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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendment to the claims filed on 06/05/2026 complies with the requirements of 37 CFR 1.121(c) and has been entered. Claims 15, 18, 20-21, 24 and 26 are amended. Claims 1-14 remain cancelled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s Arguments/Remarks filed on 06/05/2026 (hereinafter Resp.) with respect to the amended claims are fully considered hereinafter.
Regarding Guo et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20230066041 (hereinafter Guo), Applicant argues that “Guo merely discloses that a sensing operation is performed when the sensing window is located within the SL DRX ON duration” but “Guo does not disclose that the position of a candidate resource for resource selection is limited to the DRX active time as recited in the amended claim 15” – See Resp., 9:¶1. Examiner respectfully disagrees with Applicant’s interpretation of Guo in light of the knowledge of a person of ordinary skills in the art.
First, Guo astutely discloses that “these two mechanisms differ from each other at that the partial sensing mechanism is designed for transmission resource selection, and the SL DRX mechanism is designed for reception” – See [¶0052], i.e., when the UE selects from the resources “cleared” by the sensing mechanism, the selection is for transmitting on those resources not for receiving, hence the selection is not bound by the DRX on/off duration mechanism. This is the reason why Guo discusses at length how to coordinate between the SL DRX and the SL sensing mechanisms. Second, as known in the art, once some resources are sensed during the sensing window, the same resources, i.e., the physical resource blocks (PRBs) indicated by the same symbol(s) in slot-time and subcarriers/frequency bands may be selected for PSSCH transmission because 3GPP wireless frames have a cyclical structure as well known in the art and also explained by Guo – See [¶0046](“the UE should have sensed on a sensing window with all allowed resource reservation periodicities configured by a higher layer before using sensing result(s) for resource reselection mechanism”)(emphasis added). Because of these inherent periodicities, Guo does not need to “disclose[] that the terminal limits candidate resources to those within the DRX active time when selecting a resource as recited in the amended claim 15” as argued by the Applicant – See Resp., 10:¶2, the resources sensed as free during the sensing window overlap with the DRX On duration will fall in the same time/frequency places, i.e., during an DRX On duration (that is also cyclical, as known in the art and shown in Figs 2-3 of Guo).Therefore, Applicant’s argument against Guo’s lack of disclosure “that the position of a candidate resource for resource selection is limited to the DRX active time as recited in the amended claim 15” is unpersuasive.
Applicant rightfully notes that the Amendment renders the arguments against Guo moot – See Resp..8:¶2. Indeed, the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for the amended matter.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112(a)
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Amended Claims 15 and 21 and their dependents are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Regarding Amended Claim 15, the limitation “T2min is configured by the sidelink resource pool configuration” lacks sufficient written description because the present Specification does not disclose sidelink resource pool configuration comprising T2min. Furthermore, as explained in detail infra, pertinent 3GPP specifications such as 3GPP TS 36.331 and 3GPP 38.331 do not disclose T2min as a parameter or field of any of the RRC Information Elements specifying SL resource pools. Therefore, the present disclosure does not reasonably covey to one skilled in the relevant art either that the inventor or a joint inventor, at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention, or disclose how to use the available prior art, e.g., 3GPP technical specifications specifying SL resource pools configuration, to realize the required limitation. Amended Claim 21 suffers the same deficiency.
Therefore, Amended Claims 15 and 21, and their dependent are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §112(a) for insufficient written description.
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.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 15-26, as amended, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Guo et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20230066041 (hereinafter Guo), and further in view of Final Report of 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #101-e v1.0.0 (Online meeting, 25th May – 5th June 2020), R1-2005201 and Tdocs referenced in § 7.2.4.2, Title: "Resource allocation for NR sidelink Mode 2," published June 2020 (hereinafter 3GPP R1-2005201).
