DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Claims 33, 34 and 43 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu et al. (US 2023/0209317 A1, hereinafter “Liu”) in view of Freda et al. (US 2023/0180313 A1, hereinafter “Freda”) and Li et al. (CN 110677345 A, hereinafter “Li”).
Regarding claims 33 and 43, Liu teaches a Sidelink Relay apparatus (e.g., relay device 610 of fig. 6 or Relay device 805 of fig. 8, ¶ [0072] ) comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor (fig. 15) coupled with the at least one memory, the at least one processor configured to cause the Sidelink Relay apparatus to: receive a data packet from a first User Equipment (“UE”) (e.g., UE 605 of fig. 6 or first UE of fig. 8, ¶ [0072]) via a first sidelink interface ; transmit a first Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (““HARQ”) feedback to the first UE in response to successfully decoding the data packet ( 825 of fig. 8 ); and transmit the data packet to a second UE device via a second sidelink interface. (e.g., UE 615 of fig. 6 or Third UE of fig. 8, ¶ [0073]).
Liu does not explicitly teach wherein the received data packet comprises a source identity of the first UE and a destination identity of a second UE; modify the data packet to replace the source identity of the first UE with a source identity of the Sidelink Relay apparatus; and transmit the modified data packet to the second UE, wherein the modified data packet comprises the destination identity of the second UE.
Freda teaches wherein the received data packet comprises a source identity of the first UE and a destination identity of a second UE; modify the data packet to replace the source identity of the first UE with a source identity of the Sidelink Relay apparatus; and transmit the modified data packet to the second UE, wherein the modified data packet comprises the destination identity of the second UE (¶ [0109], ¶ [0111], in one example, a relay WTRU may receive a relay source and/or destination ID and associate the relay source and/or destination ID with the need to relay one or more SL transmissions received based on such source/destination ID. Upon reception of a SL transmission destined to the L2 ID, the WTRU may perform routing of the transmission to a relayed RLC entity or determine to retransmit the received SDU to the next link using the received relay source L2 ID as the source L2 ID of the transmission. ¶ [0112], For the association of L2 source and/or L2 destination ID with L2 source and/or L2 destination ID of another WTRU, this may be used for determination of the addressing to use in the next hop transmission for a relayed SDU. Specifically, a relay WTRU may use such an association to determine the source and/or destination ID for transmission of an SDU when it receives a SDU associated with a relay specific L2 ID it has received/determined from upper layers. ¶ [0113]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the data packet, comprising a source identity of the first UE and a destination identity of a second UE, to replace the source identity of the first UE with a source identity of the Sidelink Relay apparatus, and transmit the modified data packet to the second UE, where the modified data packet comprises the destination identity of the second UE in the system of Liu to utilize conventional techniques in the art.
Liu does not explicitly teach wherein the received data packet has both a Layer-1 source identity and a Layer-2 source identity of the first UE and both a Layer-1 destination identity and a Layer-2 destination identity of the second UE, wherein to transmit the modified data packet to a second UE, the at least one processor is configured to cause the Sidelink Relay apparatus to use the Layer-1 source identity and the Layer-2 source identity of the Sidelink Relay apparatus and reusing the Layer-1 destination identity and the Layer-2 destination identity of the received data packet.
However, Freda teaches wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the Sidelink Relay apparatus to use the Layer-2 source identity of the Sidelink Relay apparatus and to reuse the Layer-2 destination identity of the received data packet (¶ [0110]-¶ [0113] ).
Li teaches wherein the received data packet has both Layer-1 and Layer-2 source identities of the source UE device and both Layer-1 and Layer-2 destination identities of the destination UE device (Page 9: “…message (L1) message header, layer two (L2) message header…” ).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, receive a data packet that has both a Layer-1 source identity and a Layer-2 source identity of the first UE and both a Layer-1 destination identity and a Layer-2 destination identity of the second UE, and to transmit the modified data packet to a second UE, where the modified data packet includes the Layer-1 source identity and the Layer-2 source identity of the Sidelink Relay apparatus and includes the Layer-1 destination identity and the Layer-2 destination identity of the received data packet in the system of Liu in view of Freda. The motivation for doing this is a matter of design choice.
Regarding claim 34, Liu in view of Freda and Li teaches the Sidelink Relay apparatus of claim 33.
Liu does not explicitly teach wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the Sidelink Relay apparatus to transmit the modified data packet in response to receiving a negative HARQ feedback from the second UE.
However, Liu teaches transmitting a positive or negative HARQ feedback (¶ [0063], The PSFCH 425 may be used to communicate sidelink feedback 440, such as hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback (e.g., acknowledgement or negative acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) information)). Liu further teaches the relay device may continue to transmit encoded packets associated with the combined V2X communication until the UE 120 successfully receives and/or decodes the combined V2X communication (e.g., indicated by an ACK message transmitted by the UE 120 to the relay device ( ¶ [0118]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the inventio, to cause the Sidelink Relay apparatus to transmit the modified data packet in response to receiving a negative HARQ feedback from the second UE in the system of Liu in view of Freda and Li to utilize conventional techniques in the art.
