DETAILED ACTION
This office action response the Request for Continued Examination application on 1/29/2026.
Claims 1-30 are presented for examination.
Notice of 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 1/29/2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
This communication is in response to the amendments filed on December 04, 206. Claims 1, 10, 19, and 27 have been amended. Claim 1-30 are currently pending and have been considered below.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1, 10, 19, and 27 have been carefully considered but are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection necessitated by Applicant’s amendments.
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 of this title, 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.
Claims 1-3, 5-12, 14-27, and 29-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LIN et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0239793), (“D1”, hereinafter), in view of CHENG et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20220346109 A1), (“D2”, hereinafter).
As per Claim 1, D1 discloses a first wireless communication device ([see, [0011], a UE comprising a wireless transceiver and a controller is provided]), comprising:
a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory ([see, [0049-0050], a memory and a processor]), the processor being configured to:
initiate transmission of a first signal indicative of a first sidelink (SL) discontinuous reception (DRX) pattern associated with in-device coexistence (IDC) ([see, [0141], when a R16 UE initiate communicates with a R17 UE which supports and activates SL DRX operation, the R17 UE is not in SL active time, the R16 UE would retransmit the packets and the transmitter UE (i.e. the R16 UE) should consider the sidelink to the R17 UE is broken and To avoid such abnormal problem when introducing the SL DRX feature, issue of coexistence of a R16 UE and a R17 UE supporting SL DRX]);
receive a second signal indicative of a second SL DRX pattern obtained in view of the first SL DRX pattern in response to the transmission of the first signal ([see, [0063-0065, 0139], and Fig. 10, wherein the transmission pattern repeats per cycle, In response to the wake-up signals, both Rx UEs should keep awake during the configured SL DRX period]); and configure the first wireless communication device (UE according to the second SL DRX pattern ([see, [0063-0065, 0139], and Fig. 10, In SL DRX pattern cycle 2, only Rx UE 2 has data to receive and thus, the Tx UE 1 only sends out a wake-up signal to the Rx UE 2]).
D1 doesn’t appear to explicitly disclose: selected based on avoidance IDC interference between wireless communications technologies within the first wireless communication device utilizing a first radio access technology (RAT) for sidelink and a second RAT different from the first RAT in a given time-frequency resource.
However, D2 discloses selected based on avoidance IDC interference between wireless communications technologies within the first wireless communication device utilizing a first radio access technology (RAT) for sidelink and a second RAT different from the first RAT in a given time-frequency resource ([see, [0005-007, 0026, 0042, 0048], wherein a user equipment (UE) may operate using multiple radios, using different radio access technologies (RATs) with a first radio and a second radio, identify the coexistence interference, and provide techniques for coexistence interference mitigation, the UE to indicate the specific bandwidth parts (BWPs) that are impacted by in-device coexistence (IDC) interference to the base station such that the network can resolve the IDC interference by reconfiguring the bandwidth, and the UE may select the sub-bands to monitor for IDC interference]).
In view of the above, having the system of D1 and then given the well-established teaching of D2, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the system of D1 as taught by D2. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide selected wireless communications technologies results improve link efficiency between multiple radios (D2, [0252]).
As per Claim 10, D1 discloses a method of wireless communication at a first wireless communication device, comprising:
a first sidelink (SL) discontinuous reception (DRX) pattern associated with in-device coexistence (IDC) ([see, [0141], when a R16 UE initiate communicates with a R17 UE which supports and activates SL DRX operation, the R17 UE is not in SL active time, the R16 UE would retransmit the packets and the transmitter UE (i.e. the R16 UE) should consider the sidelink to the R17 UE is broken and To avoid such abnormal problem when introducing the SL DRX feature, issue of coexistence of a R16 UE and a R17 UE supporting SL DRX]), and
receiving a second signal indicative of a second SL DRX pattern obtained in view of the first SL DRX pattern in response to transmitting the first signal ([see, [0063-0065, 0139], and Fig. 10, wherein the transmission pattern repeats per cycle, In response to the wake-up signals, both Rx UEs should keep awake during the configured SL DRX period]); and configuring the first wireless communication device according to the second SL DRX pattern ([see, [0063-0065, 0139], and Fig. 10, In SL DRX pattern cycle 2, only Rx UE 2 has data to receive and thus, the Tx UE 1 only sends out a wake-up signal to the Rx UE 2]).