Regarding Amended Claim 15, Guo teaches a method performed by a terminal in a communication system (“a method for wireless communications . . . includ[ing] determining whether a sidelink (SL) discontinuous reception (DRX) procedure is enabled” – See [¶0004] and “when both a partial sensing mechanism and a SL DRX mechanism are enabled for UE (e.g., PUE), coordination between configurations of these two mechanisms” – See [¶0061]) the method comprising:
receiving, from a base station, a sidelink configuration including a sidelink discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration (“UE 101a functions as Tx UE, and UE 101b functions as Rx UE. UE 101a may exchange V2X messages with UE 101b through a sidelink, for example, PCS interface as defined in 3GPP TS 23.303” – See [¶0036] and Fig. 1, whereby “[b]oth UE 101a and UE 101b in the embodiments of FIG. 1 may transmit information to BS 102 and receive control information from BS 102, for example, via LTE or NR Uu interface” – See [¶0038], e.g., “[i]n the case of NR Uu link, a BS or a network decides when to let UE sleep and when to wake it up and informs the timing to the UE using a RRC message” so that “UE (e.g., UE 101a or UE 101b illustrated and shown in FIG. 1) in discontinuous reception (DRX) mechanism gets into a sleep mode for a certain period of time and wakes up for another period of time” – See [¶0051], Fig. 5 and Table 1 showing the SL DRX configuration parameters, whereby “the SL DRX mechanism is designed for reception” – See [¶0052] and “when SL DRX for Rx UE is configured by a BS or a network, the BS or the network will determine the configuration for the Rx UE based on partial sensing configuration information of the Rx UE” – See [¶0108]; see also § 4.5.1.1, 3GPP TS 23.303 V16.0.0 (2020-07), “Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; Proximity-based services (ProSe); Stage 2 (Release 16)” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 23.303, describing, at page 21-22 authorization and provisioning for ProSe/sidelink communications)
and a sidelink resource pool configuration including information on a sensing window and information on a selection window (“in Mode 2, UE autonomously selects resource(s) for a sidelink communication” – See [¶0053] in a resource pool, as defined in “3GPP standard document TS36.300 [2]” specifying1 “the design related to partial sensing for UE (e.g., PUE)” in resource pools – See [¶0042] whereby “[t]he UE can send sidelink UE information message to indicate that it requests resource pools for a pedestrian to everything (P2X) related V2X sidelink communication transmission, as specified in 3GPP standard document TS36.331 [3]” – See [¶0044] and 3GPP TS 36.331 V16.1.1 (2020-07), "Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Radio Resource Control (RRC); Protocol specification (Release 16)," published July 24, 2020 (hereinafter 3GPP TS 36.331) specifying, at page 825-829, SL-CommResourcePool Information Element (IE) “configuration information for an individual pool of resources for sidelink communication” indicating the sc-Period “as the period over which resources are allocated in a cell for SC and over which scheduled and UE selected data transmissions occur, see PSCCH period in TS 36.213 [23]. Value in number of subframes,” at page 829-830, the IE SL-CommTxPoolSensingConfig indicating minNumCandidateSF as “the minimum number of subframes that are included in the possible candidate resources,” i.e., a minimum sensing window, at page 840, the IE SL-P2X-ResourceSelectionConfig specifying the sensing and the selection mechanisms for UE autonomous resource selection in a resource pool; see also §23.14.1.1, 3GPP TS 36.300, at page 350-351, specifying that in Mode 2 SL communications “[t]he UE performs sensing for (re)selection of sidelink resources. Based on sensing results, the UE (re)selects some specific sidelink resources and reserves multiple sidelink resources” further referencing at [92] the 3GPP TS 38.331 V16.1.0 (2020-07), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol specification (Release 16)” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.331), specifying, at page 769-776, the SL-ResourcePool RRC Information Element (IE) for “the configuration information for NR sidelink communication resource pool” including sl-SensingWindow “[p]arameter that indicates the start of the sensing window” and sl-SelectionWindowList “[p]arameter that determines the end of the selection window”; furthermore, “candidate SL DRX configurations can be pre-configured in a resource pool” whereby “UE may determine configurations for both partial sensing and SL DRX mechanisms according to their priorities” – See [¶0065] whereby “partial sensing based selection mechanism may also be named as a partial sensing based resource selection mechanism” – See [¶0042])
monitoring slots belonging to a sidelink resource pool within the sensing window except for slots used for a transmission (“According to 3GPP standard document TS36.213 [ 4], if UE (e.g., PUE) is configured to use a partial sensing based selection mechanism, the UE will monitor the resource only in a subset of subframes” of the resource pool – See [¶0045]; see also 3GPP 36.331 supra, specifying, at page 846-847, that the IE SL-ThresPSSCH-RSRP-List “indicates a threshold used for sensing based UE autonomous resource selection (see TS 36.213 [23]). A resource is excluded if it is indicated or reserved by a decoded SCI and PSSCH RSRP in the associated data resource is above the threshold defined by IE SL-ThresPSSCH-RSRP-List,” i.e., the slots used for an actual transmission are excepted from sensing); and
