DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the Amendment filed 2/2/2026. Claims 11-15 have been previously canceled. Claims 1-10 and 16-20 are currently pending in the application.
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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been considered but are moot because they do not apply to the new grounds of rejection made in view of newly cited Mohammad Soleymani et al. (U.S. Publication US 2023/0091763 A1; hereafter referred to as Mohammad).
Independent claim 1 has been amended to include a new limitation requiring “select candidate resources for the first discontinuous reception configuration based on the sensing during the first on-duration corresponding to the first discontinuous reception configuration”. Although previously cited Hwang et al. (U.S. Publication US 2023/0055280 A1) does teach a UE performing sensing to determine RSRP measurements during an active time of a DRX operation (See paragraphs 197-198 of Hwang et al.), Hwang et al. does not specifically disclose selecting candidate resources based on the sensing, as claimed.
However, newly cited Mohammad teaches a transceiver of a UE determining, for sidelink communication, a set of candidate resources by means of partial sensing during an active period of a DRX depending on a DRX configuration (See paragraph 19 and paragraphs 117-122 of Mohammad). Determining candidate resources based on sensing during a DRX active period has the advantage of allowing the optimum resources to be selected and used for sidelink communications. Thus, it is believed, based on these teachings of Mohammad, the amended claim limitations would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing. Therefore, new grounds of rejection are made in view of the previously cited teachings of Hwang et al., and these newly cited teachings of Mohammad. Please see the rejections below for further detail.
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.
Claims 1-2 and 7-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hwang et al. (U.S. Publication US 2023/0055280 A1) in view of Mohammad Soleymani et al. (U.S. Publication US 2023/0091763 A1; hereafter referred to as Mohammad).
With respect to claim 1, Hwang et al., discloses a first user equipment (UE) comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled with the at least one memory and configured to cause the UE to perform a method (See the abstract, paragraph 106, paragraphs 321-322, and Figures 9 and 22 of Hwang et al. for reference to a UE comprising a memory unit coupled to a control unit that may include a processor configured to control the UE to perform sidelink communications). Hwang et al. also discloses receiving a first discontinuous reception configuration, wherein the first discontinuous reception configuration comprises a first slot offset, a first on-duration, a first periodicity, or some combination thereof (See paragraphs 129-130 and Table 6 of Hwang et al. for reference to the UE receiving a DRX configuration indicating an On Duration and a DRX cycle, which is a periodicity). Hwang et al. further discloses receiving an indication to perform sensing in a sensing window, wherein the sensing window comprises an active time of the first discontinuous reception configuration (See paragraph 186, paragraph 197, paragraphs 202-205, and Figure 14 of Hwang et al. for reference to receiving a parameter for monitoring, i.e. sensing, during a DRX operation wherein a sensing window comprises all or part of a DRX active time). Hwang et al. also discloses performs the sensing based on sidelink control information decoding and a reference signal received power measurement of a demodulation reference signal of a second user equipment (See paragraphs 197-198, paragraphs 202-205, and Figure 14 of Hwang et al. for reference to performing the sensing operation according to SCI detection and decoding with the sensing result including RSRP information based on sensing a PSSCH DMRS and/or a PSSCH DMRS, which are sidelink channels of another UE). Although Hwang et al. does disclose a UE performing sensing to determine RSRP measurements during an active time of a DRX operation (See paragraphs 197-198 of Hwang et al.), Hwang et al. does not specifically disclose selecting candidate resources for the first discontinuous reception configuration based on the sensing during the first on-duration corresponding to the first discontinuous reception configuration. However, Mohammad, in the field of communications, discloses a transceiver of a UE determining, for sidelink communication, a set of candidate resources by means of partial sensing during an active period of a DRX depending on a DRX configuration (See paragraph 19 and paragraphs 117-122 of Mohammad). Determining candidate resources based on sensing during a DRX active period has the advantage of allowing the optimum resources to be selected and used for sidelink communications. Thus, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing, when presented with the work of Mohammad, to combine determining candidate resources based on sensing during a DRX active period, as suggested by Mohammad, within the system and method of Hwang et al., with the motivation being to allow the optimum resources to be selected and used for sidelink communications.
With respect to claim 2, Hwang et al. discloses receiving a first sensing configuration, wherein the first sensing configuration indicates when to perform sensing (See paragraphs 121-122, paragraphs 197-198, paragraphs 202-205, and Figure 14 of Hwang et al. for reference to receiving configuration information regarding sensing operations that indicates sensing during an active time of the DRX operation in a sensing period).
With respect to claim 7, Hwang et al. discloses wherein the processor is configured to cause the UE to estimate a channel busy ratio or a channel occupancy rate measurement during the first on-duration corresponding to the first discontinuous reception configuration (See paragraph 121 and paragraph 197 of Hwang et al. for reference to the sensing operation including a channel busy ratio measuring operation that is performed during the DRX On Duration).
