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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 12/09/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11/13/2025 with respect to claim(s) 1 and 14 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection under 103 based on Yi et al. (US 12,452,918 B1) in view of Si et al. (US 2023/0028000 A1) and Zhao et al. (US 2025/0039934 A1).
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 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.
Claim(s) 1-7 and 11-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yi et al. (US 12,452,918 B1) in view of Si et al. (US 2023/0028000 A1) and Zhao et al. (US aA1).
Regarding claims 1 and 14, Yi discloses A method comprising and A first user equipment (UE) comprising: at least one transceiver; and at least one processor coupled to the at least one transceiver; wherein the at least one processor is configured to (Fig. 1, col. 2 ll. 5-12: wireless electronic device includes a processor. Col. 6 ll. 36-37: the UE includes a transceiver):
receiving, by a first user equipment (UE), configuration information related to a sidelink (SL) resource pool including first information related to at least one subchannel from a base station (col. 4 ll. 6-30: receiving, by a wireless electronic device, configuration parameters related to SL resource pool including a first subchannel of the one or more subchannels. Col. 21 ll. 20-27: SL pool configuration parameters are configured by a base station); and
transmitting, by the first UE, sidelink control information (SCI) indicating (col. 4 ll. 25-30: transmitting a SCI indicating the first subchannel of the one or more subchannels. Abstract: the SCI is transmitted to a second wireless device),
wherein the at least one subchannel is configured based on at least one resource block (RB)-interlace (Fig. 9, col. 20 ll. 50-61: subchannels are redefined with interlaced resource blocks where each resource block belongs to one of multiple interfaces),
wherein the configuration information includes a number of the at least one RB-interlace and an index of a starting interlace (col. 21 ll. 20-24, 28-34, 49-64: the configuration parameters of the sidelink resource includes a starting PRB index of the sidelink resource pool which is used to determine a starting interlace index m, an enabled interlace parameter used to enable interlacing of the sidelink resource pool, and a subchannel size parameter which may be considered in terms of a number of RBs in the sidelink resource pool),
Yi does not disclose, but Si discloses sidelink control information (SCI) indicating an index of a specific subchannel ([0118]: the sub-channel indices can be indicated by information in the SCI format (e.g., SCI format 1-A)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to program the wireless electronic device, as taught by Yi, to indicate sub-channel indices by information in a SCI format, as taught by Si.
Doing so provides the ability to transmit a PSSCH based on the sub-channel indices for a first resource (Si: [0115]).
Yi does not disclose, but Zhao discloses wherein sidelink data is not transmitted to the second UE through the specific subchannel based on an unsuccessful channel access procedure for a third RB set among at least one RB set corresponding to the specific subchannel ([0325]: if the channel access fails, the first terminal device may abandon the first sidelink transmission opportunity. [0317]: the first sidelink transmission opportunity is a sidelink resource used by the first terminal device for performing sidelink transmission. [0240]: The PSSCH occupies Q sub-channels in frequency domain, and each sub-channel includes D consecutive PRBs. Figs. 1-3: sidelink transmission between two terminals), and
wherein, based on a success of a channel access procedure for a third RB set among the at least one RB set corresponding to the specific subchannel, sidelink data is transmitted from the first UE to the second UE through the third RB set and information on the sidelink data is mapped to the third RB set ([0325]: if the channel access succeeds, the first terminal device may perform a sidelink transmission by using the first sidelink transmission opportunity. [0317]: the first sidelink transmission opportunity is a sidelink resource used by the first terminal device for performing sidelink transmission. [0240]: The PSSCH occupies Q sub-channels in frequency domain, and each sub-channel includes D consecutive PRBs. Figs. 1-3: sidelink transmission between two terminals).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to program the wireless electronic device, as taught by Yi, to determine whether to perform sidelink transmission on a sidelink transmission opportunity (sidelink resource) based on whether accessing a channel fails or succeeds, as taught by Zhao.
Doing so allows the terminal device to make the decision whether to perform sidelink transmission according to a result of the channel access (Zhao: [0322]-[0323]).
Regarding claim(s) 2, Yi in view of Si and Zhao discloses all features of claim(s) 1 as outlined above.
Yi does not disclose, but Si discloses each index of the at least one subchannel corresponds to each index of the at least one RB-interlace (Fig. 9: subchannels #1-2 correspond to RB interlaces #0-2).
Regarding claim(s) 3, Yi in view of Si and Zhao discloses all features of claim(s) 1 as outlined above.
Yi discloses an index of each of the at least one subchannel corresponds to each of at least one RB belonging to a specific RB set among a plurality of RB sets included in the at least one RB-interlace (Fig. 9: subchannels #1-2 correspond to PRBs #1, etc. in RB interlaces #0-2).
Regarding claim(s) 4, Yi in view of Si and Zhao discloses all features of claim(s) 1 as outlined above.
Yi discloses an index of some of the at least one subchannel corresponds to each of at least one RB belonging to a first RB set among a plurality of RBs included in each of the at least one RB-interlace (Fig. 9: subchannel #1 corresponds to PRB #1 in RB interlaces #0-2), and
an index of remaining of the at least one subchannel corresponds to each of at least one RB belonging to a second RB set among a plurality of RBs included in each of the at least one RB-interlace (Fig. 9: subchannel #2 corresponds to another PRB in RB interlaces #0-2).