7. Claims 35, 36 and 38 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu in view of Freda and Li as applied to claim 34 above, and further in view of Khoshnevisan et al. (US 2021/0385838 A1, hereinafter “Khoshnevisan”).
Regarding claim 35, Liu in view of Freda and Li teaches the Sidelink Relay apparatus of claim 34.
Liu does not explicitly teach wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the Sidelink Relay apparatus to reuse a HARQ process identity of the first UE.
Khoshnevisan teaches to cause an apparatus to reuse a HARQ process identity of the first device (¶ [0072], the UE may autonomously determine that the HARQ process number to be associated with the retransmission is the same as the HARQ process number associated with the previous PUSCH transmission that the base station failed to successfully receive and/or decode).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to cause the apparatus to reuse a HARQ process identity of the first UE device in the system of Liu in view of Freda and Li to utilize conventional techniques in the art.
Regarding claim 36, Liu in view of Freda and Li teaches the apparatus of claim 34.
Liu does not explicitly teach wherein the received data packet has a first redundancy version (“RV”) value, and wherein to transmit the modified data packet, the at least one processor is further configured to cause the Sidelink Relay apparatus to generate a new HARQ retransmission packet corresponding to an incremented RV value of the data packet to a next RV value.
Khoshnevisan teaches wherein the received data packet has a RV value, and wherein to transmit the data packet, the processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to generate a new HARQ retransmission packet corresponding to an incremented RV value of the data packet to a next RV value (¶ [0072], The UE may autonomously select an RV value to be associated with the retransmission from a set of RV values that are available to use for retransmissions. For example, the set of RV values may include the values {0, 1, 2, 3}, and the UE may select the RV value to be associated with the retransmission by incrementing the RV value associated with the previous PUSCH transmission ).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to cause the Sidelink Relay apparatus to generate a new HARQ retransmission packet corresponding to an incremented RV value of the data packet to a next RV value in the system of Liu in view of Freda and Li to utilize conventional techniques in the art.
Regarding claim 38, Liu in view of Freda and Li teaches the Sidelink Relay apparatus of claim 34.
Liu does not explicitly teach wherein the received data packet has a first redundancy version (“RV”) value, wherein to transmit the modified data packet, the at least one processor is further configured to cause the Sidelink Relay apparatus to increment the RV value and generate a HARQ retransmission packet for the data packet corresponding to a next RV value.
Khoshnevisan teaches wherein the received data packet has a first redundancy version (“RV”) value, wherein to transmit the modified data packet, the at least one processor is further configured to cause the Sidelink Relay apparatus to increment the RV value and generate a HARQ retransmission packet for the data packet corresponding to a next RV value (¶ [0072], The UE may autonomously select an RV value to be associated with the retransmission from a set of RV values that are available to use for retransmissions. For example, the set of RV values may include the values {0, 1, 2, 3}, and the UE may select the RV value to be associated with the retransmission by incrementing the RV value associated with the previous PUSCH transmission).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to cause the Sidelink Relay apparatus to receive data packet having a first redundancy version (“RV”) value, and to cause the Sidelink Relay apparatus to increment the RV value and generate a HARQ retransmission packet for the data packet corresponding to a next RV value in the system of Liu in view of Freda and Li to utilize conventional techniques in the art.
8. Claim 39 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Liu in Freda and Li as applied to claim 34 above, and further in view of Jackson (US 2010/0195665 A1).
Regarding claim 39, Liu in view of Freda and Li teaches the Sidelink Relay apparatus of claim 34.
Liu does not explicitly teach wherein the processor is configured to cause the Sidelink Relay apparatus to send a final HARQ feedback to the first UE in response to receiving a positive HARQ feedback from the second UE for the data packet.
Jackson teaches wherein the processor is configured to cause the apparatus to send a final HARQ feedback to the first device in response to receiving a positive HARQ feedback from the second device for the data packet (fig. 12, ¶ [0098]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to cause the apparatus to send a final HARQ feedback to the first UE in response to receiving a positive HARQ feedback from the second UE for the data packet in the system of Liu in view of Freda and Li to notify the first UE device that the data packet has been correctly received at second UE (¶ [0098] of Jackson).
Allowable Subject Matter
9. Claims 21, 23, 24, 27-32, 41 and 42 are allowed.
10. Claim 40 is 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.
Response to Arguments
11. Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 33-36, 38 and 39 have been considered but they are not persuasive.
