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 .
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 [1, 15, 29 and 30] are rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over Rao (US 20200163005 A1) in view of Zhao (US 20250203429 A1).
In regards to claims 1, 15, 29 and 30 Rao teaches communicating with the second UE in accordance with the selected transmission configuration indicator state [0019] receiving a sidelink radio-bearer configuration message sent by an authorized UE, the configuration message including information to update pre-configured SL-RB parameters and an operation status information indicating the status of the SL-RB. The method further includes communicating using the SL-RB based on the SL-RB configuration message, wherein a first application time of the first transmission configuration indicator state conflicts[0141] If the reservation determinant can be supported, the Rx UE 608 may acknowledge the capability to the Tx UE 606 in a different MAC CE. Otherwise, when the Rx UE 608 is unable to accommodate the reception of the packet flow in the specified determinant, an updated reservation determinant may be indicated to the Tx UE 606, with a second application time of the second transmission configuration indicator state; [0131] If the configuration reservation determinant can be supported, the Rx UE 608 may acknowledge its capability to the Tx UE 606 in a different MAC CE. Otherwise, when the Rx UE 608 is unable to accommodate the reception of the packet flow in the specified determinant, an updated reservation determinant may be indicated to the Tx UE, selecting, in accordance with one or more rules for resolving sidelink transmission configuration indicator state conflicts, one of the first transmission configuration indicator state [0126] The pre-configuration may be performed via an RRC (during initial access over NG Uu interface) by the RAN. Alternatively, the parameters required for the pre-configuration may be indicated to the UEs via the SIBs, [0127] Prior to transmission, the Tx UE 606 selects a pre-configured SL-RB that can best satisfy the QoS profile of a particular supported V2X service, or the second transmission configuration indicator state as a selected transmission configuration indicator state [0132] Based on the received indications, the Rx UE 608 activates and uses the selected SL-RB according to the pre-configured configuration information and information in the CRD. After reception of the packets transmitted by the Tx UE 606, the SL-RB ID contained in the MAC header is used to assign and treat the packets in accordance to the applied configuration. After the CRD validity of the applied SL-RB expires, the Rx UE 608 deactivates the SL-RB, a processor; memory coupled with the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor [0059] The memory 56 may comprise any type of non-transitory system memory, readable by the processor 54, such as static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), read-only memory (ROM), or a combination thereof. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications at a first user equipment (UE) [0061] The mass storage 62 may comprise any type of non-transitory storage device configured to store data, programs, and other information and to make the data, programs, and other information accessible via the bus 60. An apparatus for wireless communications at a first user equipment (UE), [0008] An aspect of the disclosure provides a method for configuring an AS-layer for sidelink data communications. The method includes: transmitting, by a first UE to a second UE, an access stratum (AS)-layer configuration using a preconfigured sidelink signaling radio bearer.
Rao does not teach transmitting, to a second UE, first control information that indicates a first transmission configuration indicator state associated with a first beam for use in sidelink communications between the first UE and the second UE; receiving, from the second UE, second control information that indicates a second transmission configuration indicator state associated with a second beam for use in the sidelink communications between the first UE and the second UE.
However, Zhao does teach transmitting, to a second UE, first control information [0069] The terminal device 110-1 may transmit the reference signal configuration to the terminal device 110-2, that indicates a first transmission configuration indicator state [0090] the reference signal configuration may comprise the resources for the set of reference signals. For example, the reference signal configuration may comprise a set of TCI states associated with the set of reference signals. In addition, the reference signal configuration may comprise a beam sweeping type associated with a first beam for use in sidelink communications [0042] In some embodiments, if the terminal device can support M beams, the number of reference signals for beam management in sidelink can be M. In this case, each beam can be indicated by the corresponding transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state which is associated with a reference signal resource between the first UE and the second UE; [0055] Since the terminal device 110-1 knows the association between the slot 310-1 and the slot 320-1, the terminal device 110-1 can understand that the reference signal 410 is selected and the first beam associated with the first TCI may be applied by the terminal device 110-1 for the sidelink communications with eh terminal device 110-2, receiving, from the second UE, second control information [0076] At block 620, the terminal device 110-1 receives the measurement report for the reference signal from the terminal device 110-2 on a sidelink resource. The sidelink resource is associated with the reference signal resource on which the reference signal is transmitted, that indicates a second transmission configuration indicator state associated with a second beam [0048] As shown in FIG. 3, the terminal device 110-1 may transmit the reference signal 410 on the slot 310-1 based on a first TCI state or a first beam. The terminal device 110-1 may then transmit the reference signal 420 on the slot 310-2 based on a second TCI state or a second beam. The terminal device 110-1 may transmit the reference signal 430 on the slot 310-3 based on a third TCI state or a third beam, for use in the sidelink communications between the first UE and the second UE [0055] Since the terminal device 110-1 knows the association between the slot 310-2 and the slot 320-2, the terminal device 110-1 can understand that the reference signal 420 is selected and the second beam associated with the second TCI may be applied by the terminal device 110-1 for the sidelink communications with the terminal device 110-2.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Rao and Zhao before him or her, to modify the method of Rao to include the transmission configuration as taught by Zhao.
The motivation to do so would be to the improved sidelink communication. (0040 by Zhao).