D1 doesn’t appear to explicitly disclose: selected based on avoidance IDC interference between wireless communications technologies within the first wireless communication device utilizing a first radio access technology (RAT) for sidelink and a second RAT different from the first RAT in a given time-frequency resource.
However, D2 discloses selected based on avoidance IDC interference between wireless communications technologies within the first wireless communication device utilizing a first radio access technology (RAT) for sidelink and a second RAT different from the first RAT in a given time-frequency resource ([see, [0005-007, 0026, 0042, 0048], wherein a user equipment (UE) may operate using multiple radios, using different radio access technologies (RATs) with a first radio and a second radio, identify the coexistence interference, and provide techniques for coexistence interference mitigation, the UE to indicate the specific bandwidth parts (BWPs) that are impacted by in-device coexistence (IDC) interference to the base station such that the network can resolve the IDC interference by reconfiguring the bandwidth, and the UE may select the sub-bands to monitor for IDC interference]).
In view of the above, having the system of D1 and then given the well-established teaching of D2, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the system of D1 as taught by D2. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide selected wireless communications technologies results improve link efficiency between multiple radios (D2, [0252]).
As per Claims 2, 11, D1 further discloses wherein the first SL DRX pattern is a preferred pattern selected by the first wireless communication device, and the second SL DRX pattern is an indicated pattern received from a device from which the second signal was received ([see, 0061], each UE may maintain its SL DRX configuration which may include a transmission pattern and/or a reception pattern that the UE expects to perform transmission and/or reception to a peer UE]).
As per Claims 3, 12, D1 further discloses wherein the processor is further configured to:
receive a duration of an SL DRX inactivity timer associated with the first SL DRX pattern ([see, [0062, 0072-0073], the inactivity timers may be part of the SL DRX configuration and may be exchanged with all peer UEs]);
set the SL DRX inactivity timer to the duration in response to receiving a sidelink communication during a first RAT active time ([see, [0074], a UE may set the same value of a single inactivity timer in the SL DRX configuration towards different peer UEs]),
the duration of the SL DRX inactivity timer causing a SL DRX ON duration time associated with a first RAT active time to end before a transmission of a second RAT begins ([see, [0056], wherein the DRX on duration, a UE should turn on its radio to monitor the PDCCH for a period of time is defined by the DRX on duration and controlled by a DRX on duration timer]).
As per Claims 5, 14, D1 further discloses wherein the processor is further configured to:
initiate transmission of a sidelink (SL) DRX information element including at least a field representative of the first SL DRX pattern ([see, [0061], each UE may maintain its SL DRX configuration which may include a transmission pattern and/or a reception pattern that the UE expects to perform transmission and/or reception to a peer UE]).
As per Claims 6, 15, D1 appears to be silent to the instant claim, and however D2 further discloses wherein the processor is further configured to:
initiate transmission of an indication of a network interface that is a source of potential in-device coexistence interference ([see, [0008-0009], detecting in-device coexistence (IDC) interference at the UE from the first signal and the second signal, wherein a first RAT transceivers of the UE, a first signal from a first network, and receiving, at a second RAT transceiver of the UE]).
In view of the above, having the system of D1 and then given the well-established teaching of D2, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the system of D1 as taught by D2. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide selected wireless communications technologies results improve link efficiency between multiple radios (D2, [0252]).
As per Claims 7, 16, D1 further discloses wherein the processor is further configured to:
initiate transmission of a sidelink DRX information element comprising a field representative of a network interface ([see, [0061], each UE may maintain its SL DRX configuration which may include a transmission pattern and/or a reception pattern that the UE expects to perform transmission and/or reception to a peer UE]). D1 appears to be silent to the instant claim, and however D2 further discloses a source of potential in-device coexistence interference ([see, [0008-0009], detecting in-device coexistence (IDC) interference at the UE from the first signal and the second signal, wherein a first RAT transceivers of the UE, a first signal from a first network, and receiving, at a second RAT transceiver of the UE]).
In view of the above, having the system of D1 and then given the well-established teaching of D2, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the system of D1 as taught by D2. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide selected wireless communications technologies results improve link efficiency between multiple radios (D2, [0252]).
