-channel interference is avoided, a distance between neighboring radio access nodes can be relatively small, and each radio access node may use an operating channel with a relatively wide bandwidth. This effectively improves a system capacity and a data transmission rate” (Liu ¶ 0008).
Regarding Claim 16, Lee teaches: The method of claim 15, further comprising: determining that the distance parameter is less than the threshold: “a first subset or number of PRUs may be used if the distance between a first WTRU and a second WTRU is less than a first threshold” (Lee ¶ 0115); and selecting the one or more first frequency resource for the frequency multiplexed sidelink communication within the time window based at least in part on the distance parameter being less than the threshold: “A coverage level or range of a WTRU may be used. A WTRU may determine a resource or set of resources for transmission of a control channel such as a PSCCH based on a coverage level or range of the WTRU. The range of the WTRU may be a distance to another WTRU or to the intended recipient of the PSCCH” (Lee ¶ 0111).
Regarding Claim 17, Lee teaches: The method of claim 15, further comprising: determining that the distance parameter is greater than the threshold; identifying a restriction for the one or more first frequency resource for the frequency multiplexed sidelink communication based at least in part on the distance parameter being greater than the threshold; and selecting the one or more first frequency resource for the frequency multiplexed sidelink communication based at least in part on the restriction: “Further, a second subset or number of PRUs may be used if the distance between a first WTRU and a second WTRU is greater than the first threshold or greater than the first threshold and less than a second threshold, and so on” (Lee ¶ 0115) and “a resource pool may corresponds to a range, for example, a distance or a proximity, between 2 WTRUs” (Lee ¶ 0120) and see Lee Fig. 2 above. The restriction is interpreted as the resource pool according to applicant specification ¶ 6: “the first UE or the base station may select frequency resources based on one or more restrictions. For example, the first UE or the base station may select frequency resources within a different time window or may select frequency resources at an offset from frequency resources reserved by the one or more UEs.”
Regarding Claim 18, Lee teaches: The method of claim 17, wherein selecting the one or more first frequency resources comprises: excluding, based at least in part on the restriction, one or more third frequency resources within the time window from candidate resources for selecting the one or more first frequency resources: see Lee Fig. 2 above where the PRUs per range exclude frequency resources within the transmission time window based on the restriction and “As an example, three range-specific PSCCH resource pools may be used, determined, or configured, for example, by a gNB. In an example shown in FIG. 2, the ranges may be labelled as Range 1, Range 2 and Range 3. A first range may be up to k1 meters, for example, k1=10, and may include one PRU per resource. Also, a second range may be up to k2 meters, for example, k2=50, and may include two PRUs per resource. Further, a third range may be k3 meters, for example, k3=100, and may include four PRUs per resource” (Lee ¶ 0123).
Regarding Claim 19, Lee teaches: The method of claim 17, wherein selecting the one or more first frequency resources comprises: selecting, based at least in part on the restriction, the frequency resource for the frequency multiplexed sidelink communication within the time window and offset in frequency from the one or more second frequency resources allocated to the second UE: see Lee Fig. 2 above where the PRUs per range exclude frequency resources within the transmission time window based on the restriction and “As an example, three range-specific PSCCH resource pools may be used, determined, or configured, for example, by a gNB. In an example shown in FIG. 2, the ranges may be labelled as Range 1, Range 2 and Range 3. A first range may be up to k1 meters, for example, k1=10, and may include one PRU per resource. Also, a second range may be up to k2 meters, for example, k2=50, and may include two PRUs per resource. Further, a third range may be k3 meters, for example, k3=100, and may include four PRUs per resource” (Lee ¶ 0123).
Regarding Claim 20, Lee teaches: The method of claim 15, wherein identifying the distance parameter comprises: determining the distance parameter based at least in part on measuring a reference signal received power from the second UE: “According to an example, if a measurement, for example, of a signal from a WTRU, is below a threshold, a first subset or a first number of PRUs may be used. If the measurement is above a threshold a second subset or number of PRUs may be used. The first subset may be larger than the second subset. The measurement may be an RSRP measurement, a channel state information (CSI) measurement or both” (Lee ¶ 0114), wherein the distance parameter and the threshold comprise respective reference signal received powers: from the above cited section of Lee the measurement is an RSRP measurement compared to a threshold, a separate RSRP value.
