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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 November 25, 2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed on November 25, 2025 has been accepted and entered. Accordingly, claim 1 has been amended. Claim 12 has been canceled.
Claims 1-6, 8-11, 13-16 and 19 are pending in this application.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on November 25, 2025 regarding claim 1 has been fully considered but the arguments are essentially directed towards the newly introduced limitations and they are addressed in this Office Action, below.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-5, 10, 16, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seo (US 20170202043 A1, as provided by the IDS submitted on October 04, 2023), in view of Wu et al. (US 20230224959 A1), hereinafter Wu, in view of XUE et al. (US 20220021508 A1), hereinafter Xue’508 and further in view of Hong et al. (US 20250374301 A1), hereinafter Hong.
Regarding Claim 1, Seo discloses A wireless communication method, applied in sidelink communication without a central control node (Seo discloses a scheme, where data can be exchanged between UEs without intervention of an eNB, indicates without a central control node. A direct link established between devices can be referred to as a D2D link. [Fig. 13, ¶229]), the method comprising:
obtaining, by a terminal device, sidelink configuration information for a sidelink licensed carrier and a sidelink unlicensed carrier; and (Seo Fig. 14, 15 [¶0269] In the legacy D2D, two kinds of channels have been additionally defined for other uses other than data transmission. One of the channels is for scheduling assignment for transferring resource allocation information for a data channel transmitted from the same UE at the same carrier. This indicates obtaining sidelink configuration for the licensed band. [¶0203]. Fig. 13 in D2D communication, transmitting UE should transmit the second physical channel periodically, whereby the receiving UE, which has received the physical channel, should be operated to acquire information on the first physical channel. UE should transmit received user data through the unlicensed band and transmit control information on the user data through the licensed band as information. [¶¶0240, 0241] The receiving UE may receive the information on an unlicensed band through the licensed band [¶0283]. Therefore, Seo teaches the receiving UE getting necessary configuration information to operate on both licensed and unlicensed carrier.)
transmitting and/or receiving, by the terminal device, sidelink data on the sidelink licensed carrier and the sidelink unlicensed carrier according to the sidelink configuration information. (Seo discloses in Fig. 13 a direct link established between devices can be referred to as a D2D link (sidelink) [¶0229]. Seo discloses in Fig. 14 transmitting UE may periodically transmit control information ([¶0269] scheduling information indicates resource allocation configuration for data channel) through the D2D control channel (PSCCH ¶0241) of the licensed band. [¶0250] the cross-carrier D2D control channel transmitted at the licensed band should transfer certain information on the D2D data channel (PSSCH ¶0241) which will be transmitted at the unlicensed band [¶0251]. The receiving UE may receive the information on an unlicensed band through the licensed band [¶0283]. Fig. 15 further illustrates a method for receiving a data channel using an unlicensed band in a direct device-to-device communication with transmitting UE and the receiving UE are synchronized with a cell 1 at the licensed band (f1) and a unlicensed band (f2) [¶¶0258-0260])
wherein transmitting and/or receiving, by the terminal device, the sidelink data on the sidelink licensed carrier and the sidelink unlicensed carrier according to the sidelink configuration information comprises: receiving, by the terminal device, a PSSCH on the sidelink unlicensed carrier; (Seo discloses in FIG. 14, a cross-carrier D2D control channel transmission resource is allocated to the licensed band at a period of p from a time period of t.sub.0. Also, the UE (i.e. UE1) transmits a D2D data channel (or PSSCH ¶0241) through the unlicensed band [Fig. 14, ¶0243) to be received by the receiving UE (Fig. 13, i.e. UE2) and
Though Seo discloses the terminal is transmitting and receiving on the licensed and unlicensed carrier (Figs. 13, 14, 15) and Seo does not explicitly disclose sharing COT over PSSCH in unlicensed carrier:
wherein the method further comprises: transmitting, by the terminal device, first channel occupation time (COT) information to another terminal device via physical layer signaling on a second carrier,
wherein the physical layer signaling is carried on a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), and
the second carrier comprises the sidelink unlicensed carrier.