wherein the selection window is located after the sensing window in time (“the UE should have sensed on a sensing window with all allowed resource reservation periodicities configured by a higher layer before using sensing result(s) for resource reselection mechanism” – See [¶0046] i.e., the resource selection window is located after the sensing window in time, an inherent property of a sensing-based resource selection mechanism; see also 3GPP 36.331, at page 840 specifying the RRC IE SL-PeriodComm that “indicates the period over which resources allocated in a cell for sidelink communication” expressed in number of subframes)
identifying a candidate resource the partial sensing mechanism is designed for transmission resource selection, and the SL DRX mechanism is designed for reception” – See [¶0052] hence “configurations of a partial sensing mechanism are independent from configurations of a SL DRX mechanism, and no coordination between these two mechanisms is supported,” – See [¶0053] because sensing is inherently a reception mechanism, “if behaviors of UE . . . in Off duration for SL DRX are configured as not performing a sensing operation during the Off duration for SL DRX even if a partial sensing window has been configured, the UE cannot perform a sensing operation in subframe #2 to subframe #4 and subframe #7 to subframe #9 of SFN 1” – See [¶0059] and Fig. 3; therefore
“when both a partial sensing mechanism and a SL DRX mechanism are enabled for UE (e.g., PUE), coordination between configurations of these two mechanisms is needed” – See [¶0061]; e.g., “If a partial sensing procedure has a higher priority, the candidate resource for transmission should be guaranteed” – See [¶0082] because “the UE may perform a sensing
operation in on sensing duration of the partial sensing procedure, when the on sensing duration of the partial sensing procedure is located within either off duration of the SL DRX procedure or on duration of the SL DRX procedure” – See [¶0083] whereby “SL DRX configuration information may include . . . ‘SL DRX Active Time'” that “indicate[s] the duration of one 'ON time'” – See [¶0069] and Table 1, which may overlap with the ON Sensing duration as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 (1)-(5)).
Although the 3GPP documents referenced in Guo describe the RRC parameters for SL resource sensing window and resource (re)selection window as explained supra, and Guo specifically describe a partial sensing based selection mechanism for resource (re)selection mechanism – See, e.g., [¶0046] (“the UE should have sensed on a sensing window with all allowed resource reservation periodicities configured by a higher layer before using sensing result(s)” and “UE may not know when the resource selection or reselection procedure will be performed, and thus, a sensing window for the UE should be periodical”), Guo does not explicitly disclose timing and other parameters of the resource sensing and resource selection windows.
Section 7.2.4.2.2, 3GPP R1-2005201 specifically references Tdocs from member companies comprising technical contributions to resource allocation for NR sidelink Mode 2 (as defined in Guo) and published before the effective filing date of the present Application2. For example, Tdoc R1-2003310, Title: “Remaining details of resource allocation Mode 2,” Source: Nokia, Nokia Shanghai Bell, published May 16, 2020, referencing previous “[a]greements on selection/sensing window (resource allocation mode 2),” discloses, in §2, at page 2:
wherein the sensing window is defined based on a time interval [n-T0, n-Tproc,0], wherein n indicates a slot in which a resource selection is triggered and To is configured by the sidelink resource pool configuration (“A sensing window is defined by time interval [n – T0, n – Tproc,0]” whereby “T0 is (pre-)configured” and n is “a given time instance n when resource (re-)selection and re-evaluation procedure is triggered”),
wherein the selection window is defined based on a time interval [n+T1, n+T2] (“The resource selection window starts at time instance (n + T1), T1 ≥ 0 and ends at time instance (n + T2”)
wherein T1<Tproc,1 and T2min<T2<remaining packet delay budget (“The start of selection window T1 is up to UE implementation subject to T1 ≤ Tproc,1” and “T2 is up to UE implementation with the following details as a working assumption: T2 ≥ T2min; If T2min > Remaining PDB, then T2min is modified to be equal to Remaining PDB” whereby “UE selection of T2 shall fulfil the latency requirement, i.e. T2 ≤ Remaining PDB”).
and wherein T2min is configured by the sidelink resource pool configuration (possibly “the minimum window duration T2min – T1 is a function of priority,” i.e., T2min could be determined from a minimum selection window duration and “Time instances n, T0, T1, T2, T2min are measured in slots”; see also 3GPP 38.331, specifying, at page 769-776, that the SL-ResourcePool RRC IE described supra, comprises sl-SelectionWindowList a “[p]arameter that determines the end of the selection window in the resource selection for a TB with respect to priority indicated in SCI,” i.e., T2 from which T2min could be determined; and at page 766, discloses in relationship with SL QoS flows, sl-PacketDelayBudget parameter that “[i]ndicates the Packet Delay Budget for a QoS flow. Upper bound value for the delay that a packet may experience expressed in unit of 0.5ms,” i.e., an upper bound for T2min could be determined).