As per Claims 8, 17, D1 further discloses wherein the processor is further configured to:
receive radio resource control (RRC) signaling comprising the second SL DRX pattern from a second wireless communication device ([see, [0078-0079], wherein the switch to a different SL DRX configuration, the Tx UE may send an explicit notification for the new SL DRX configuration with RRCReconfigurationSidelink message) to its peer UE(s)]) or
a network entity on a per-resource pool, per-bandwidth part, or per-subchannel basis.
As per Claims 9, 18, D1 further discloses wherein the first SL DRX pattern is selected to avoid interference by separating, in the time domain, a sidelink related operation associated with the first RAT from at least one of:
a non-sidelink related operation associated with the second RAT ([see, [0104], a UE performs an SL DRX operation, the UE selects the same time-frequency radio resource with other UEs for transmission, which may cause collision/interference with/to other UEs, to ensure that the UE may perform transmission without collision/interference with/to other peer UEs]), or
another operation associated with a third RAT, different from the first RAT and the second RAT.
As per Claim 19, D1 discloses a first wireless communication device ([see, [0011], a UE comprising a wireless transceiver]), comprising:
a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory ([see, [0049-0050], a memory and a processor]), the processor being configured to:
initiate transmission of a first signal indicative of a first sidelink (SL) discontinuous reception (DRX) pattern associated with in-device coexistence (IDC) ([see, [0141], when a R16 UE initiate communicates with a R17 UE which supports and activates SL DRX operation, the R17 UE is not in SL active time, the R16 UE would retransmit the packets and the transmitter UE (i.e. the R16 UE) should consider the sidelink to the R17 UE is broken and To avoid such abnormal problem when introducing the SL DRX feature, issue of coexistence of a R16 UE and a R17 UE supporting SL DRX]); and
receive a second signal indicative of at least one of a second periodic SL gap or a second aperiodic SL gap obtained in view of the at least one of the first periodic SL gap or the first aperiodic SL gap, respectively, in response to the transmission of the first signal ([see, [0010, 0061, 0071], wherein the performing transmission or reception to or from the peer UE during the SL DRX operation, Tx UE may consider future transmission resource close to the latest new transmission (e.g., the duration to determine whether it is close enough can be determined by a timer or a configured time gap]), and
configure the first wireless communication device according to the at least one of the second periodic SL gap or the second aperiodic SL gap, respectively ([see, [0010, 0061, 0071], the duration to determine whether it is close enough can be determined by a timer or a configured time gap disclosed]).
D1 doesn’t appear to explicitly disclose: selected based on avoidance IDC interference between wireless communications technologies within the first wireless communication device utilizing a first radio access technology (RAT) for sidelink and a second RAT different from the first RAT in a given time-frequency resource.
However, D2 discloses selected based on avoidance IDC interference between wireless communications technologies within the first wireless communication device utilizing a first radio access technology (RAT) for sidelink and a second RAT different from the first RAT in a given time-frequency resource ([see, [0005-007, 0026, 0048], wherein a user equipment (UE) may operate using multiple radios, using different radio access technologies (RATs) with a first radio and a second radio, identify the coexistence interference, and provide techniques for coexistence interference mitigation, the UE to indicate the specific bandwidth parts (BWPs) that are impacted by in-device coexistence (IDC) interference to the base station such that the network can resolve the IDC interference by reconfiguring the bandwidth, and the UE may select the sub-bands to monitor for IDC interference]).
In view of the above, having the system of D1 and then given the well-established teaching of D2, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the system of D1 as taught by D2. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide selected wireless communications technologies results improve link efficiency between multiple radios (D2, [0252]).
As per Claim 20, D1 and D2 discloses the first wireless communication device of claim 19, and D1 further discloses wherein the at least one of the first periodic SL gap or the first aperiodic SL gap is a preferred SL gap selected by the first wireless communication device, and the at least one of the second periodic SL gap or the second aperiodic SL gap is an indicated SL gap received from a device from which the second signal was received ([see, [0010, 0061, 0071], wherein the performing transmission or reception to or from the peer UE during the SL DRX operation, Tx UE may consider future transmission resource close to the latest new transmission (e.g., the duration to determine whether it is close enough can be determined by a timer or a configured time gap]).