Wu, however, discloses:
wherein the method further comprises: transmitting, by the terminal device, first channel occupation time (COT) information to another terminal device via physical layer signaling on a second carrier, (Wu Fig. 2, ¶0092 A wireless communications system 200 in unlicensed radio frequency spectrum (second carrier) may implement sidelink COT sharing, which may enable one or more wireless devices 115 to transmit one or more sidelink messages over a channel 210 during a COT, the channel 210 may be a physical shared channel (e.g., physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH). Wireless device 115-a may initiate COT sharing by transmitting a COT sharing configuration 215-a to wireless device 115-b. The COT sharing configuration 215-a may include SCI as well as sharing information for the COT.)
wherein the physical layer signaling is carried on a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), and (Wu Fig. 2, ¶0092 the channel 210 may be a physical shared channel (e.g., physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH))
the second carrier comprises the sidelink unlicensed carrier. (Wu Fig. 2, ¶0092 discloses the channel 210 may be a PSSCH and COT sharing implemented in unlicensed radio frequency spectrum (second carrier))
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of Seo to enable COT sharing in unlicensed carrier, as taught by Wu. Doing so enables improved techniques providing efficient channel access for sidelink communications in unlicensed spectrum. (Wu ¶0005).
Though Seo discloses the UE (same UE can be transmitter/receiver, see bidirectional arrow in Fig. 13) should transmit control information on the user data through the licensed band [¶¶0240, 0241], Seo and Wu do not disclose the HARQ corresponding to the PSSCH:
Xue’508, however, discloses:
transmitting, by the terminal device, hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback information corresponding to the PSSCH on the sidelink licensed carrier, (Xue’508 in Fig. 7 discloses [0081] The indication transmitted from the first UE to the second UE may identify one or more resources of the licensed carrier 705 to be used for HARQ feedback 725 corresponding to the multiple data channels 720 (i.e. PSSCH) of the unlicensed carrier 710)
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of Seo and Wu with the ability for HARQ feedback as taught by Xue’508. Doing so allows enabling efficient sidelink communication between devices to improve performance through the unlicensed carrier (Xue’508 [¶0074, 0121])
Though Xue’508 discloses transmitting HARQ feedback on licensed carrier corresponding to the PSSCH on the unlicensed carrier ([Fig. 7, ¶0077, 0081]), Seo, Wu, and Xue’508 do not disclose determining the resource:
wherein a physical resource corresponding to the HARQ feedback information is a resource determined based on a time-frequency resource of the PSSCH and information on a carrier on which the PSSCH is located.
Hong, however, discloses:
wherein a physical resource corresponding to the HARQ feedback information is a resource determined based on a time-frequency resource of the PSSCH and information on a carrier on which the PSSCH is located. (Hong [0268] PSFCH (for HARQ feedback) resources may be preconfigured or periodically configured to span N slot periods in slots related to a resource pool. [0270] when the receiving UE transmits an HARQ feedback in PSFCH resources in response to one PSSCH transmitted by the transmitting UE, the receiving UE may determine the frequency area and/or code area of the PSFCH resources based on an implicit mechanism in the configured resource pool. the receiving UE determine the frequency area of the PSFCH resources based on at least one of a slot index related to the PSCCH/PSSCH/PSFCH, a subchannel related to the PSCCH/PSSCH. [0350] discloses a certain time gap may exist between the PSSCH resource region and the PSFCH resource region associated with the PSSCH resource region. The time gap may be (pre) configured for the UE. Therefore, the HARQ Ack time-frequency is determined by the receiving UE based on the time-frequency of the received PSSCH)
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of Seo, Wu, and Xue’508 with the ability to determine HARQ feedback resource as taught by Hong. Doing so allows improving the transmission reliability. (Hong [¶0255])
Regarding Claim 2, Seo, Wu, Xue’508, and Hong disclose all the limitations of claim 1. Seo also discloses:
wherein the sidelink licensed carrier is a carrier which is usable for sidelink communication and on which the terminal device can access channel resources without channel sensing and/or avoidance, (Seo discloses D2D licensed band is a frequency band of which exclusive use by means of a specific operator is granted. In case of D2D, for example, the eNB may directly command an individual UE to transmit a signal from which resource, or may configure a series of resource pools to allow the individual UE to properly select a resource and transmit a signal. [¶0233-0234], indicates communication without channel sensing.) and/or
the sidelink unlicensed carrier is a carrier which is usable for sidelink communication and on which the terminal device needs to access channel resources by means of channel sensing and/or avoidance. (Seo discloses the unlicensed band is a band where exclusive use is not granted to a specific operator previously and means a band where a resource may be used by a random UE/equipment if the random UE/equipment has only to comply with a certain rule. [¶0235] For balanced coexistence with another UE/equipment, a transmitting UE may apply a series of restrictions to itself and follow this restriction by using the carrier sensing procedure. [¶0239].)
