DETAILED ACTION
This Non-Final Office Action is in response to application number 18/069,947 filed on December 21st,2022. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statements
The information disclosure statement (IDS), submitted on May 6th, 2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 04/02/2026 has been entered.
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 may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-2,4-11,13-19,21-25 and 27-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Khoryaev et al. (US 20200275458 A1) in view of Cao et al. (US 20210105104 A1) further in view of Jiao et al. (WO 2022027507 A1 Translation).
Regarding claims 1 and 18, Khoryaev et al. disclose a first user equipment (UE), comprising: at least one processor; and memory coupled with the at least one processor, the memory storing instructions for the at least one processor to cause the first UE to: receive an indication of a resource pool of resources available for sidelink communication with the first UE (Paragraph 0094 and FIG.8 Step 805 disclose “…indicate an allocation of a resource pool for V2V sidelink transmissions.”); receive, from a network entity, an indication of a sidelink communication configuration that is associated with a pattern of time resources of the resource pool in which the first UE is to transmit sidelink signaling(Paragraph 0168 discloses “A set of basic S-TTI patterns may assume a fixed number of symbols for each S-TTI pattern”. Additionally paragraph 0169 discloses “…such structures may include ranges of symbols from 1-7, S-TTI patterns…”. Furthermore paragraphs 0171-0172 and FIG 12-13 disclose example patterns); and transmit one or more sidelink messages to a second UE in accordance with the pattern of time resources (Paragraph 0113 and FIG. 8 Steps 825, 830 disclose the UE transmitting PSCCH and PSSCH respectively).
Khoryaev et al. fails to explicitly disclose that the pattern of time resources spanning multiple slots.
However, in an analogous art, Cao et al. teaches the pattern of time resources spanning multiple slots (Paragraph 0274 discloses that “the periodicity is 5 slots, spans from T0 to T4 and the pattern repeats periodically”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified Khoryaev et al. to incorporate the teachings of Cao et al. to implement a pattern of time resources that spans multiple time slots, in order to reduce control overhead and improve power efficiency.
Khoryaev et al. fails to explicitly disclose transmit, in one or more first symbols of the pattern of time resources, sidelink control information comprising one or more indications of a device with which the first UE is to communicate in each time resource of the pattern of time resources, wherein the sidelink control information is not repeated in the pattern of time resources;
However in an analogous art Jiao et al. teaches transmit, in one or more first symbols of the pattern of time resources, sidelink control information comprising one or more indications of a device with which the first UE is to communicate in each time resource of the pattern of time resources, wherein the sidelink control information is not repeated in the pattern of time resources (FIG. 2 discloses the repeating pattern of time resources comprising DRMS PSSCH followed by PSSCH and PSCHH. Here it is evident in the first instance of the pattern that the first symbol of the pattern the PSCCH carries SCI. Page 13-14 Last-First Paragraphs respectively disclose “S2, the UE at the transmitting end sends sidelink control information (SCI) to the UE at the receiving end, where the SCI includes the indication information of the time domain pattern of the PSSCH DMRS, and the indication information of the time domain pattern of the PSSCH DMRS is used to indicate the first The number of symbols corresponding to the time domain pattern of a PSSCH DMRS in the set. For example, the first set is configured as {2, 3, 4}, and the indication information of the time domain pattern of the PSSCH DMRS may indicate that the number of symbols corresponding to the time domain pattern of one PSSCHDMRS in the first set is 3.” Additionally Page 22 Paragraph 8 discloses “The SCI is divided into two stages for transmission. The first stage SCI (1st stage SCI) is carried in the PSCCH,…”;).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified Khoryaev et al. to incorporate the teachings of Jiao et al. to implement transmit, in one or more first symbols of the pattern of time resources, sidelink control information comprising one or more indications of a device with which the first UE is to communicate in each time resource of the pattern of time resources, wherein the sidelink control information is not repeated in the pattern of time resources, in order facilitate targeted delivery over specified resources in a throughput efficient manner.
Regarding claims 2 and 19, Khoryaev et al. and Cao et al. disclose the first UE of claim 1, wherein the sidelink control information comprises an indication of the pattern of time resources across the multiple slots (Paragraph 0119 discloses that “…the UE may transmit PSCCH…” and paragraph 0120 discloses that the “…PSCCH may include a sidelink control information…”. Whereby the SCI “ …may indicate resources of the V2V sidelink transmission by the UE, such as ….time resources…”).