As per Claim 21, D1 and D2 discloses the first wireless communication device of claim 19, and D1 further discloses wherein the processor is further configured to:
initiate transmission of the first signal to a second wireless communication device when operating with the second wireless communication device in sidelink Mode 2 ([see, 0067], wherein the SL DRX configuration (with transmission pattern and/or reception pattern), a Rx UE may further determine an additional and/or aperiodic DRX-ON duration or SL active time according to the resource reservation, resource allocation mode (mode 1 or mode 2 resource allocation)]).
As per Claim 22, D1 and D2 discloses the first wireless communication device of claim 19, and D1 further discloses wherein the processor is further configured:
initiate transmission of a value of the at least one of the first periodic SL gap or the first aperiodic SL gap as sidelink user equipment assistance information (SL UAI) via inter- user equipment (inter-UE) coordination (IUC) signaling with a second wireless communication device ([see, [0010, 0061, 0071], wherein the performing transmission or reception to or from the peer UE during the SL DRX operation, the new transmission (e.g., the duration to determine whether it is close enough can be determined by a timer or a configured time gap]).
As per Claim 23, D1 and D2 discloses the first wireless communication device of claim 19, and D1 further discloses wherein the processor is further configured to:
initiate transmission of a value of the at least one of the first periodic SL gap or the first aperiodic SL gap as a groupcast ([see, [0010, 0061, 0071], wherein the Tx UE may extend the SL DRX active time beyond the transmission pattern, performing transmission or reception to or from the peer UE during the SL DRX operation, the new transmission (e.g., the duration to determine whether it is close enough can be determined by a timer or a configured time gap]).
As per Claim 24, D1 and D2 discloses the first wireless communication device of claim 19, and D1 further discloses wherein the at least one of the first periodic SL gap ([see, [0010, 0061, 0071], performing transmission or reception to or from the peer UE during the SL DRX operation, the new transmission (e.g., the duration to determine whether it is close enough can be determined by a timer or a configured time gap]); or
the first aperiodic SL gap is provided on at least one of:
a per- resource pool, a per-sidelink bandwidth part, or a per-band basis ([see, [0071, 0098], each UE may be mandated to monitor a specific set of time-frequency radio resources for reception of possible ping/discovery message from peer UEs. The time-frequency radio resources to be monitored by default can be a specific resource pool (e.g., a default resource pool), or a specific bandwidth part (e.g., a default SL bandwidth part), or a specific time duration per cycle (e.g., a default DRX reception pattern for a UE to monitor)]).
As per Claim 25, D1 and D2 discloses the first wireless communication device of claim 19, and D1 further discloses wherein the first wireless communication device is a sidelink receiving device and operates in sidelink Mode 1 ([see, [0067], the SL DRX-ON duration on mode 1 resource allocation in which the radio resources disclosed]).
the processor is further configured to:
initiate transmission of an indication of a value of the at least one of the first periodic SL gap or the first aperiodic SL gap to a network entity via a sidelink transmitting device ([see, [0010, 0061, 0071], performing transmission or reception to or from the peer UE during the SL DRX operation, the new transmission (e.g., the duration to determine whether it is close enough can be determined by a timer or a configured time gap]).
As per Claim 26, D1 and D2 discloses the first wireless communication device of claim 25, and D1 further discloses wherein the transmission of the indication of the value of the at least one of the first periodic SL gap or the first aperiodic SL gap is configured by the network entity via radio resource control signaling ([see, [0010, 0061, 0071], performing transmission or reception to or from the peer UE during the SL DRX operation, the new transmission (e.g., the duration to determine whether it is close enough can be determined by a timer or a configured time gap]).
As per Claim 27, D1 discloses a wireless communication device, comprising:
a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory ([see, [0049-0050], a memory and a processor]), the processor being configured to:
receive a configuration that configures the wireless communication device to autonomously deny a sidelink transmission in response to the sidelink transmission prospectively causing in-device coexistence (IDC) interference at the wireless communication device ([see, [0067, 0141], wherein the SL DRX configuration and the reserved resources indicated by the SCI received from the Tx UE, the Tx UE execute the restriction on some transmissions, such as the DRX-ON pattern due to abnormal problem when introducing the SL DRX feature, issue of coexistence ]).
D1 doesn’t appear to explicitly disclose: the sidelink transmission prospectively causing in-device coexistence (IDC) interference between wireless communications technologies within the wireless communication device utilizing a first radio access technology (RAT) for sidelink and a second RAT different from the first RAT in a given time-frequency resource.