Regarding Claim 21, Lee teaches: The method of claim 15, wherein identifying the distance parameter comprises: determining the distance parameter based at least in part on a location of the first UE and an indication of a location of the second UE, wherein the distance parameter and the threshold comprise respective distances: “According to another example, a first subset or number of PRUs may be used if the distance between a first WTRU and a second WTRU is less than a first threshold. Further, a second subset or number of PRUs may be used if the distance between a first WTRU and a second WTRU is greater than the first threshold or greater than the first threshold and less than a second threshold, and so on” (Lee ¶ 0115) and “When positioning information is available, the number of PRUs, and/or the subset of PRUs, for PSCCH transmission and/or reception may be determined based on the distance between two WTRUs or based on positioning information” (Lee ¶ 0119).
Regarding Claim 22, Lee teaches: An apparatus for wireless communications at a first user equipment (UE), comprising: one or more processors; one or more memories coupled with the one or more processors: “The processor 118 of the WTRU 102 may be coupled to, and may receive user input data from, the speaker/microphone 124, the keypad 126, and/or the display/touchpad 128 (for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD) display unit or organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display unit). The processor 118 may also output user data to the speaker/microphone 124, the keypad 126, and/or the display/touchpad 128. In addition, the processor 118 may access information from, and store data in, any type of suitable memory” (Lee ¶ 0046); and instructions stored in the one or more memories and executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to: identify a distance parameter associated with the first UE and a second UE: “A coverage level or range of a WTRU may be used. A WTRU may determine a resource or set of resources for transmission of a control channel such as a PSCCH based on a coverage level or range of the WTRU. The range of the WTRU may be a distance to another WTRU or to the intended recipient of the PSCCH” (Lee ¶ 0111); select one or more first frequency resources within a time window for a frequency multiplexed sidelink communication to a third UE: “a gNB may configure a PSCCH resource pool 210, which may include a set of PRUs, and the PRUs in the PSCCH resource pool may be split into one or more range-specific PSCCH resource pools such that the range-specific PSCCH resource pool may be used by WTRUs having the corresponding range” (Lee ¶ 0122); and transmit, via the one or more first frequency resources, the frequency multiplexed sidelink communication based at least in part on the selection: “a WTRU may send an SCI message in the selected PSCCH resource 270” (Lee ¶ 0133).
Lee does not teach: the one or more first frequency resources are selected in accordance with the time window including one or more second frequency resources allocated to the second UE and based at least in part on whether the distance parameter is less than the threshold
Regarding Claim 22, Liu teaches: the one or more first frequency resources are selected in accordance with the time window including one or more second frequency resources allocated to the second UE and are selected based at least in part on whether the distance parameter is less than a threshold: “to further reduce the co-channel interference, a frequency difference between the time-frequency resources allocated by the controller 01 or the transceiving access node to the two wireless terminals located in different radio access cells may be greater than a specific threshold, where the distance between the two terminals is less than the second threshold. In other words, the time-frequency resources allocated to the two wireless terminals may be spaced at a given distance in frequency domain” (Liu ¶ 0145).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed application to combine the disclosure of Lee with Liu for the purpose of avoiding co-channel interference in sidelink. According to Liu: “because the frequencies of the operating channels of the plurality of radio access nodes in the first radio access cell are the same, and the co-channel interference is avoided, a distance between neighboring radio access nodes can be relatively small, and each radio access node may use an operating channel with a relatively wide bandwidth. This effectively improves a system capacity and a data transmission rate” (Liu ¶ 0008).
Regarding Claim 23, Lee teaches: The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to: determine that the distance parameter is less than the threshold: “a first subset or number of PRUs may be used if the distance between a first WTRU and a second WTRU is less than a first threshold” (Lee ¶ 0115); and select the one or more first frequency resources for the frequency multiplexed sidelink communication within the time window based at least in part on the distance parameter being less than the threshold: “A coverage level or range of a WTRU may be used. A WTRU may determine a resource or set of resources for transmission of a control channel such as a PSCCH based on a coverage level or range of the WTRU. The range of the WTRU may be a distance to another WTRU or to the intended recipient of the PSCCH” (Lee ¶ 0111).