With respect to claim 8, Hwang et al. discloses wherein the processor is configured to cause the UE to select candidate resources for a first discontinuous reception configuration based on the sensing during the first on-duration corresponding to the first discontinuous reception configuration (See paragraphs 196-198 of Hwang et al. for reference to selecting resources within a resource pool based on the sensing operation during the active time of the DRX operation). As shown above in the rejection of claim 1, Mohammad renders obvious a UE determining, for sidelink communication, a set of candidate resources by means of partial sensing during an active period of a DRX depending on a DRX configuration (See paragraph 19 and paragraphs 117-122 of Mohammad). Thus, the limitations of this claim are also rendered obvious for the same reasons as applied above to claim 1.
With respect to claim 9, Hwang et al. discloses wherein the processor is configured to cause the UE to decode a layer one priority from sidelink control information received as a result of the sensing and setting an inactivity timer, a hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission timer, or a combination thereof during the sensing window based on the layer one priority (See paragraph 198 and paragraph 203 of Hwang et al. for reference to receiving information regarding a L1-priority and setting timers including a drx-InactivityTimerSL and a drx-HARQ-RTT-SL).
With respect to claim 10, Hwang et al. discloses wherein the processor is configured to cause the UE to perform a congestion control mechanism of restricting transmission parameters in a resource pool for each configured discontinuous reception cycle (See paragraph 1989 of Hwang et al. for reference to performing an operation to reduce the amount of sensing information, which is a congestion control mechanism, by performing sensing on only part of slots in a resource pool during the DRX operation).
Claims 3, 6, 16, and 18-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hwang et al. in view of Mohammad, and in further view of Balasubramanian et al. (U.S. Publication US 2021/0227619 A1).
With respect to claim 3, Hwang et al. discloses performing channel busy ratio measurements in addition to sensing during the DRX operation (See paragraph 121 of Hwang et al.). Hwang et al. does not specifically disclose receiving a second discontinuous reception configuration, and the second discontinuous reception configuration comprises a second slot offset, a second on-duration, a second periodicity, or some combination thereof. However, Balasubramanian et al., in the field of communications, discloses a UE receiving multiple sets of DRX cycle parameters to satisfy each of a set of corresponding applications (See paragraph 73 of Balasubramanian et al.), wherein the different DRX cycles are used for different monitoring operations (See paragraph 76 of Balasubramanian et al.), wherein each application transmits a request for a DRX cycle to satisfy the service requirements of the application (See paragraphs 83-88 and Figure 3 of Balasubramanian et al.). Receiving multiple sets of DRX cycle parameters for different sensing applications has the advantage of allowing multiple different types of sensing to be configured within the same UE. Thus, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing, when presented with the work of Balasubramanian et al., to combine receiving multiple sets of DRX cycle parameters for different sensing applications, as suggested by Balasubramanian et al., within the system and method of Hwang et al., with the motivation being to allow multiple different types of sensing to be configured within the same UE. For example, withing Hwang et al., separate DRX cycle parameters may be request for each of the different sensing and channel busy ratio measurements to be performed.
With respect to claim 6, Hwang et al. does not specifically disclose receiving a discontinuous reception configuration for each application of a plurality of applications operating in the first user equipment. However, as shown above in the rejection of claim 3, Balasubramanian et al. renders obvious receiving multiple sets of DRX cycle parameters to satisfy each of a set of corresponding applications (See paragraph 73 of Balasubramanian et al.), wherein the different DRX cycles are used for different monitoring operations (See paragraph 76 of Balasubramanian et al.), wherein each application transmits a request for a DRX cycle to satisfy the service requirements of the application (See paragraphs 83-88 and Figure 3 of Balasubramanian et al.). Thus, this claim is rendered obvious for the same reasons as applied above to claim 3.
With respect to claim 16, as shown above in the rejection of claim 3, Balasubramanian et al. renders obvious receiving multiple sets of DRX cycle parameters to satisfy each of a set of corresponding applications (See paragraph 73 of Balasubramanian et al.), wherein the different DRX cycles are used for different monitoring, i.e. sensing, operations (See paragraph 76 of Balasubramanian et al.). Thus, this claim is rendered obvious for the same reasons as applied above to claim 3.
With respect to claim 18, Hwang et al. discloses performing channel busy ratio measurements in addition to sensing during the DRX operation (See paragraph 121 of Hwang et al.). As shown above in the rejection of claim 3, Balasubramanian et al. renders obvious receiving multiple sets of DRX cycle parameters to satisfy each of a set of corresponding applications (See paragraph 73 of Balasubramanian et al.), wherein the different DRX cycles are used for monitoring operations (See paragraph 76 of Balasubramanian et al.), wherein each application transmits a request for a DRX cycle to satisfy the service requirements of the application (See paragraphs 83-88 and Figure 3 of Balasubramanian et al.). Thus, this claim is rendered obvious for the same reasons as applied above to claim 3.