Regarding Claim 3, Seo, Wu, Xue’508, and Hong disclose all the limitations of claim 1. Seo further discloses wherein said obtaining, by the terminal device, the sidelink configuration information for the sidelink licensed carrier and the sidelink unlicensed carrier comprises:
obtaining, by the terminal device, first configuration information on the sidelink licensed carrier (Seo discloses the network may previously notify the receiving UEs of a resource, to which this cross-carrier D2D control channel will be transmitted, through a higher layer signal such as RRC [Fig. 14, ¶0244, 0246]. Seo discloses in Fig. 14 transmitting UE may periodically transmit control information ([¶0269] scheduling information indicates resource allocation configuration for data channel) through the D2D control channel (PSCCH ¶0241) of the licensed band [¶0250])
wherein the first configuration information comprises information carried on configuration signaling transmitted by a network device (Seo discloses the network may previously notify the receiving UEs of a resource, to which this cross-carrier D2D control channel will be transmitted, through a higher layer signal such as RRC. The receiving UE periodically receives a control channel from the network by receiving resource information of the cross-carrier D2D control channel transmitted at the licensed band. [Fig. 14, ¶0244, 0246])
and/or information carried on sidelink broadcast information transmitted by another terminal device. (Seo discloses the transmitting UE may periodically transmit control information through the D2D control channel of the licensed band. In this case, the resource transmitted through the D2D control channel may be allocated from the network through higher layer signaling such as RRC. [Fig. 14, ¶0250]. Seo discloses sidelink channel for transmission and reception of the communication signal include a Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH), a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), and a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH). [¶0232])
Regarding Claim 4, Seo, Wu, Xue’508, and Hong disclose all the limitations of claim 1. Seo further discloses wherein said obtaining, by the terminal device, the sidelink configuration information for the sidelink licensed carrier and the sidelink unlicensed carrier comprises:
obtaining, by the terminal device, second configuration information on the sidelink unlicensed carrier, wherein the second configuration information comprises at least one of:
information carried on configuration signaling transmitted by a network device;
information carried on sidelink broadcast information transmitted by another terminal device;
information obtained by the terminal device by interacting with another terminal device; or
information determined by the terminal device. (Seo discloses The receiving UE periodically receives a control channel from the network by receiving resource information of the cross-carrier D2D control channel transmitted at the licensed band. The receiving UE may determine turn-on or turn-off of the receiver at the unlicensed band on the basis of information on the unlicensed band, which is transmitted from the control channel In other words, the receiving UE may determine reception or non-reception of the D2D data channel at the unlicensed band. [Fig. 14, ¶0246])
Regarding Claim 5, Seo, Wu, Xue’508, and Hong disclose all the limitations of claim 4. Seo further discloses wherein the information carried on the configuration signaling transmitted by the network device comprises at least one of:
an Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number (ARFCN) of the sidelink unlicensed carrier, (Seo discloses the information on the D2D data channel may include at least one of ID information of the transmitting UE, ID information of the receiving UE, location information of the unlicensed band to which the D2D data channel will be transmitted, and ID of a synchronized cell. the location information of the unlicensed band may include at least one of a center frequency of a band (indicates ARFCN) and a bandwidth. [¶0253])
a bandwidth (BW) of the sidelink unlicensed carrier, (Seo discloses the information on the D2D data channel may include at least one of ID information of the transmitting UE, ID information of the receiving UE, location information of the unlicensed band to which the D2D data channel will be transmitted, and ID of a synchronized cell. the location information of the unlicensed band may include at least one of a center frequency of a band and a bandwidth. [¶0253]) or