Regarding Claim 24, Lee teaches: The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to: determine that the distance parameter is greater than the threshold; identify a restriction for the one or more first frequency resources for the frequency multiplexed sidelink communication based at least in part on the distance parameter being greater than the threshold; and selecting the one or more frequency resources for the frequency multiplexed sidelink communication based at least in part on the restriction: “Further, a second subset or number of PRUs may be used if the distance between a first WTRU and a second WTRU is greater than the first threshold or greater than the first threshold and less than a second threshold, and so on” (Lee ¶ 0115) and “a resource pool may corresponds to a range, for example, a distance or a proximity, between 2 WTRUs” (Lee ¶ 0120) and see Lee Fig. 2 above. The restriction is interpreted as the resource pool according to applicant specification ¶ 6: “the first UE or the base station may select frequency resources based on one or more restrictions. For example, the first UE or the base station may select frequency resources within a different time window or may select frequency resources at an offset from frequency resources reserved by the one or more UEs.”
Regarding Claim 25, Lee teaches: The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the instructions to select the frequency resource are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: exclude, base at least in part on the restriction, frequency resources within the time window from candidate resources for selecting the frequency resource: see Lee Fig. 2 above where the PRUs per range exclude frequency resources within the transmission time window based on the restriction and “As an example, three range-specific PSCCH resource pools may be used, determined, or configured, for example, by a gNB. In an example shown in FIG. 2, the ranges may be labelled as Range 1, Range 2 and Range 3. A first range may be up to k1 meters, for example, k1=10, and may include one PRU per resource. Also, a second range may be up to k2 meters, for example, k2=50, and may include two PRUs per resource. Further, a third range may be k3 meters, for example, k3=100, and may include four PRUs per resource” (Lee ¶ 0123).
Regarding Claim 26, Lee teaches: The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the instructions to select the one or more first frequency resources are executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to: select, based at least in part on the restriction, the one or more first frequency resource for the frequency multiplexed sidelink communication within the time window and offset in frequency from the one or more second frequency resources allocated to the second UE: see Lee Fig. 2 above where the PRUs per range exclude frequency resources within the transmission time window based on the restriction and “As an example, three range-specific PSCCH resource pools may be used, determined, or configured, for example, by a gNB. In an example shown in FIG. 2, the ranges may be labelled as Range 1, Range 2 and Range 3. A first range may be up to k1 meters, for example, k1=10, and may include one PRU per resource. Also, a second range may be up to k2 meters, for example, k2=50, and may include two PRUs per resource. Further, a third range may be k3 meters, for example, k3=100, and may include four PRUs per resource” (Lee ¶ 0123).
Regarding Claim 27, Lee teaches: The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the instructions to identify the distance parameter are executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to: determine the distance parameter based at least in part on measuring a reference signal received power from the second UE, wherein the distance parameter and the threshold comprise respective reference signal received powers: see Lee Fig. 2 above where the PRUs per range exclude frequency resources within the transmission time window based on the restriction and “As an example, three range-specific PSCCH resource pools may be used, determined, or configured, for example, by a gNB. In an example shown in FIG. 2, the ranges may be labelled as Range 1, Range 2 and Range 3. A first range may be up to k1 meters, for example, k1=10, and may include one PRU per resource. Also, a second range may be up to k2 meters, for example, k2=50, and may include two PRUs per resource. Further, a third range may be k3 meters, for example, k3=100, and may include four PRUs per resource” (Lee ¶ 0123).
Regarding Claim 28, Lee teaches: The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the instructions to identify the distance parameter are executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to: determine the distance parameter based at least in part on a location of the first UE and an indication of a location of the second UE: “According to an example, if a measurement, for example, of a signal from a WTRU, is below a threshold, a first subset or a first number of PRUs may be used. If the measurement is above a threshold a second subset or number of PRUs may be used. The first subset may be larger than the second subset. The measurement may be an RSRP measurement, a channel state information (CSI) measurement or both” (Lee ¶ 0114), wherein the distance parameter and the threshold comprise respective reference signal received powers: from the above cited section of Lee the measurement is an RSRP measurement compared to a threshold, a separate RSRP value.