Thus, Guo and 3GPP R1-2005201 each discloses UEs receiving information associated with a sidelink resource pool and a sensing window in the resource pool for Mode 2 resource allocation in NR sidelink communications, wherein candidate resources are identified during a sensing window and (re)selected during a selection window. A person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention would have understood that the time related parameters for defining the sensing window and the resource selection window, respectively, as defined in the 3GPP technical specification available at that time and referenced by 3GPP R1-2005201 could have been added to the configuration information about the partial selection procedure in Guo, because both are configuration information for resource sensing and selection received by the UE from a base station. Furthermore, a person of ordinary skill in the art would have been able to carry out the addition through techniques known in the art. Finally, the addition achieves the predictable result of defining parameters of resource allocation for NR sidelink Mode 2 in agreement with the 3GPP technical specification affected by member companies’ proposals discussed in 3GPP R1-2005201.
Therefore, Amended Claim 15 is obvious over Guo in view of 3GPP R1-2005201.
Regarding Claim 16, dependent from Amended Claim 15, Guo further teaches the method of claim 15, wherein the sidelink DRX configuration includes a parameter for a sidelink DRX onduration timer and a parameter for a sidelink inactivity timer (as shown in Table 1, the “SLDRX Configuration Parameter[s]” include: “SLDRX Active Time -To indicate the duration of one 'ON time'” used for a sidelink DRX onduration timer and to derive the value for the sidelink inactivity timer from the “SLDRX Cycle Gap” which is “a parameter indicating a duration of a SL DRX cycle. A SL DRX cycle length is defined as a duration which equals to one 'ON time' plus one 'OFF time'. The value of SL DRX cycle length may be expressed in one or more time units. The time unit can be a frame, a subframe, a timeslot, or a symbol. As an example, a SL DRX cycle length can be measured by multiplying SL DRX Cycle Gap by a pre-defined time duration” – See [¶0069]). A person of ordinary skills in the art would know that timers based on these parameters are the practical implementation of time duration in wireless networks, and Guo teaches that “the SL DRX configuration information is configured by radio resource control (RRC) signaling or by a MAC control element (CE)” – See [¶0072], and even though Guo does not explicitly teach DRX timers corresponding to the DRX parameters listed in Table 1. 3GPP TS 36.331 referenced by Guo – See [¶0044], teaches that the MAC-MainConfig information element “used to specify the MAC main configuration for signalling and data radio bearers” of the UE contains a drx-Config field “[u]sed to configure DRX as specified in TS 36.321 [6],” further comprising a drx-InactivityTimer that is a “[t]imer for DRX in TS 36.321 [6]. Value in number of PDCCH sub-frames” and a onDurationTimer that is a “[t]imer for DRX in TS 36.321 [6]. Value in number of PDCCH sub-frames” – See 3GPP TS 36.331:543-548; see also 3GPP TS 36.321 V16.1.0 (2020-07), Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification (Release 16),” July 24 2020 (hereinafter 3GPP TS 36.321) teaching DRX timers in § 5.7, at page 57-61.
Therefore, Claim 16 is obvious over Gao in view of 3GPP R1-2005201.
Regarding Claim 17, dependent from Claim 16, Guo further teaches a sidelink DRX active time (the “SL DRX cycle length is defined as a duration which equals to one 'ON time' plus one 'OFF time'” – See Table 1, and the “ON Duration of a SL DRX cycle may also be named as On Duration for SL DRX, Active Time of a SL DRX cycle, Active Time for SL DRX, or the like” – See Guo:[¶0056]). Because 3GPP TS 36.331 supra teaches that the onDurationTimer is a “[t]imer for DRX in TS 36.321 [6]. Value in number of PDCCH sub-frames” and § 5.7, 3GPP TS 36.321:57 teaches that “[w]hen a DRX cycle is configured, the Active Time includes the time while: onDurationTimer or drx-InactivityTimer . . . is running,” Guo in view of Yoon teaches that the active time includes time while the sidelink DRX onduration timer is running or the sidelink inactivity timer is running.
Therefore, Claim 17 is obvious over Gao in view of 3GPP R1-2005201.