However, D2 discloses the sidelink transmission prospectively causing in-device coexistence (IDC) interference between wireless communications technologies within the wireless communication device utilizing a first radio access technology (RAT) for sidelink and a second RAT different from the first RAT in a given time-frequency resource ([see, [0005-007, 0026, 0048], wherein a user equipment (UE) may operate using multiple radios, using different radio access technologies (RATs) with a first radio and a second radio, identify the coexistence interference, and provide techniques for coexistence interference mitigation, the UE to indicate the specific bandwidth parts (BWPs) that are impacted by in-device coexistence (IDC) interference to the base station such that the network can resolve the IDC interference by reconfiguring the bandwidth, and the UE may select the sub-bands to monitor for IDC interference]).
In view of the above, having the system of D1 and then given the well-established teaching of D2, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the system of D1 as taught by D2. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide selected wireless communications technologies results improve link efficiency between multiple radios (D2, [0252]).
As per Claim 29, D1 and D2 discloses the wireless communication device of claim 27, and D1 further discloses wherein the processor is further configured to: periodically initiate transmission of an indication of a quantity of autonomous denial events that take place over a given period via at least one of: a medium access control - control element (MAC-CE), or radio resource control (RRC) signaling ([see, [0078-0079], wherein the switch to a different SL DRX configuration, the Tx UE may send an explicit notification for the new SL DRX configuration with RRCReconfigurationSidelink message) to its peer UE(s)]).
As per Claim 30, D1 and D2 discloses the wireless communication device of claim 27, and D1 further discloses wherein the wireless communication device operates in sidelink Mode 1 ([see, [0067], the SL DRX-ON duration on mode 1 resource allocation in which the radio resources disclosed]).
Claims 4, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1, in view of D2, and further in view of Bala et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0208587), (“D3”, hereinafter).
As per Claims 4, 13, D1 doesn’t appear to explicitly disclose: wherein the second SL DRX pattern utilizes time division multiplexing to at least one of:
receive utilizing the first RAT on a sidelink communication interface in sidelink licensed spectrum and transmit utilizing the second RAT on a second communication interface.
However, D3 further discloses wherein the second SL DRX pattern utilizes time division multiplexing to at least one of:
receive utilizing the first RAT on a sidelink communication interface in sidelink licensed spectrum and transmit utilizing the second RAT on a second communication interface ([see, [0423, 0514-0516], component carrier in the licensed bands or a dynamic shared spectrum band component carrier, and a first radio access technology (RAT) and a second RAT to operate in the licensed spectrum and channel of a dynamic shared spectrum]), or
receive utilizing the first RAT on the sidelink communication interface in sidelink unlicensed spectrum and at least one of: receive or transmit utilizing the second RAT on the second communication interface.
In view of the above, having the system of D1 and then given the well-established teaching of D3, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the system of D1 as taught by D3. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide interference measurements results improve the interference level of between the radio access technology (D3, [0252]).
Claim 28 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over D1, in view of D2, and further in view of LEE et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017/0339671), (“D4”, hereinafter).
As per Claim 28, D1 and D2 discloses the wireless communication device of claim 27, and D1 doesn’t appear to explicitly disclose: wherein the processor is further configured to: receive a validity period and a maximum number of resources the wireless communication device is enabled to autonomously deny.
However, D4 discloses wherein the processor is further configured to: receive a validity period and a maximum number of resources the wireless communication device is enabled to autonomously deny ([see, [0009-0012], receiving a validity period and a threshold; counting a number of autonomously denied subframes during the validity period; and denying transmission at a current subframe when the number of autonomously denied subframes is less than the threshold, threshold may be a maximum number of subframes assigned for sidelink transmission]).
In view of the above, having the system of D1 and then given the well-established teaching of D4, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made to modify the system of D1 as taught by D4. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide gap in technology and demands results improved services result in efforts to improve public safety networks (D4, [0004]).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BERHANU D BELETE whose telephone number is (571)272-3478. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 7:30am-5pm, Alt. Friday, and EDT.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, JEONG, MOO R. can be reached on (571) 272-9617. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/BERHANU D BELETE/Examiner, Art Unit 2468
/WUTCHUNG CHU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2418