a resource pool on the sidelink unlicensed carrier usable by the terminal device for sidelink communication. (Seo discloses in case of D2D, for example, the eNB may directly command an individual UE to transmit a signal from which resource, or may configure a series of resource pools to allow the individual UE to properly select a resource and transmit a signal. [Seo Fig. 13, ¶0234])
Regarding Claim 10, Seo, Wu, Xue’508, and Hong disclose all the limitations of claim 1. Seo further discloses:
using, by the terminal device when the terminal device is capable of transmitting and receiving information on a Uu interface, a network device as a synchronization source, and (Seo discloses if the two UEs are within coverage of the eNB (Uu interface), the two UEs are synchronized with PSS/SSS or CRS transmitted from the eNB, and time/frequency synchronization may be maintained at a level that enables direct signal transmission and reception between the two UEs. [¶0230])
transmitting the S-SSB on the sidelink licensed carrier and/or the sidelink unlicensed carrier according to a configuration from the network device; (Seo discloses the PSS/SSS (or modified signals of PSS/SSS) transmitted for D2D communication are referred to as PD2DSS (primary D2D synchronization signal) and SD2DSS(secondary D2D synchronization signal), respectively. A physical D2D synchronization channel (PD2DSCH or PSBCH (Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel)) is referred to as a physical channel (same as the S-SSB) that carries information required for synchronization, such as system bandwidth, a radio frame and subframe index. [¶0230])
receiving, by the terminal device when the terminal device is incapable of transmitting and receive information on the Uu interface and capable of receiving information on the sidelink licensed carrier, the S-SSB on the sidelink licensed carrier; or receiving, by the terminal device when the terminal device is only capable of receiving information on the sidelink unlicensed carrier, the S-SSB on the sidelink unlicensed carrier. (Seo discloses the receiving UE may identify that data of the transmitting UE are transmitted by being synchronized with the cell 2 at the unlicensed band. Therefore, the receiving UE is synchronized with the cell 2 and then receives data in accordance with the corresponding synchronization. [Fig. 15, ¶0263])
Regarding Claim 16, Seo, Wu, Xue’508, and Hong disclose all the limitations of claim 1. Seo further discloses:
wherein the sidelink configuration information comprises at least one of:
an Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number (ARFCN) of a sidelink carrier,
a bandwidth (BW) of the sidelink carrier,
Bandwidth Part (BWP) configuration information of the sidelink carrier,
a Subcarrier Spacing (SCS) of a BWP of the sidelink carrier,
a sidelink communication resource pool usable by the terminal device on the sidelink carrier,
a resource corresponding to a Sidelink Synchronization Signal and Sidelink Broadcast Channel Block (S-SSB) on the sidelink carrier,
an Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number (ARFCN) of an unlicensed carrier associated with the sidelink licensed carrier, or (Seo discloses the information on the D2D data channel may include at least one of ID information of the transmitting UE, ID information of the receiving UE, location information of the unlicensed band to which the D2D data channel will be transmitted, and ID of a synchronized cell. the location information of the unlicensed band may include at least one of a center frequency of a band (indicates ARFCN) and a bandwidth. [¶0253])
a bandwidth of the unlicensed carrier. (Seo discloses the information on the D2D data channel may include at least one of ID information of the transmitting UE, ID information of the receiving UE, location information of the unlicensed band to which the D2D data channel will be transmitted, and ID of a synchronized cell. the location information of the unlicensed band may include at least one of a center frequency of a band (indicates ARFCN) and a bandwidth. [¶0253])
Regarding Claim 19, Seo discloses A terminal device, (UE, Fig. 16 ¶0281) comprising a processor (processor 13, Fig. 16 ¶0282), a memory (memory 14, Fig. 16 ¶0282), and a transceiver (transmitter 12, receiver 11, Fig. 16 ¶0281), wherein the memory has a computer program stored thereon (UE perform the functions using the aforementioned components Fig. 16, ¶0283), and the processor is configured to invoke and execute the computer program stored in the memory to perform the method according to claim 1 (see claim 1).