Claim [2, 3, 10, 16, 17 and 24] are rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over Rao in view of Zhao further in view of Ajit (US 20190141647 A1).
In regards to claims 2 and 16 Rao and Zhao teach the limitation of the parent claims.
Rao and Zhao do not teach wherein the one or more rules define that the selected transmission configuration indicator state is selected, by the first UE, based at least in part on a comparison of a first priority associated with the first UE and a second priority associated with the second UE.
However, Ajit does teach wherein the one or more rules define that the selected transmission configuration indicator state is selected, [0212] apply LTE R14 priority rules for synchronization source selection across multiple aggregated CCs and define tie breaking rules for sync source selection across CCs. The tie-breaking rule may be based on one or more the following options. In some embodiments, the tie breaking rule may be based on SLSS resources signal strength comparison. In some embodiments, the tie breaking rule may be based on S-RSRP based on PSBCH DMRS measurements. In some embodiments, the tie breaking rule may be based on SLSS signal reception quality metric by the first UE, based at least in part on a comparison of a first priority associated with the first UE and a second priority associated with the second UE [0086] The UE 102 may select, from the CCs on which one or more SLSSs are decoded, the CC for which the determined priority level is highest. The UE 102 may determine a reference timing for sidelink communication based on the one or more SLSSs received on the selected CC.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Rao, Zhao and Ajit before him or her, to modify the method of Rao and Zhao to include the transmission configuration as taught by Ajit.
The motivation to do so would be to the improved sidelink transmission. (0189 by Ajit).
In regards to claims 3 and 17 Rao and Zhao teach the limitation of the parent claims.
Rao and Zhao do not teach comparing the first priority and the second priority; and determining the selected transmission configuration indicator state from the first transmission configuration indicator state or the second transmission configuration indicator state that was transmitted by the first UE or the second UE, respectively, that corresponds with a highest priority between the first priority and the second priority.
However, Ajit does teach comparing the first priority and the second priority; [0086] The UE 102 may select, from the CCs on which one or more SLSSs are decoded, the CC for which the determined priority level is highest. The UE 102 may determine a reference timing for sidelink communication based on the one or more SLSSs received on the selected CC. These embodiments are described in more detail below and determining the selected transmission configuration indicator state from the first transmission configuration indicator state [0086] The UE 102 may, for each of the CCs on which one or more SLSSs are decoded, determine a priority level for the CC based on indicators in the SLSSs received on the CC or the second transmission configuration indicator state that was transmitted by the first UE or the second UE, [0210] multi-carrier SLSS synchronization is used, multiple SLSS with the same sync source may be received over multiple carriers. In such cases, some additional rule to select carrier and synchronization source for SLSS synchronization may be used, respectively, that corresponds with a highest priority between the first priority and the second priority [0213] data transmission may be prioritized over SLSS transmission in case of inter-CC transmission conflict. In some embodiments, data candidate resources overlapped in time with SLSS resources and TX/RX switching time intervals may be excluded from resource selection candidate sets. In some embodiments, multiple SLSS may be transmitted and received on multiple CCs and only single CC and SLSS synchronization reference with higher priority may be selected for transmission and reception.
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Rao, Zhao and Ajit before him or her, to modify the method of Rao and Zhao to include the transmission configuration as taught by Ajit.
The motivation to do so would be to the improved sidelink transmission. (0189 by Ajit).
In regards to claims 10 and 24 Rao, Zhao and Ajit teach the limitation of the parent claims.
Rao does teach wherein the first priority and the second priority are based on a UE role of the first UE and the second UE, respectively, in the sidelink communications. [0215] Based on the resource request and priority level associated with the logical channel group consisting of a group of SL-RBs, the L-UE 506 determines the resources 2316 and provides the resource grant or resource pool configuration 2318 to the F-UE 508 via AS-level signaling. The resource grant may indicate the subframe and subchannels used by the F-UE 508 for transmission.
Claim [4 and 18] are rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over Rao in view of Zhao further in view of Ajit further in view of Dan (US 20230127796 A1).
In regards to claims 4 and 18 Rao, Zhao and Ajit teach the limitation of the parent claims.
Rao, Zhao and Ajit do not teach wherein the one or more rules define that the selected transmission configuration indicator state is selected, by the first UE, based at least in part on a comparison of a first priority associated with the first UE and a second priority associated with the second UE.
However, Dan does teach wherein the first priority and the second priority are based on a UE type of the first UE and the second UE, respectively, [0095] Sidelink positioning may be regarded as a service in some instances, which may have a priority assigned to the service. The priority value may also be based on a transmitter type (e.g., roadside unit (RSU), public safety onboard unit (OBU), private OBU, etc.).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Ajit, Zhao, Rao and Dan before him or her, to modify the method of Ajit, Zhao and Rao to include the transmission configuration as taught by Ajit.
The motivation to do so would be to the improved UE performance. (0082 by Ajit).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 5-9, 11-14, 19-23 and 25-28 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 Argument
Applicant’s arguments filed on 01/13/2026 have been fully considered but they moot in view of the new rejection stated above.
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 SHEHAB A ALAWDI whose telephone number is (571)270-3203. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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/SHEHAB A ALAWDI/Examiner, Art Unit 2466
/JAY P PATEL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2466