Regarding claims 4 and 21, Khoryaev et al. and Cao et al. disclose the first UE of claim 1, wherein: the pattern of time resources indicates a plurality of start and length indicator values (Paragraph 0174 discloses “…an S-TTI structure of size m may include k AGC setting symbols. It may be constructed using basic S-TTI structure of size m-k. …an S-TTI of size four with one AGC setting symbol may be constructed using basic S-TTI pattern of size three and one AGC symbol appended to the beginning of the basic S-TTI pattern”. Here the AGC symbol serves as the start indictor and size of the S-TTI structure is the length indicator).
Regarding claims 5 and 22, Khoryaev et al. and Cao et al. disclose the first UE of claim 1, wherein: the sidelink communication configuration indicates a selection of a start and length indicator value pattern of a plurality of start and length indicator value patterns (Paragraph 0174 discloses “…an S-TTI structure of size m may include k AGC setting symbols. It may be constructed using basic S-TTI structure of size m-k. …an S-TTI of size four with one AGC setting symbol may be constructed using basic S-TTI pattern of size three and one AGC symbol appended to the beginning of the basic S-TTI pattern”. Here the AGC symbol serves as the start indictor and size of the S-TTI structure is the length indicator).
Regarding claims 6 and 23, Khoryaev et al. and Cao et al. disclose the first UE of claim 1.
Khoryaev et al. and Cao et al. fail to explicitly disclose wherein the indication of the resource pool indicates a quantity of the multiple slots that are spanned by the pattern of time resources.
However, in an analogous art, Cao et al. teaches wherein: the indication of the resource pool indicates a quantity of the multiple slots that are spanned by the pattern of time resources (Paragraph 0274 discloses that “the periodicity is 5 slots, spans from T0 to T4 and the pattern repeats periodically”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified Khoryaev et al. and Cao et al. to incorporate the teachings of Cao et al. to indicate a quantity of the multiple slots that are spanned by the pattern of time resources, in order to utilize the allocated resources effectively.
Regarding claim 7, Khoryaev et al. and Cao et al. disclose the first UE of claim 1, wherein: the indication of the sidelink communication configuration is received via radio resource control signaling or downlink control information (Paragraphs 0069-0070 disclose usage of radio resource control protocols and paragraph 0083 discloses downlink control information).
Regarding claims 8,15 and 24, Khoryaev et al. and Cao et al. disclose the first UE of claim 1, wherein: the pattern of time resources indicates a gap symbol that is a last symbol and an only gap symbol of the pattern of time resources, or both (Paragraph 0182 discloses “… a GAP symbol may be either occupied by the S-TTI with increased number of symbols or allocated for one symbol S-TTI…”).
Regarding claim 9, Khoryaev et al. and Cao et al. disclose the first UE of claim 1, wherein: a first symbol of the pattern of time resources is an automatic gain control symbol that is a repetition of a second symbol of the pattern of time resources (Paragraph 0174 discloses “…an S-TTI of size four with one AGC setting symbol may be constructed using basic S-TTI pattern of size three and one AGC symbol appended to the beginning of the basic S-TTI pattern”).
Regarding claim 10, Khoryaev et al. and Cao et al. disclose the first UE of claim 1, wherein: the pattern of time resources is indicated in one or more slots, one or more mini-slots, or both (Paragraph 0184 and FIG. 15 disclose the pattern of time resources in one or more slots. In 1510 the subframe of 14 slots is composed of 7 symbols occupying 7 slots and 6 symbols occupying 6 slots and the GAP slot).
Regarding claim 11, Khoryaev et al. and Cao et al. disclose a first user equipment (UE), comprising: at least one processor; and memory coupled with the at least one processor, the memory storing instructions for the at least one processor to cause the first UE to: perform a sensing operation to determine available resources for sidelink communication with the first UE (Paragraph 0127 and FIG.8 Step 845, disclose that “…the UE may monitor a sensing window for V2V sidelink transmissions. … the sensing window may occur before the selected resource pool”. Furthermore paragraph 0129 and FIG. 8 Step 850 disclose that the “UE may determine one or more available sub-frames”. Step 855 discloses the “the UE may select one or more subframes based on the available sub-frames”);
Khoryaev et al. fails to explicitly disclose that the pattern of time resources spanning multiple slots.