Regarding Claim 29, Lee teaches: The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the instructions to identify the distance parameter are executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to: determine the distance parameter based at least in part on a location of the first UE and a location of a channel occupancy time used by the second UE, wherein the distance parameter and the threshold comprise respective distances: “According to another example, a first subset or number of PRUs may be used if the distance between a first WTRU and a second WTRU is less than a first threshold. Further, a second subset or number of PRUs may be used if the distance between a first WTRU and a second WTRU is greater than the first threshold or greater than the first threshold and less than a second threshold, and so on” (Lee ¶ 0115) and “When positioning information is available, the number of PRUs, and/or the subset of PRUs, for PSCCH transmission and/or reception may be determined based on the distance between two WTRUs or based on positioning information” (Lee ¶ 0119).
Regarding Claim 30, Lee teaches: An apparatus for wireless communications at a base station, comprising: one or more processors; one or more memories coupled with the one or more processors; and instructions stored in the one or more memories and executable by the one or more processors to cause the apparatus to: “one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that each feature or element can be used alone or in any combination with the other features and elements. In addition, the methods described herein may be implemented in a computer program, software, or firmware incorporated in a computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or processor” (Lee ¶ 0253): identify a distance parameter associated with the first UE and a second UE: “A coverage level or range of a WTRU may be used. A WTRU may determine a resource or set of resources for transmission of a control channel such as a PSCCH based on a coverage level or range of the WTRU. The range of the WTRU may be a distance to another WTRU or to the intended recipient of the PSCCH” (Lee ¶ 0111); selecting one or more first frequency resources within a time window for a frequency multiplexed sidelink communication to a third UE: “a gNB may configure a PSCCH resource pool 210, which may include a set of PRUs, and the PRUs in the PSCCH resource pool may be split into one or more range-specific PSCCH resource pools such that the range-specific PSCCH resource pool may be used by WTRUs having the corresponding range” (Lee ¶ 0122); and allocate resources to the first UE for sidelink communication based at least in part on the selection: “the gNB schedules the resource for PSCCH transmission” (Lee ¶ 0117).
Lee does not teach: the one or more first frequency resources are selected in accordance with the time window including one or more second frequency resources allocated to the second UE and based at least in part on whether the distance parameter is less than the threshold
Regarding Claim 30, Liu teaches: the one or more first frequency resources are selected in accordance with the time window including one or more second frequency resources allocated to the second UE and are selected based at least in part on whether the distance parameter is less than a threshold: “to further reduce the co-channel interference, a frequency difference between the time-frequency resources allocated by the controller 01 or the transceiving access node to the two wireless terminals located in different radio access cells may be greater than a specific threshold, where the distance between the two terminals is less than the second threshold. In other words, the time-frequency resources allocated to the two wireless terminals may be spaced at a given distance in frequency domain” (Liu ¶ 0145).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed application to combine the disclosure of Lee with Liu for the purpose of avoiding co-channel interference in sidelink. According to Liu: “because the frequencies of the operating channels of the plurality of radio access nodes in the first radio access cell are the same, and the co-channel interference is avoided, a distance between neighboring radio access nodes can be relatively small, and each radio access node may use an operating channel with a relatively wide bandwidth. This effectively improves a system capacity and a data transmission rate” (Liu ¶ 0008).
Claims 7 and 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee and Liu as applied to claim 6 above, and further in view of Pais et al. (US 2016/0044486), hereinafter Pais.
Regarding Claim 7, Lee and Liu: The method of claim 6.
Lee and Liu do not teach: a plurality of UEs comprising the second UE are allocated one or more respective frequency communication resources within the time window; and the second UE has a smallest reference signal received power relative to the first UE out of the plurality of UEs.