Claims 6 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seo (US 20170202043 A1, as provided by the IDS submitted on October 04, 2023), in view of Wu et al. (US 20230224959 A1), hereinafter Wu, in view of XUE et al. (US 20220021508 A1), hereinafter Xue’508 and further in view of Hong et al. (US 20250374301 A1), hereinafter Hong and further in view of Lei et al. (US 20230328784 A1)
Regarding Claim 6, Seo, Wu, Xue’508, and Hong disclose all the limitations of claim 1. Seo, Wu, Xue’508, and Hong do not explicitly disclose:
determining, by the terminal device, second COT information of another terminal device on the sidelink unlicensed carrier; and
determining, by the terminal device, a channel access scheme for the sidelink unlicensed carrier based on the second COT information
Lei, however, discloses:
determining, by the terminal device, second COT information of another terminal device on the sidelink unlicensed carrier; and (Lei discloses UE 103 may detect SCI 1010 (e.g., SCI 1010 in slot n) transmitted from UE 101 for scheduling data transmission from UE 101 to UE 102, and determine the remaining duration of channel occupancy according to indicator 1010A of SCI 1010. Therefore, UE 103 may be aware that the occupancy of the channel will not be released until the remaining duration of channel occupancy [Fig. 4, ¶0057]. the mentioned channel occupancy for sidelink transmission may be Channel Occupancy Time (COT) used in unlicensed spectrum. [¶0069])
determining, by the terminal device, a channel access scheme for the sidelink unlicensed carrier based on the second COT information. (Lei discloses when UE 103 determines that the remaining duration of channel occupancy is equal to zero, (based on this COT information) UE 103 may start to perform the channel access procedure. [Fig. 4, ¶0058] (UE 102 may not perform any channel access procedure until the remaining duration of the UE 101 channel occupancy expires. [Fig. 2, ¶0028]))
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of Seo, Wu, Xue’508, and Hong to enable channel access procedure when unlicensed spectrum is used for sidelink transmission without exceeding the remaining duration of the channel occupancy as taught by Lei. Doing so allows avoid missing any transmission of sidelink data. (Lei [¶0002-0003, 0025])
Regarding Claim 8, Seo, Wu, Xue’508, and Hong disclose all the limitations of claim 1. Wu discloses transmitting the first COT information to the another terminal device via the physical layer signaling on the second carrier (Fig. 2, ¶0092), Seo, Wu, Xue’508, and Hong do not explicitly disclose:
wherein a resource for transmitting service data on the second carrier includes an available resource within a time period [t+a, t+b]
where t is time at which the terminal device determines the COT information,
a or b is a non-negative value, and
said transmitting, by the terminal device, the first COT information to the another terminal device via the physical layer signaling on the second carrier comprises: transmitting, by the terminal device, the first COT information to the another terminal device via the physical layer signaling on the second carrier within the time period [t+a, t+b],
wherein a or b is a predetermined value, or a or b is a pre-configured value.
Lei, however, discloses:
wherein a resource for transmitting service data on the second carrier includes an available resource within a time period [t+a, t+b] (Lei discloses UE 101 transmits SCI in slot X and the indicator of the corresponding SCI indicates the remaining duration of the channel occupancy as Y slots, it may represent that UE 101 occupies Y slots from slot X+1 to slot X+Y. When UE 101 transmits SCI in slot X+1 and the indicator of the corresponding SCI indicates the remaining duration of the channel occupancy as Y−1 slots, it may represent that UE 101 occupies Y−1 slots from slot X+2 to slot X+Y. [Fig. 2, ¶0036])
where t is time at which the terminal device determines the COT information, (As shown in Fig. 2, COT information changes in every slot X, X+1, .. representing the time ‘t’. [Fig. 2, ¶0036])
a or b is a non-negative value, and (Lei: In the example with UE 101 occupying Y slots from slot X+1 to slot X+Y, 1 and Y indicates the a/b in the claim with non-negative value. [Fig. 2, ¶0036])
said transmitting, by the terminal device, the first COT information to the another terminal device via the physical layer signaling on the second carrier comprises: transmitting, by the terminal device, the first COT information to the another terminal device via the physical layer signaling on the second carrier within the time period [t+a, t+b], (Lei discloses in Fig. 2, After successfully performing the channel access procedure, UE 101 may transmit sidelink control information (SCI) 1010 to UE 102 in each slot (e.g., slot S, slot S+1, slot S+2 . . . ) within the channel occupancy. [¶0026] Xue discloses the PSCCH 315 may carry sidelink control information (SCI) [Xue, ¶0058])