Regarding claim(s) 5, Yi in view of Si and Zhao discloses all features of claim(s) 1 as outlined above.
Yi discloses an index of a first subchannel among the at least one subchannel corresponds to at least one RB belonging to a first RB set among a plurality of RBs included in a first RB-interlace (Figs. 8-9: subchannel #1 corresponds to PRB#1 in RB interlace #0), and
an index of a second subchannel among the at least one subchannel corresponds to at least one RB belonging to a second RB set among a plurality of RBs included in a second RB-interlace (Figs. 8-9: subchannel #2 corresponds to another PRB in RB interlace #1).
Regarding claim(s) 6, Yi in view of Si and Zhao discloses all features of claim(s) 1 as outlined above.
Yi does not disclose, but Si discloses the specific subchannel is indicated through a frequency resource assignment field included in the SCI ([0118]: the sub-channel indices can be indicated by information in the SCI format (e.g., SCI format 1-A). [0074]: The frequency domain resource allocation unit for PSSCH is the sub-channel, and the sub-channel assignment is determined using the corresponding field in the associated SCI), and
the sidelink data is transmitted from the first UE to the second UE through the specific subchannel ([0115]: the sub-channel indices for the first resource for transmitting PSSCH. [0029]: a UE 116 may communicate with another UE 115 via a sidelink (SL)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to program the wireless electronic device, as taught by Yi, to indicate sub-channel indices by information in a SCI format for transmitting PSSCH to another UE, as taught by Si.
Doing so provides the ability to transmit a PSSCH based on the sub-channel indices for a first resource (Si: [0115]).
Regarding claim(s) 7, Yi in view of Si and Zhao discloses all features of claim(s) 1 as outlined above.
Yi does not disclose, but Hu discloses a size of each of the at least one subchannel is determined based on the number of the at least one RB-interlace (col. 21 ll. 49-53 and 56-57: interlacing is enabled for the sidelink resource pool, where the subchannel size may be considered in terms of a number of RBs. Col. 22 ll. 4-10: interlaced RBs).
Regarding claim(s) 11, Yi in view of Si and Zhao discloses all features of claim(s) 1 as outlined above.
Yi does not disclose, but Si discloses the sidelink data transmitted to the second UE by the first UE based on the SCI includes a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) ([0118]: the sub-channel indices can be indicated by information in the SCI format (e.g., SCI format 1-A). [0074]: the sub-channel assignment is determined using the corresponding field in the associated SCI. [0115]: the sub-channel indices for the first resource for transmitting PSSCH. [0029]: a UE 116 may communicate with another UE 115 via a sidelink (SL)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to program the wireless electronic device, as taught by Yi, to transmit PSSCH to another UE based on the SCI indicating sub-channel indices, as taught by Si.
Doing so provides the ability to transmit a PSSCH based on the sub-channel indices for a first resource (Si: [0115]).
Regarding claim(s) 12, Yi in view of Si and Zhao discloses all features of claim(s) 1 as outlined above.
Yi discloses the at least one subchannel is configured on an unlicensed band for sidelink communication (col. 3 ll. 13-16: initiating a sidelink operation between a first wireless electronic device and a second wireless electronic device in an unlicensed spectrum).
Regarding claim(s) 13, Yi in view of Si and Zhao discloses all features of claim(s) 1 as outlined above.
Yi discloses based on an interval of the RBs constituting the at least one RB-interlace being M, an mth RB-interlace consists of {m, M+m, 2M+m, . . . (k−1)M+m, kM+m} RBs, and
the m is one of {0, 1, . . . , M−1}, and k is a natural number greater than or equal to 1 (col. 20 ll. 61-37: multiple interlaces of resource blocks may then be defined according to interlace m∈{0,1, . . . , M−1} including common resource blocks {m, M+m, 2M+m, 3M+m, . . . }, with M being the number of interlaces (e.g., obtained from by Table 1, below, indicating number of resource block interlaces M for an index μ)).
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yi et al. (US 12,452,918 B1) in view of Si et al. (US 2023/0028000 A1), Zhao et al. (US 2025/0039934 A1), and Fakoorian et al. (US 2021/0136732 A1).
Regarding claim(s) 10, Yi in view of Si and Zhao discloses all features of claim(s) 1 as outlined above.
Yi does not disclose, but Fakoorian discloses information on a same sidelink data is mapped to an entire set of at least one RB corresponding to the specific subchannel ([0049]: in unlicensed (shared) radio frequency spectrum bands, UEs employ LBT procedures to ensure an LBT subchannel is clear before transmitting data. Fig. 4, [0061]: UE performs transmissions or retransmissions of the same transport block over the shared spectrum, i.e., the UE transmits sidelink data on a first set of interlaced frequency resources, a second set of interlaced frequency resources, and a third set of interlaced frequency resources).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to program the wireless electronic device, as taught by Yi, to perform transmissions or retransmissions of the same transport block over the shared spectrum, i.e., transmit sidelink data to on a first set of interlaced frequency resources, a second set of interlaced frequency resources, and a third set of interlaced frequency resources, as taught by Fakoorian.
Doing so provides a method for sidelink communications in contiguous time-domain resources where a UE is scheduled to transmit sidelink data on different, non-contiguous frequency resources arranged in a comb-like structure (Fakoorian: [0061]-[0062]).
Conclusion
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/THE HY NGUYEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2478
TheHy.Nguyen@USPTO.gov