However, in an analogous art, Cao et al. teaches the pattern of time resources spanning multiple slots (Paragraph 0274 discloses that “the periodicity is 5 slots, spans from T0 to T4 and the pattern repeats periodically”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified Khoryaev et al. to incorporate the teachings of Cao et al. to implement a pattern of time resources that spans multiple time slots, in order to reduce control overhead and improve power efficiency.
Khoryaev et al. fails to explicitly disclose transmit, in one or more first symbols of a pattern of time resources of the available resources in which the first UE is to transmit sidelink signaling, sidelink control information that indicates the pattern of time resources
However, in an analogous art, Jiao et al. teaches transmit, in one or more first symbols of a pattern of time resources of the available resources in which the first UE is to transmit sidelink signaling, sidelink control information that indicates the pattern of time resources (FIG. 2 discloses the repeating pattern of time resources comprising DRMS PSSCH followed by PSSCH and PSCHH. Here it is evident in the first instance of the pattern that the first symbol of the pattern the PSCCH carries SCI. Page 13-14 Last-First Paragraphs respectively disclose “S2, the UE at the transmitting end sends sidelink control information (SCI) to the UE at the receiving end, where the SCI includes the indication information of the time domain pattern of the PSSCH DMRS, and the indication information of the time domain pattern of the PSSCH DMRS is used to indicate the first The number of symbols corresponding to the time domain pattern of a PSSCH DMRS in the set. For example, the first set is configured as {2, 3, 4}, and the indication information of the time domain pattern of the PSSCH DMRS may indicate that the number of symbols corresponding to the time domain pattern of one PSSCHDMRS in the first set is 3.” Additionally Page 22 Paragraph 8 discloses “The SCI is divided into two stages for transmission. The first stage SCI (1st stage SCI) is carried in the PSCCH,…”;).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified Khoryaev et al. to incorporate the teachings of Jiao et al. to transmit, in one or more first symbols of a pattern of time resources of the available resources in which the first UE is to transmit sidelink signaling, sidelink control information that indicates the pattern of time resources
Regarding claim 25 Khoryaev et al. and Cao et al. disclose a second user equipment (UE), comprising: at least one processor; and memory coupled with the at least one processor, the memory storing instructions for the at least one processor to cause the second UE to: and receives one or more sidelink messages from a first UE in accordance with the pattern of time resources (Paragraph 0168 discloses “A set of basic S-TTI patterns may assume a fixed number of symbols for each S-TTI pattern”. Additionally paragraph 0169 discloses “…such structures may include ranges of symbols from 1-7, S-TTI patterns…”. Furthermore paragraphs 0171-0172 and FIG 12-13 disclose example patterns. Paragraph 0129 and FIG. 8 Steps 860 disclose the UE transmitting PSCCH).
Khoryaev et al. fails to explicitly disclose that the pattern of time resources spanning multiple slots.
However, in an analogous art, Cao et al. teaches the pattern of time resources spanning multiple slots (Paragraph 0274 discloses that “the periodicity is 5 slots, spans from T0 to T4 and the pattern repeats periodically”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified Khoryaev et al. to incorporate the teachings of Cao et al. to implement a pattern of time resources that spans multiple time slots, in order to reduce control overhead and improve power efficiency.