wherein a or b is a predetermined value, or a or b is a pre-configured value. (Lei discloses the maximum duration of the channel occupancy may be determined based on a channel access priority class (CAPC) and a subcarrier spacing. [¶0033]. a or b can be determined based on maximum duration of the channel occupancy minus a duration of slots [¶0032])
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of Seo, Wu, Xue’508, and Hong to enable channel access procedure when unlicensed spectrum is used for sidelink transmission without exceeding the remaining duration of the channel occupancy as taught by Lei. Doing so allows avoid missing any transmission of sidelink data. (Lei [¶0002-0003, 0025])
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seo (US 20170202043 A1, as provided by the IDS submitted on October 04, 2023), in view of Wu et al. (US 20230224959 A1), hereinafter Wu, in view of XUE et al. (US 20220021508 A1), hereinafter Xue’508 and further in view of Hong et al. (US 20250374301 A1), hereinafter Hong and further in view of Lei et al. (US 20230328784 A1) and further in view of BAEK et al. (US 20220279581 A1), hereinafter Baek
Regarding Claim 9, Seo, Wu, Xue’508, and Hong disclose all the limitations of claim 1. Seo, Wu, Xue’508, and Hong do not explicitly disclose:
wherein a resource for transmitting service data on the second carrier includes no available resource within a time period [t+a, t+b]
Lei, however, discloses:
wherein a resource for transmitting service data on the second carrier includes no available resource within a time period [t+a, t+b], (Lei discloses UE 103 may be aware that the occupancy of the channel will not be released until the remaining duration of channel occupancy from UE101, and UE103 has no available resource within the time. [Fig. 4, ¶0057])
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of Seo, Wu, Xue’508, and Hong to enable channel access procedure when unlicensed spectrum is used for sidelink transmission without exceeding the remaining duration of the channel occupancy as taught by Lei. Doing so allows avoid missing any transmission of sidelink data. (Lei [¶0002-0003, 0025])
Seo, Wu, Xue’508, Hong, and Lei do not explicitly disclose:
wherein a resource for transmitting service data on the second carrier includes no available resource within a time period [t+a, t+b], and the method further comprises: triggering, by the terminal device, a resource selection operation or a resource reselection operation, and/or
transmitting, by the terminal device, a Scheduling Request (SR) to a network device, the SR being used for requesting the network device to allocate a sidelink resource for the terminal device.
Baek, however, discloses:
wherein a resource for transmitting service data on the second carrier includes no available resource within a time period [t+a, t+b], and the method further comprises: triggering, by the terminal device, a resource selection operation or a resource reselection operation, and/or (Baek discloses in Fig. 14 (b) the UE may select resources within a selection window on its own by a sensing and resource (re)selection procedure. For example, the sensing may be performed on a subchannel basis. UE1, which has autonomously selected resources in a resource pool, may transmit SCI to UE2 on a PSCCH and then transmit data based on the SCI to UE2 on a PSSCH. [Fig. 14(b) ¶0166])
transmitting, by the terminal device, a Scheduling Request (SR) to a network device, the SR being used for requesting the network device to allocate a sidelink resource for the terminal device. (Baek discloses in the case of the resource allocation mode 1, the transmission UE may also transmit indication to a serving eNB of the transmission UE in the form of Scheduling Request (SR) and the eNB may schedule an SL retransmission resource to the UE. [Fig. 14, ¶0213])
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of Seo, Wu, Xue’508, Hong, and Lei to support a resource selection operation as taught by Baek. Doing so allows supporting Sidelink (SL) communication scheme between user equipment’s as a solution of relieving the BS of the constraint of rapidly growing data traffic. [Baek, ¶0016]
Claims 11 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seo (US 20170202043 A1, as provided by the IDS submitted on October 04, 2023), in view of Wu et al. (US 20230224959 A1), hereinafter Wu, in view of XUE et al. (US 20220021508 A1), hereinafter Xue’508 and further in view of Hong et al. (US 20250374301 A1), hereinafter Hong and further in view of Xue et al (US 20230171815 A1), hereinafter Xue’815
Regarding Claim 11, Seo, Wu, Xue’508, and Hong disclose all the limitations of claim 1. Seo, Wu, Xue’508, and Hong do not explicitly disclose:
obtaining, by the terminal device, first association information comprising an unlicensed carrier associated with the sidelink licensed carrier,
wherein the first association information comprises bandwidth information of the unlicensed carrier and timing information of the unlicensed carrier,
wherein the first association information is pre-configuration information, or the first association information is information transmitted by the terminal device via a Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH).
