DETAILED ACTION
It is hereby acknowledged that the following papers have been received and placed of record in the file: Amendment date 10/28/2025.
Claims 1-15 and 21-25 are presented for examination and claims 16-20 are cancelled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1-15 and 21-25 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
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.
Claim(s) 1-15 and 21-25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kung et al. (US 2021/0227622 A1) in view of Kung et al. (US 2021/0227465 A1) refers as Kung2.
Regarding claim 1, Kung teaches a method comprising:
obtaining, by a first device, a discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration (first device is being configured with a SL DRX configuration from base station see Kung: Fig.10 step 1005; ¶[0391]; ¶[0424]);
receiving, by the first device from a second device, first control information for scheduling a physical shared channel through a physical control channel (Rx UE from Tx UE receiving SL transmission 1 through PSCCH and PSSCH at t1 see Kung: ¶[0391]; Fig.6-9; ¶[0395]),
receiving, by the first device from the second device, second control information including a source identifier (ID) and a destination ID through the physical shared channel (Rx UE receiving from Tx UE at second SL transmission 2 via configured sidelink grant resource, where the timing to monitor PSCCH and/or PSSCH based on configurations see Kung:¶[0401]);
starting the timer, by the first device, a timer related to an active time (A Rx UE applies SL DRX configuration and starts drx on duration timer at t1 see Kung:¶[0391]).
Kung does not explicitly teaches wherein the first control information and the second control information are received on a resource among a plurality of resources based on the DRX configuration, and when a value of the timer related to the active time is determined based on a comparison between a timer interval of the plurality of resource and a first threshold.
However, Kung2 teaches the wherein the first control information and the second control information are received on a resource among a plurality of resources based on the DRX configuration (the Tx UE may select the destination identity 2 for performing a sidelink transmission 604 (e.g., a SCI transmission and/or a sidelink data transmission) on the first sidelink transmission opportunity indicated by the sidelink grant 602 see ¶[0405]; Fig.6 steps 602-604), and when a value of the timer related to the active time is determined based on a comparison between a timer interval of the plurality of resource and a first threshold (the timing t2 related to active time is determine based on comparison whether Rx UE1 is in the active time at timing t2 and the destination identity 1 may not be selected for performing the sidelink transmission 704 because the timing t2 of the sidelink transmission 704 is outside active time of the Rx UE 1 “the Rx UE 2 and the Rx UE 3 are in active time at the timing t2 (e.g., the timing t2 is within active time of the Rx UE 2 and the Rx UE 3). The Rx UE 1 is not in active time at timing t2 (e.g., the timing t2 is outside of active time of the Rx UE 1)” see Kung2: Fig. 7 step 704; ¶[0407]; Fig.6 step 604; ¶[0405]) in order to handle logical channel prioritization regarding sidelink discontinuous reception (see Kung2: ¶0002]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to create the invention of Kung to include (or to use, etc.) the wherein the first control information and the second control information are received on a resource among a plurality of resources based on the DRX configuration, and when a value of the timer related to the active time is determined based on a comparison between a timer interval of the plurality of resource and a first threshold as taught by Kung2 in order to handle logical channel prioritization regarding sidelink discontinuous reception (see Kung2: ¶0002]).
Regarding claim 2, the modified Kung taught the method of claim 1 as described hereinabove. Kung further teaches wherein the DRX configuration is a DRX configuration related to the source ID and the destination ID (DRX configuration on sidelink define timing duration for a UE to monitor PSCCH, where PSCCH related to source ID and destination ID see Kung: ¶[0384]).
Regarding claim 3, the modified Kung taught the method of claim 1 as described hereinabove. Kung2 further teaches wherein, based on that the time interval of the plurality of resources is less than or equal to the first threshold, the value of the timer related to the active time is determined to include the plurality of resources (the timing t2 related to active time is determine based on comparison whether Rx UE1 is in the active time at timing t2 and the destination identity 1 may not be selected for performing the sidelink transmission 704 because the timing t2 of the sidelink transmission 704 is outside active time of the Rx UE 1 “the Rx UE 2 and the Rx UE 3 are in active time at the timing t2 (e.g., the timing t2 is within active time of the Rx UE 2 and the Rx UE 3). The Rx UE 1 is not in active time at timing t2 (e.g., the timing t2 is outside of active time of the Rx UE 1)” see Kung2: Fig. 7 step 704; ¶[0407]; Fig.6 step 604; ¶[0405]) in order to handle logical channel prioritization regarding sidelink discontinuous reception (see Kung2: ¶0002]).
Regarding claim 4, the modified Kung taught the method of claim 1 as described hereinabove. Kung further teaches wherein, based on that the time interval of the plurality of resources is greater than the first threshold, the value of the timer related to the active time is determined to include one resource among the plurality of SL resources ((the timing t2 related to active time is determine based on comparison whether Rx UE1 is in the active time at timing t2 and the destination identity 1 may not be selected for performing the sidelink transmission 704 because the timing t2 of the sidelink transmission 704 is outside active time of the Rx UE 1 “the Rx UE 2 and the Rx UE 3 are in active time at the timing t2 (e.g., the timing t2 is within active time of the Rx UE 2 and the Rx UE 3). The Rx UE 1 is not in active time at timing t2 (e.g., the timing t2 is outside of active time of the Rx UE 1)” see Kung2: Fig. 7 step 704; ¶[0407]; Fig.6 step 604; ¶[0405]) in order to handle logical channel prioritization regarding sidelink discontinuous reception (see Kung2: ¶0002]).