Regarding Claim 7, Pais teaches: a plurality of UEs comprising the second UE are allocated one or more respective frequency respective communication resources within the time window; and the second UE has a smallest reference signal received power relative to the first UE out of the plurality of UEs: “In one example, the distance parameter could indicate that the distance indicated by the parameter is ‘large’ or ‘safe’ from the interference point of view, i.e. that the identified relevant device is at a distance where such a device would, either for sure or very likely, not be a victim or an aggressor device” (Pais ¶ 0111) and “The gathering of location information can be done either by each individual UE being configured to transmit its own location coordinates (if available) or by UE.sub.1 and UE.sub.2 performing measurements of signature signals, e.g. synchronization and pilot signals, and estimating the distance to the potential victim/aggressor UEs. After this location information is gathered, UE.sub.1 and UE.sub.2 could exchange this information among themselves, e.g. via a default signaling D2D channel, and then one of them proceeds with the rest of the method steps described herein” (Pais ¶ 0167).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the references of Lee and Liu with Pais to achieve the predictable result of reducing the interference caused by other D2D communications in a sidelink network configuration. According to Pais: “However, D2D communications between the devices of a particular eNB may still experience interference caused by devices, including pairs or groups of devices, engaged in radio communications covered by different eNBs or by devices not covered by any eNBs. Thus, interferences to a pair of devices in a D2D communication can originate from other devices engaged in radio communications, irrespective of whether or not they are within the coverage of, and/or attached to, the telecommunications network. What is needed in the art is a technique for allocating radio resources that can improve or eliminate at least some of these drawbacks” (Pais ¶ 0005-0006).
Regarding Claim 9, Lee and Liu teach: The method of claim 8.
Lee and Liu do not teach: a plurality of UEs comprising the second UE are allocated respective communication resources within the time window; and the second UE has a largest distance from the first UE out of the plurality of UEs.
Regarding Claim 9, Pais teaches: a plurality of UEs comprising the second UE are allocated one or more respective frequency communication resources within the time window; and the second UE has a largest distance from the first UE out of the plurality of UEs: “In one example, the distance parameter could indicate that the distance indicated by the parameter is ‘large’ or ‘safe’ from the interference point of view, i.e. that the identified relevant device is at a distance where such a device would, either for sure or very likely, not be a victim or an aggressor device” (Pais ¶ 0111) and “the processor would carry out step 808 described above by allocating one or more radio resources for the D2D communication between the first D2D device and the second D2D device based on radio resources allocated to the one or more devices for which the aggressor interference parameter was determined to satisfy the aggressor condition, Such allocation could be further fine-tuned based on the actual values of the aggressor interference parameters for the different relevant devices” (Pais ¶ 0134).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the references of Lee and Liu with Pais to achieve the predictable result of reducing the interference caused by other D2D communications in a sidelink network configuration. According to Pais: “However, D2D communications between the devices of a particular eNB may still experience interference caused by devices, including pairs or groups of devices, engaged in radio communications covered by different eNBs or by devices not covered by any eNBs. Thus, interferences to a pair of devices in a D2D communication can originate from other devices engaged in radio communications, irrespective of whether or not they are within the coverage of, and/or attached to, the telecommunications network. What is needed in the art is a technique for allocating radio resources that can improve or eliminate at least some of these drawbacks” (Pais ¶ 0005-0006).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee and Liu as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Cui et al. (US 11,546,778) hereinafter Cui.
Regarding Claim 10, Lee teaches: The method of claim 1.
Lee does not teach: a plurality of UEs comprising the second UE are allocated one or more respective frequency communication resources within the time window; and the second UE initiates a channel occupancy time used by the first UE and the second UE.
Regarding Claim 10, Cui teaches: a plurality of UEs comprising the second UE are allocated one or more respective frequency communication resources within the time window; and the second UE initiates a channel occupancy time used by the first UE and the second UE: “after the UE has accessed into the unlicensed frequency band, determine whether or not a portion of the channel occupancy time assigned to the UE may be shared with another UE; and upon determining that the portion of the channel occupancy time assigned to the UE may be shared with the another UE, transmit channel occupancy time sharing information to a base station or the another UE” (Cui Claim 1).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the references of Lee and Liu with Cui to achieve the predictable result of improving spectrum utilization. According to Cui: “According to the electronic apparatus and the method described in the above aspects of the present disclosure, the indication denoting whether to allow sharing the COT with other UE is transmitted, so that the other UE can share the COT of the present UE, thereby improving utilization efficiency of spectrum resources of the unlicensed frequency band” (Cui Column 2 Lines 10-17).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 11-14 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
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/BRADLEY D LYTLE JR./Examiner, Art Unit 2473
/KWANG B YAO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2473