12. On pages 12-15 of Arguments/Remarks, Applicant argues “…Freda describes that L2-level source replacement and destination reuse. See Freda, " [0110]-[0113]. However, Freda fails to teach or suggest "receive a data packet from a first User Equipment ("UE") via a first sidelink interface, wherein the received data packet comprises a source identity of the first UE and a destination identity of a second UE, wherein the received data packet comprises both a Layer-1 source identity and a Layer-2 source identity of the first UE and both a Layer-1 destination identity and a Layer-2 destination identity of the second UE" and "transmit the modified data packet to the second UE via a second sidelink interface by using the Layer-1 source identity and the Layer-2 source identity of the Sidelink Relay apparatus and reusing the Layer-1 destination identity and the Layer-2 destination identity of the received data packet, wherein the modified data packet comprises the destination identity of the second UE", as recited in amended claim 33… In rejecting cancelled claim 25, the Office Action relies on Li which describes the presence of both L1 and L2 IDs. See Li, at p. 9. However, Li fails to teach or suggest "receive a data packet from a first User Equipment ("UE") via a first sidelink interface, wherein the received data packet comprises a source identity of the first UE and a destination identity of a second UE, wherein the received data packet comprises both a Layer-1 source identity and a Layer-2 source identity of the first UE and both a Layer-1 destination identity and a Layer-2 destination identity of the second UE" and "transmit the modified data packet to the second UE via a second sidelink interface by using the Layer-1 source identity and the Layer-2 source identity of the Sidelink Relay apparatus and reusing the Layer-1 destination identity and the Layer-2 destination identity of the received data packet, wherein the modified data packet comprises the destination identity of the second UE", as recited in amended claim 33…”
Examiner respectfully disagrees and submits that one cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981); In re Merck & Co., 800 F.2d 1091,231 USPQ 375 (Fed. Cir. 1986).
In this case: Liu teaches a Sidelink Relay apparatus (e.g., relay device 610 of fig. 6 or Relay device 805 of fig. 8, ¶ [0072] ) comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor (fig. 15) coupled with the at least one memory, the at least one processor configured to cause the Sidelink Relay apparatus to: receive a data packet from a first User Equipment (“UE”) (e.g., UE 605 of fig. 6 or first UE of fig. 8, ¶ [0072]) via a first sidelink interface ; transmit a first Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (““HARQ”) feedback to the first UE in response to successfully decoding the data packet ( 825 of fig. 8 ); and transmit the data packet to a second UE device via a second sidelink interface. (e.g., UE 615 of fig. 6 or Third UE of fig. 8, ¶ [0073]).
Liu does not explicitly teach wherein the received data packet comprises a source identity of the first UE and a destination identity of a second UE; modify the data packet to replace the source identity of the first UE with a source identity of the Sidelink Relay apparatus; and transmit the modified data packet to the second UE, wherein the modified data packet comprises the destination identity of the second UE.
Freda teaches wherein the received data packet comprises a source identity of the first UE and a destination identity of a second UE; modify the data packet to replace the source identity of the first UE with a source identity of the Sidelink Relay apparatus; and transmit the modified data packet to the second UE, wherein the modified data packet comprises the destination identity of the second UE (¶ [0109], ¶ [0111], in one example, a relay WTRU may receive a relay source and/or destination ID and associate the relay source and/or destination ID with the need to relay one or more SL transmissions received based on such source/destination ID. Upon reception of a SL transmission destined to the L2 ID, the WTRU may perform routing of the transmission to a relayed RLC entity or determine to retransmit the received SDU to the next link using the received relay source L2 ID as the source L2 ID of the transmission. ¶ [0112], For the association of L2 source and/or L2 destination ID with L2 source and/or L2 destination ID of another WTRU, this may be used for determination of the addressing to use in the next hop transmission for a relayed SDU. Specifically, a relay WTRU may use such an association to determine the source and/or destination ID for transmission of an SDU when it receives a SDU associated with a relay specific L2 ID it has received/determined from upper layers. ¶ [0113]).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to modify the data packet, comprising a source identity of the first UE and a destination identity of a second UE, to replace the source identity of the first UE with a source identity of the Sidelink Relay apparatus, and transmit the modified data packet to the second UE, where the modified data packet comprises the destination identity of the second UE in the system of Liu to utilize conventional techniques in the art.
Liu does not explicitly teach wherein the received data packet has both a Layer-1 source identity and a Layer-2 source identity of the first UE and both a Layer-1 destination identity and a Layer-2 destination identity of the second UE, wherein to transmit the modified data packet to a second UE, the at least one processor is configured to cause the Sidelink Relay apparatus to use the Layer-1 source identity and the Layer-2 source identity of the Sidelink Relay apparatus and reusing the Layer-1 destination identity and the Layer-2 destination identity of the received data packet.
However, Freda teaches wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the Sidelink Relay apparatus to use the Layer-2 source identity of the Sidelink Relay apparatus and to reuse the Layer-2 destination identity of the received data packet (¶ [0110]-¶ [0113] ).
Li teaches wherein the received data packet has both Layer-1 and Layer-2 source identities of the source UE device and both Layer-1 and Layer-2 destination identities of the destination UE device (Page 9: “…message (L1) message header, layer two (L2) message header…” ).
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, receive a data packet that has both a Layer-1 source identity and a Layer-2 source identity of the first UE and both a Layer-1 destination identity and a Layer-2 destination identity of the second UE, and to transmit the modified data packet to a second UE, where the modified data packet includes the Layer-1 source identity and the Layer-2 source identity of the Sidelink Relay apparatus and includes the Layer-1 destination identity and the Layer-2 destination identity of the received data packet in the system of Liu in view of Freda. The motivation for doing this is a matter of design choice.
Therefore, Liu in view of Freda and Li render obvious the amended claims (33 and 43), as set forth above.
Conclusion
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/MANDISH K RANDHAWA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477
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