Regarding claim 5, the modified Kung taught the method of claim 1 as described hereinabove. Kung further comprising: receiving, from the second device, information representing a transition to an inactive state; and transitioning to the inactive state based on the information representing the transition to the inactive state (RX UE is not in active time and may not monitor PSCCH. The Rx UE could start on duration timer at t4 (a timing after t3). The Rx UE may fail to receive SL transmission 2 due to not being in active time at t3 see Kung: ¶[0391]; Fig.6).
Regarding claim 6, the modified Kung taught the method of claim 1 as described hereinabove. Kung further teaches wherein the plurality of resources are resources included in one period (multiple SL transmissions in each time period see Kung: Fig.9; ¶[0405]).
Regarding claim 7, the modified Kung taught the method of claim 6 as described hereinabove. Kung further teaches wherein, based on that a period value of the plurality of resources is less than a value of a configured timer related to the active time , the value of the timer related to the active time is determined as the value of the configured timer (Different SCI format 1 and indicated value X for corresponding when value x is less than a 0 see Fig.5; second row thru fourth rows), and wherein, based on that the period value of the plurality of resources is greater than the value of the configured timer related to the active time, the value of the timer related to the active time is determined as the period value (The Tx UE performs a SL transmission 3 (e.g. new transmission) at t3 via dynamic scheduled grant (e.g. one-shot sidelink grant scheduled by a base station) to the Rx UE. The Rx UE starts the timer in response to SL transmission 3 since it is a new transmission not associated with a periodic transmission see Kung: Fig.9; ¶[0405]).
Regarding claim 8, the modified Kung taught the method of claim 1 as described hereinabove. Kung further comprising: determining, based on a subchannel index and a slot index of the resource related to the physical shared channel, a physical feedback channel resource related to the physical shared channel (lowest index of the subchannel allocation and configuration index see Kung: ¶[0346-0353]).
Regarding claim 9, the modified Kung taught the method of claim 8 as described hereinabove. Kung further comprising wherein, based on that a time interval between the resource related to the physical shared channel and the physical feedback channel resource is less than a second threshold (Different SCI format 1 and indicated value X for corresponding when value x is less than a 0 see Fig.5; second row thru fourth rows), a value of a timer related to an active time of the second device is determined to be greater than or equal to the time interval between the resource related to the physical shared channel and the physical feedback resource (The Tx UE performs a SL transmission 3 (e.g. new transmission) at t3 via dynamic scheduled grant (e.g. one-shot sidelink grant scheduled by a base station) to the Rx UE. The Rx UE starts the timer in response to SL transmission 3 since it is a new transmission not associated with a periodic transmission and PSFCH reception see Kung: Fig.9; ¶[0405]; ¶[0251-0252]).
Regarding claim 10, the modified Kung taught the method of claim 8 as described hereinabove. Kung further teaches wherein, based on that a time interval between the resource related to the physical shared channel and the physical feedback channel resource is greater than the a second threshold (Different SCI format 1 and indicated value X for corresponding when value x is greater than 1 see Fig.5; first row ), a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ)-round trip time (RTT) timer is started by the second device, and wherein a value of the HARQ-RTT timer is determined to be equal to the time interval between the resource related to the physical shared channel and the physical feedback channel resource (HARQ-RTT starting and expiry timer see Kung: ¶[0057-0072].
Regarding claim 11, the modified Kung taught the method of claim 1 as described hereinabove. Kung further comprising: stopping the timer related to the active time, based on successfully decoding data (1> if a DRX Command MAC CE or a Long DRX Command MAC CE is received: 2> stop drx-onDurationTimer; 2> stop drx-InactivityTimer see Kung: ¶[0068-0071]).
Regarding claim 12, the modified Kung taught the method of claim 1 as described hereinabove. Kung further teaches wherein the timer related to the active time is an inactivity timer or a retransmission timer (drx-InactivityTimer: the duration after the PDCCH occasion in which a PDCCH indicates a new UL or DL transmission for the MAC entity see Kung: ¶[0045-0046]).
Regarding claim 13, the modified Kung taught the method of claim 1 as described hereinabove. Kung further teaches wherein the plurality of resources are resources allocated by a dynamic grant, resources allocated by a configured grant, or resources selected by the second device (dynamic sidelink grant see Kung: Fig.9; ¶[0199]).
Regarding claim 14, claim 14 is rejected for the same reason as the method of claim 1 as set forth hereinabove. Claim 14 recites a first device that perform the same functionalities as the method of claim 1 as described.
Regarding claim 15, claim 15 is rejected for the same reason as the method of claim 1 as set forth hereinabove. Claim 15 recites a processing device that perform the same functionalities as the method of claim 1 as described.
Regarding claim 21, claim 21 is rejected for the same reason as claim 2 as described hereinabove.
Regarding claim 22, claim 22 is rejected for the same reason as claim 3 as described hereinabove.
Regarding claim 23, claim 23 is rejected for the same reason as claim 4 as described hereinabove.
Regarding claim 24, claim 24 is rejected for the same reason as claim 2 as described hereinabove.
Regarding claim 25, claim 25 is rejected for the same reason as claim 3 as described hereinabove.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GUANG W LI whose telephone number is (571)270-1897. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Thursday 7AM-5PMET.
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GUANG W. LI
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2478
February 7, 2026
/GUANG W LI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2478