Xue’815, however, discloses:
obtaining, by the terminal device, first association information comprising an unlicensed carrier associated with the sidelink licensed carrier, (Xue’815 discloses through the association with interlace 0, SL UE1 is able to utilize subchannel 0 806 in the primary carrier 803 licensed band and also aggregate PRB 0 818, PRB 5 828, PRB 10 832, PRB 15 836, and PRB 20 840 in the secondary carrier 805 of the unlicensed band. [Xue, Fig. 8, ¶0140])
wherein the first association information comprises bandwidth information of the unlicensed carrier and timing information of the unlicensed carrier, (Xue’815 discloses the association of the licensed band (1003) and unlicensed band (1005 secondary carrier (with e.g. 20MHz LBT Bandwidth) in both time and resource blocks in Fig. 10A/10B. Each of the plurality of subchannels 1002 of FIG. 10A occur at time t0. Each of the plurality of subchannels 1007 of FIG. 10A occur at time t1. Each of the plurality of physical resource blocks 1004 of FIG. 10B occur at time t0+1. Each of the plurality of physical resource blocks 1009 of FIG. 10B occur at time t1+1. The plurality of subchannels 1002 of FIG. 10A at time t0 may be associated with the plurality of physical resource blocks 1004 of FIG. 10B at time t0+1. The plurality of subchannels 1007 of FIG. 10A at time t1 may be associated with the plurality of physical resource blocks 1009 of FIG. 10B at time t1+1. The time t0 is less than t1. The times t0 and t1 may be contiguous; however, they are not necessarily contiguous. The illustrations of FIG. 10A and FIG. 10B are illustrative and non-limiting. [¶0157])
wherein the first association information is pre-configuration information, or the first association information is information transmitted by the terminal device via a Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH). (Xue’815 discloses subchannel 0 1006 may be preconfigured to correspond with interlace 0 of FIG. 10B at time t0+1. [Fig. 10, ¶0161])
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of Seo, Wu, Xue’508, and Hong to enable scheduling access to licensed spectrum for sidelink communication between devices and offloading of data to unlicensed spectrum as taught by Xue’815. Doing so allows for efficient data transfer. (Xue’815 [¶0002])
Regarding Claim 13, Seo, Wu, Xue’508, and Hong disclose all the limitations of claim 1. Seo, Wu, Xue’508, and Hong do not explicitly disclose:
wherein a resource selected by the terminal device on the sidelink licensed carrier or a resource scheduled by a network device on the sidelink licensed carrier is only used to transmit or receive sidelink data having a priority higher than a first threshold or a delay requirement lower than a second threshold,
Xue’815, however, discloses:
wherein a resource selected by the terminal device on the sidelink licensed carrier or a resource scheduled by a network device on the sidelink licensed carrier is only used to transmit or receive sidelink data having a priority higher than a first threshold or a delay requirement lower than a second threshold, (Xue’815 discloses the wireless communication device may determine a first priority value, associated with a sidelink control packet to be transmitted as the sidelink control in the first subchannel, where the first priority value is selected from a closed set of values, determine a second priority value associated with a sidelink traffic packet, where the second priority value is selected from the closed set of values, determine a third priority value, relative to the first priority value, which may be indicative of lesser priority than the first priority value, and transmit the sidelink traffic packet in the sidelink control if the second priority value is greater than or equal to the third priority value, indicates licensed carrier is used based on priority threshold. [Fig. 10, ¶0167, 0169])
wherein the first threshold or the second threshold is predetermined, or the first threshold or the second threshold is a threshold configured by a network device. (Xue’815 discloses whether a priority of the sidelink traffic packet is equal to a sidelink control packet, whether the priority of the sidelink traffic packet is within a predetermined delta (indicates a predetermined threshold) of the sidelink control packet, or whether no priority of both the sidelink traffic packet is within a predetermined delta of the sidelink control packet. [Fig. 10, ¶0167, 0169])
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of Seo, Wu, Xue’508, and Hong to enable scheduling access to licensed spectrum for sidelink communication between devices and offloading of data to unlicensed spectrum as taught by Xue’815. Doing so allows for efficient data transfer. (Xue’815 [¶0002])
Claim 14 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seo (US 20170202043 A1, as provided by the IDS submitted on October 04, 2023), in view of Wu et al. (US 20230224959 A1), hereinafter Wu, in view of XUE et al. (US 20220021508 A1), hereinafter Xue’508, in view of Hong et al. (US 20250374301 A1), hereinafter Hong and further in view of KANG et al. (US 20180124613 A1), hereinafter Kang.