Regarding Amended Claim 18, dependent from Amended Claim 15, although Guo does not teach the parameter Tproc,0, 3GPP R1-200520 teaching Tproc,0, e.g., in Tdoc R1-2003310 and in reference to updates to §8.4.1, 3GPP TS 38.214, further teaches the method of claim 15, wherein Tproc,0 indicates a processing time associated with sensing – See Tdoc R1-2003310, at page 2, defining the sensing window dependent from Tproc,0 as [n – T0, n – Tproc,0] whereby “the values suggested by Ericsson can be adopted as one choice. Tproc,0 is defined as 1 slot for 15 kHz and 30 kHz and 2 slots for 60 kHz and 120 kHz” and “T0 is (pre)-configured between: 1000+[100]ms and [100]ms” i.e., Tproc,0 indicates the end of the sensing window.
Therefore, Amended Claim 18 is obvious over Gao in view of 3GPP R1-2005201.
Regarding Claim 19, dependent from Amended Claim 15, Guo, through reference to 3GPP TS 36.331 and 3GPP TS 38.331 wherein the SL resource pools are specified – See [¶0053] (referencing “3GPP 5G NR V2X technology”], further teaches the method of claim 15 wherein the selection window is associated with a subcarrier spacing – See, e.g., the SL-ResourcePool RRC IE parameter sl-SelectionWindowList specified at page 775 as having “Value n1 corresponds to 1*2µ, value n5 corresponds to 5*2µ, and so on, where µ = 0,1,2,3 for SCS 15,30,60,120 kHz respectively”; see also Tdoc R1-2003310, referenced by 3GPP R1-2005201, stating, at page 2, that “The start of selection window T1 is up to UE implementation subject to T1 ≤ Tproc,1” whereby “Tproc,1 is 2 slots for 15 kHz and 30 kHz, 3 slots for 60 kHz, and 4 slots for 120 kHz” i.e., the selection window is associated with a subcarrier spacing (SCS).
Therefore, Claim 19 is obvious over Gao in view of 3GPP R1-2005201.
Regarding Amended Claim 20, dependent from Amended Claim 15, 3GPP R1-2005201 further teaches the method of claim 15, wherein Tproc,1 indicates a processing time associated with the resource selection, and wherein T2min indicates a minimum value of T2 – See, e.g., Tdoc R1-2003310 supra states at page 2 that “T1 ≤ Tproc,1,” i.e., Tproc,1 may be the start of the selection window, hence is associated with the resource selection, and “T2 ≥ T2min,” i.e., T2min indicates a minimum value of T2, and references Ericsson’s contribution Tdoc R1-2004544, Title: “Resource allocation Mode 2 for NR SL,” Source: Ericsson, published May 2020 (hereinafter Tdoc R1-2004544), at page 2, stating that “Regarding Tproc,1, our view is that it is the time required for preparing a PSCCH/PSSCH transmission,” i.e., a processing time, further referencing 3GPP TS 38.214 for standardized Tproc,1 values, noting the requirement to avoid “empty selection window” by providing T2min – T1 values sufficient for preparing a PSCCH/PSSCH transmission and proposing “to take the values in [standard table] plus one slot” resulting in “Proposal 3 Tproc,1 is 2 slots for 15 kHz and 30 kHz, 3 slots for 60 kHz, and 4 slots for 120 kHz”; see also § 8.1.4, 3GPP TS 38.214, at page 152 “internal parameter
T
2
m
i
n
is set to the corresponding value from higher layer parameter t2min_SelectionWindow for the given value of
p
r
i
o
T
X
”, and at page 154, Table 8.1.4-2 indicating
T
p
r
o
c
,
1
S
L
in number of slots depending on sub-carrier spacing.
Therefore, Amended Claim 20 is obvious over Gao in view of 3GPP R1-2005201.
Regarding Amended Claim 21, Guo further teaches a terminal in a communication system, the terminal comprising: a transceiver; and a controller coupled with the transceiver – See Fig. 18, and configured to perform the steps of Amended Claim 15, using the same language. Because Amended Claim 21 does not recite any other limitations, and the steps of the Amended Claim 15 method are obvious over Guo in view of 3GPP R1-2005201, as explained in Regarding Amended Claim 15, supra, Amended Claim 21 is obvious over Guo in view of 3GPP R1-2005201.
Regarding Claims 22-26, as amended, dependent from Amended Claim 21, each claim merely recites the same limitations as Claims 16-20, respectively, as amended, using the same language, and no other limitations, only applied to the apparatus of Amended Claim 21. Because Claims 16-21, as amended, are obvious over Guo in view of 3GPP R1-2005201, each of the Claims 22-26 is also obvious over Guo in view of 3GPP R1-2005201.