With respect to claim 19, Hwang et al. discloses wherein the processor selects candidate resources for a first discontinuous reception configuration based on the sensing during the first on-duration corresponding to the first discontinuous reception configuration (See paragraphs 196-198 of Hwang et al. for reference to selecting resources within a resource pool based on the sensing operation during the active time of the DRX operation). As shown above in the rejection of claim 3, Balasubramanian et al. renders obvious receiving multiple sets of DRX cycle parameters to satisfy each of a set of corresponding applications (See paragraph 73 of Balasubramanian et al.), wherein the different DRX cycles are used for monitoring operations (See paragraph 76 of Balasubramanian et al.), wherein each application transmits a request for a DRX cycle to satisfy the service requirements of the application (See paragraphs 83-88 and Figure 3 of Balasubramanian et al.). Thus, this claim is rendered obvious for the same reasons as applied above to claim 3.
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hwang et al. in view of Mohammad, and in further view of Hahn et al. (U.S. Publication US 2023/0164873 A1).
With respect to claim 4, Hwang et al. does not specifically disclose receiving a third discontinuous reception configuration, and the third discontinuous reception configuration comprises a third slot offset, a third on-duration, a third periodicity, or some combination thereof, and the third configuration applies to sidelink synchronization signal block reception. However, Hahn et al., in the field of communications, discloses setting multiple DRX cycles including a DRX cycle corresponding to a SSB periodicity of SSB transmission and reception (See paragraph 117 and Table 6 of Hahn et al.). Receiving DRX cycle parameters corresponding to SSB reception has the advantage of ensuring the UE is able to properly receive SSB transmissions during DRX operation. Thus, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing, when presented with the work of Hahn et al., to combine receiving DRX cycle parameters corresponding to SSB reception, as suggested by Hahn et al., within the system and method of Hwang et al., with the motivation being to ensure the UE is able to properly receive SSB transmissions during DRX operation.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hwang et al. in view of Mohammad, and in further view of Park et al. (U.S. Publication US 2022/0159625 A1).
With respect to claim 5, although Hwang et al. does disclose determining RSRP based on sensing performed during the DRX active time (See paragraph 186 and paragraph 197 of Hwang et al.), Hwang et al. does not specifically disclose determining an average sidelink reference signal received power based on the sensing performed during the first on-duration corresponding to the first discontinuous reception configuration. However, Park et al., in the field of communications, discloses measuring SL RSRP based on a SL DRMS (See paragraph 166 of Park et al.), wherein the RSRP may be defined as a linear average over power contributions of RSRP (See paragraph 352 of Park et al.), with the RSRP being measured during a DRX mode (See paragraph 368 of Park et al.). Thus, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing, when presented with the work of Park et al., to combine receiving measuring RSRP including measuring an average RSRP, as suggested by Park et al., within the system and method of Hwang et al., with the motivation being to determine an average channel measurement over all measured resources.
Claim 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hwang et al. in view of Mohammad and Balasubramanian et al., and in further view of Park et al.
With respect to claim 17, Hwang et al. does not specifically disclose determining an average sidelink reference signal received power based on the sensing performed during each on-duration of a corresponding discontinuous reception configuration. However, Park et al., in the field of communications, discloses measuring SL RSRP based on a SL DRMS (See paragraph 166 of Park et al.), wherein the RSRP may be defined as a linear average over power contributions of RSRP (See paragraph 352 of Park et al.), with the RSRP being measured during a DRX mode (See paragraph 368 of Park et al.). Thus, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing, when presented with the work of Park et al., to combine receiving measuring RSRP including measuring an average RSRP, as suggested by Park et al., within the system and method of Hwang et al., with the motivation being to determine an average channel measurement over all measured resources.
Claim 20 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hwang et al. in view of Mohammad, and in further view of Yang (U.S. Publication US 2024/0292485 A1).
With respect to claim 20, although Hwang et al. does disclose the use of a drx-InactivityTimerSL (See paragraph 203 of Hwang et al.), Hwang et al. does not specifically disclose starting the inactivity timer, the hybrid automatic repeat request retransmission timer, or the combination thereof during the sensing window if the first user equipment decodes a destination identifier from a physical sidelink control channel and a physical sidelink shared channel and determines that the destination identifier is part of a configured destination identifier. However, Yang, in the field of communications, discloses using a DRX inactivity timer that is started when the UE receives DCI carrying its own C-RNTI (See paragraph 52 of Yang). Thus, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of effective filing, when presented with the work of Yang, to combine using a DRX inactivity timer that is started when the UE receives DCI carrying its own C-RNTI, as suggested by Yang, within the system and method of Hwang et al., with the motivation being to determine begin timing for determining that the UE is inactive each time the UE receives DCI identifying itself.
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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/JASON E MATTIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461
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