Regarding Claim 14, Seo, Wu, Xue’508, and Hong disclose all the limitations of claim 1. Though Seo (Fig. 13, 14, 15) and Xue’508 (Fig. 6) discloses data transmission over sidelink licensed and unlicensed carriers, Seo, Wu, Xue’508, and Hong do not explicitly disclose transmission of same data in:
wherein the sidelink unlicensed carrier and the sidelink licensed carrier are used for receiving or transmitting transmission data in different orders for same data, respectively.
Kang, however, discloses:
wherein the sidelink unlicensed carrier and the sidelink licensed carrier are used for receiving or transmitting transmission data in different orders for same data, respectively. (Kang discloses in the diversity mode, the terminal 100 may transmit the same data to the base station 200 in different coding forms by transmitting transport blocks to the licensed band 10 and the unlicensed band 20 [Fig. 1, 2 ¶0041]. Base station 200 intends to specify the diversity mode to the terminal 100, by setting a carrier indication field value of the UL grant to be transmitted to the terminal 100 through the unlicensed band 20 to a carrier of a licensed band 10 to be applied to the diversity mode [Fig. 1, 2 ¶0052])
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of Seo, Wu, Xue’508, and Hong to be able to transfer same data in licensed and unlicensed band as taught by Kang. Doing so enables transmitting data by using a licensed band and an unlicensed band with data increases for various data services and meet the need for greater transmission speeds. (Kang [¶0002, 0003])
Claim 15 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Seo (US 20170202043 A1, as provided by the IDS submitted on October 04, 2023), in view of Wu et al. (US 20230224959 A1), hereinafter Wu, in view of XUE et al. (US 20220021508 A1), hereinafter Xue’508, in view of Hong et al. (US 20250374301 A1), hereinafter Hong and further in view of KADAMBAR et al. (US 20180368090 A1), hereinafter Kadambar.
Regarding Claim 15, Seo, Wu, Xue’508, and Hong disclose all the limitations of claim 1. Seo further discloses:
wherein a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH) transmitted on the sidelink licensed carrier is used to schedule a resource corresponding to a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH) on an unlicensed carrier associated with the sidelink licensed carrier (Seo discloses In FIG. 14, a cross-carrier D2D control channel (PSCCH) transmission resource is allocated to the licensed band at a period of p from a time period of t.sub.0. Also, the UE transmits a D2D data channel (PSSCH) through the unlicensed band. [¶0243])
the PSCCH comprising an identifier of the unlicensed carrier, (Seo discloses the information on the D2D data channel (PSSCH ¶0241) may include at least one of ID information of the transmitting UE, ID information of the receiving UE, location information of the unlicensed band to which the D2D data channel will be transmitted, and ID of a synchronized cell. [Fig. 14, ¶0253])
wherein a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH) transmitted on the sidelink unlicensed carrier is used to schedule a resource corresponding to a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH) on a licensed carrier associated with the sidelink unlicensed carrier, the PSCCH comprising an identifier of the sidelink licensed carrier. (Seo discloses the information on the D2D data channel (PSSCH ¶0241) may include at least one of ID information of the transmitting UE, ID information of the receiving UE, and ID of a synchronized cell. (indicates the licensed carrier) [Fig. 14, ¶0253])
Though Seo discloses PSCCH over the licensed carrier, Seo, Wu, Xue’508, and Hong do not explicitly disclose the PSCCH transmission on unlicensed carrier:
wherein a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH) transmitted on the sidelink unlicensed carrier is used to schedule a resource corresponding to a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH) on a licensed carrier associated with the sidelink unlicensed carrier, the PSCCH comprising an identifier of the sidelink licensed carrier.
Kadambar, however, discloses:
wherein a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH) transmitted on the sidelink unlicensed carrier is used to schedule a resource corresponding to a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH) on a licensed carrier associated with the sidelink unlicensed carrier, the PSCCH comprising an identifier of the sidelink licensed carrier. (Kadambar discloses in FIGS. 30A and 30B are illustrations of a continuous PSCCH transmission, according to embodiment. The PSCCH can be repeatedly transmitted for improving transmission probability over the unlicensed channel. [¶0156]),
It would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the method of Seo, Wu, Xue’508, and Hong with unlicensed carrier supporting PSCCH as taught by Kadambar. Doing so support D2D operations in unlicensed spectrum (D2D-U) providing greater flexibility to User Equipments (UEs) in utilizing resources when the UEs are in range of the network (Kadambar [¶0004])
Conclusion
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/M.N.K./Examiner, Art Unit 2417
/REBECCA E SONG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2417