In sum, Claims 15-26, as amended, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103 as obvious over Gao in view of 3GPP R1-2005201.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Yoon, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0156670 as disclosed in previous Office action;
Huang et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0227604 teaches selecting candidate sidelink transmission resources when sidelink DRX is configured;
Chen et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0039149 teaches sidelink communication or V2X sidelink communication within a sidelink resource pool within the sensing window except for slots used for a transmission;
Xu et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2022/0167268 teaches the configuration of SL-DRX may include timers;
Han et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0232492 teaches power saving in R17 may be achieved by performing sidelink DRX at the UE, whereby the configuration information received by the UE may indicate that one sidelink DRX configuration is associated with the resource pool;
3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #101-e, R1-2003379, Title: ‘Remaining issues on mode 2 resource allocation mechanism,” Source: vivo, June 2020;
3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #101-e, R1-20004531, Title:” Remain details on mode-2 resource allocation for NR V2X” Source: ITIL, June 2020;
3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #101-e, R1-2004945, Title:” TPs based on outcome of [101-e-NR-5G_V2X_NRSL-Mode-2-04],” (periodic reservations), Source: Intel (moderator); June 2020;
3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #99, R1-1913450, Title: “Summary#2 for AI 7.2.4.2.2 Mode-2 Resource Allocation,” Source: Intel, November 2019;
3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #101-e, R1-2003310, Title: “Remaining details of resource allocation Mode 2,” Source: Nokia, Nokia Shanghai Bell, published May 16, 2020;
3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #101-e, R1- 2004942, Agenda Item: 7.2.4.2.2, Title: “Outcome and TP of [101-e-NR-5G_V2X_NRSL-Mode-2-05],” Source: Moderator (Intel Corporation), published June 7, 2020;
3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #101-e, R1-2004544, Title: “Resource allocation Mode 2 for NR SL,” Source: Ericsson, published May 2020;
3GPP TS 23.303 V16.0.0 (2020-07), “Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; Proximity-based services (ProSe); Stage 2 (Release 16)”;
3GPP TS 38.321 V16.1.0 (2020-07) “3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol specification (Release 16)”; Published 07/24/2020;
3GPP TS 38.331 V16.1.0 (2020-07), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol specification (Release 16),” published July 24, 2020;
3GPP TS 36.331 V16.1.1 (2020-07), "Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Radio Resource Control (RRC); Protocol specification (Release 16)," published July 24, 2020;
3GPP TS 36.213 V16.2.0 (2020-06), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Physical layer procedures (Release 16)”;
3GPP TS 36.300 V16.2.0 (2020-07), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); Overall description; Stage 2 (Release 16),” July 24, 2020;
3GPP 38.214 V16.2.0 (2020-06), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical layer procedures for data (Release 16).”
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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/L.G.G./Examiner, Art Unit 2478
/JOSEPH E AVELLINO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2478
1 3GPP TS 36.300 V16.2.0 (2020-07), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); Overall description; Stage 2 (Release 16),”July 24, 2020, (hereinafter 3GPP TS 36.300) specifying in §23.10.3, Radio resource allocation for SL communications, stating, at page 342, that “UE autonomous resource selection is characterized by: A UE on its own selects resources from resource pools and performs transport format selection to transmit sidelink control information and data; There can be up to 8 transmission pools either pre-configured for out of coverage operation or provided by RRC signalling for in-coverage operation,” and “Once the resource pool is selected, the selection is valid for the entire Sidelink Control period. After the Sidelink Control period is finished the UE may perform resource pool selection again”; see also id., at page 344: “The resource pools used for transmission and reception are configured by the eNB via RRC, in dedicated or broadcast signalling, if UE autonomous resource selection is used.”
2 It is noted that several Tdocs referenced by § 7.2.4.2, R1-2005201 affect 3GPP 38.214 V16.2.0 (2020-06), “Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; Physical layer procedures for data (Release 16)” (hereinafter 3GPP TS 38.214), specifically §8.1.4 disclosing Mode 2 resource (re)selection procedure, already disclosing the present Amendment at page 152-154. The proposed changes to 3GPP TS 38.214 are comprised in R1- 2004942, Agenda Item: 7.2.4.2.2, Title: “Outcome and TP of [101-e-NR-5G_V2X_NRSL-Mode-2-05],” Source: Moderator (Intel Corporation), published June 7, 2020 (hereinafter 3GPP R1-2004942).
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