Khoryaev et al. fail to explicitly disclose receive, in one or more first symbols of a pattern of time resources in which the second UE is to receive sidelink signaling, sidelink control information that indicates the pattern of time resources and that comprises one or more indications of a device with which a first UE is to communicate in each time resource of the pattern of time resources,
However, in an analogous art, Jiao et al. teaches receive, in one or more first symbols of a pattern of time resources in which the second UE is to receive sidelink signaling, sidelink control information that indicates the pattern of time resources and that comprises one or more indications of a device with which a first UE is to communicate in each time resource of the pattern of time resources, (FIG. 2 discloses the repeating pattern of time resources comprising DRMS PSSCH followed by PSSCH and PSCHH. Here it is evident in the first instance of the pattern that the first symbol of the pattern the PSCCH carries SCI. Page 13-14 Last-First Paragraphs respectively disclose “S2, the UE at the transmitting end sends sidelink control information (SCI) to the UE at the receiving end, where the SCI includes the indication information of the time domain pattern of the PSSCH DMRS, and the indication information of the time domain pattern of the PSSCH DMRS is used to indicate the first The number of symbols corresponding to the time domain pattern of a PSSCH DMRS in the set. For example, the first set is configured as {2, 3, 4}, and the indication information of the time domain pattern of the PSSCH DMRS may indicate that the number of symbols corresponding to the time domain pattern of one PSSCHDMRS in the first set is 3.” Additionally Page 22 Paragraph 8 discloses “The SCI is divided into two stages for transmission. The first stage SCI (1st stage SCI) is carried in the PSCCH,…”;).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified Khoryaev et al. to incorporate the teachings of Jiao et al. to receive, in one or more first symbols of a pattern of time resources in which the second UE is to receive sidelink signaling, sidelink control information that indicates the pattern of time resources and that comprises one or more indications of a device with which a first UE is to communicate in each time resource of the pattern of time resources,
Regarding claims 13 and 27, Khoryaev et al. and Cao et al. disclose the first UE of claim 11, wherein the instructions are further for the at least one processor to cause the first UE to: receive a plurality of start and length indicator value patterns, wherein the pattern of time resources comprises one of the plurality of start and length indicator value patterns (Paragraph 0174 discloses “…an S-TTI structure of size m may include k AGC setting symbols. It may be constructed using basic S-TTI structure of size m-k. …an S-TTI of size four with one AGC setting symbol may be constructed using basic S-TTI pattern of size three and one AGC symbol appended to the beginning of the basic S-TTI pattern”. Here the AGC symbol serves as the start indictor and size of the S-TTI structure is the length indicator).
Regarding claim 14 and 28, Khoryaev et al. and Cao et al. disclose the first UE of claim 11.
Khoryaev et al. and Cao et al. fail to explicitly disclose wherein the instructions are further for the at least one processor to cause the first UE to: receive a resource pool indication that indicates a quantity of the multiple slots that are spanned by the pattern of time resources.
However, in an analogous art, Cao et al. teaches wherein the instructions are further for the at least one processor to cause the first UE to: receive a resource pool indication that indicates a quantity of the multiple slots that are spanned by the pattern of time resources. (Paragraph 0274 discloses that “the periodicity is 5 slots, spans from T0 to T4 and the pattern repeats periodically”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to have modified Khoryaev et al. and Cao et al. to incorporate the teachings of Cao et al. to indicate a quantity of the multiple slots that are spanned by the pattern of time resources, in order to utilize the allocated resources effectively.
Regarding claims16 and 29, Khoryaev et al. and Cao et al. disclose the first UE of claim 11, wherein the instructions are further for the at least one processor to cause the first UE to: transmit, in at least first symbol of a slot of the multiple slots other than a first slot of the multiple slots (Paragraph 0161-0162 disclose “The AGC training symbol is transmitted during the first symbol of the sub frame”, here the first symbol does not correlate with the first slot of the multiple slots), a data transmission comprising a sidelink control information presence indication comprising one or more punctured resource elements, one or more punctured resource blocks, second sidelink control information of a format different than a format of the sidelink control information, one or more reference signals on one or more tones in the slot, or any combination thereof (Paragraph 0156 discloses that “The sPSSCH data may be transmitted in S-TTI allocations, while the additional SCI control signaling may be also carried inside of S-TTI allocations…”).
Regarding claims 17 and 30, Khoryaev et al. and Cao et al. disclose the first UE of claim 16, wherein the instructions are further for the at least one processor to cause the first UE to: transmit an indication that the sidelink control information presence indication will be included in the data transmission (Paragraph 0156 discloses that “The sPSSCH data may be transmitted in S-TTI allocations, while the additional SCI control signaling may be also carried inside of S-TTI allocations…”).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1,11,18 and 25 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Samuel Dilan Rutnam whose telephone number is 703-756-1374. The examiner can normally be reached between 8:30am-5:00pm Mon-Fri.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Sujoy Kundu can be reached on 571-272-8586.
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/Samuel Dilan Rutnam/
Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2471
/MOHAMMAD S ADHAMI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2471
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