DETAILED ACTION
CONTINUED EXAMINATION UNDER 37 CFR 1.114
1. 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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 April 14, 2026, has been entered with the request for continued examination dated May 5, 2026.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Arguments
3. Applicant’s arguments, filed on April 14, 2026, regarding rejection of claims 12-31, as amended, under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to any combination of the references being used in the current rejection. Examiner has applied Ye ‘075 (US 2024/0032075) to clearly teach the amended/argued limitations in claims 12-31.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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.
5. Claims 12-15, 17-18, 21-24, 26-27, and 30-31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sarkis ‘327 (US 2024/0107327, “Sarkis ‘327”), in view of Ye ‘337 (US 2024/0298337, “Ye ‘337”), and further in view of Ye ‘075 (US 2024/0032075, “Ye ‘075”).
Regarding claims 12 and 21, Sarkis ‘327 discloses a user equipment (UE) to perform transmission in a coexistence band of a first communication scheme and a second communication scheme (para 5-7; a wireless sensing UE monitors a set of frequencies in a shared frequency band to receive access information from a scheduling UE, where the scheduling UE transmits the access information via a radio interface that is different from another radio interface; the access information indicates to the sensing UE frequencies in the shared frequency band to use for transmission; the sensing UE reads on a UE; the shared frequency band reads on a coexistence band; the another radio interface reads on a first communication scheme; the radio interface that is different from the another radio interface reads on a second communication scheme), the UE comprising:
a transceiver (FIG. 4, para 113; receiver 410); and
a processor (FIG. 4, para 113; processor) configured to:
receive, from an assisting UE, via the transceiver, resource assistance information, wherein the resource assistance information is determined by the assisting UE based on a coexistence resource pool of the first and the second communication schemes (para 5-7; a wireless sensing UE monitors a set of frequencies in a shared frequency band to receive access information from a scheduling UE, where the scheduling UE transmits the access information via a radio interface that is different from another radio interface; the access information indicates to the sensing UE frequencies in the shared frequency band to use for transmission; the sensing UE reads on a UE; the shared frequency band reads on a coexistence band of the first and the second communication schemes; the another radio interface reads on the first communication scheme; the radio interface that is different from the another radio interface reads on the second communication scheme); and
selecting a resource for the transmission based on the resource assistance information (para 5-7; the sensing UE receives the access information from the scheduling UE, where the access information indicates to the sensing UE frequencies in the shared frequency band to use for transmission; thus, the sensing UE selects frequencies for transmission based on the received access information).
Although Sarkis ‘327 discloses selecting a resource for the transmission based on the resource assistance information, Sarkis ‘327 does not specifically disclose selecting a resource for the transmission based on sensing information of the first and second communication schemes.
Ye ‘337 teaches selecting a resource for the transmission based on sensing information of the first and second communication schemes (para 55 and 87; a transmitting wireless device senses radio frequencies to select unused frequencies, using a radio shared by multiple wireless communication protocols).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Sarkis ‘327’s UE that performs transmission in a coexistence band, to include Ye ‘337’s device that senses radio frequencies to select unused frequencies. The motivation for doing so would have been to increase coverage and better serve an increasing demand and range of uses in wireless communications (Ye ‘337, para 3).
Although Sarkis ‘327 in combination with Ye ‘337 discloses receive, from an assisting UE, via the transceiver, resource assistance information, wherein the resource assistance information is determined by the assisting UE based on a coexistence resource pool of the first and the second communication schemes, Sarkis ‘327 in combination with Ye ‘337 does not specifically disclose the resource information is determined based on a first communication scheme resource pool and a coexistence resource pool of the first and the second communication schemes, and wherein resources in the first communication scheme resource pool are different than resources in the coexistence resource pool.
Ye ‘075 teaches the resource information is determined based on a first communication scheme resource pool and a coexistence resource pool of the first and the second communication schemes, and wherein resources in the first communication scheme resource pool are different than resources in the coexistence resource pool (FIGS. 2 and 6, para 1, 17-19, 28-29, and 81-87; resource pools of two different radio access technologies (RATs), such as NR SL and LTE SL, overlap partially; resources are selected from a portion of a first resource pool that does not overlap with a second resource pool; thus, the selected resources are determined based on the portion of the first resource pool that does not overlap with the second resource pool, taking into account the portion of the first resource pool that overlaps with a portion of the second resource pool, where the portion of the first resource pool that does not overlap with the second resource pool is different from the portion of the first resource pool that does overlap with the overlapping portion of the second resource pool; the portion of the first resource pool that does not overlap with the second resource pool reads on the first communication scheme resource pool; the overlapping portion where the first resource pool overlaps with the second resource pool reads on the coexistence resource pool).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add features to the combined UE of Sarkis ‘327 and Ye ‘337, to include Ye ‘075’s resource pools of two different RATs that overlap partially. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve UE operation in a co-channel coexistence setting (Ye ‘075, para 25).
Regarding claim 30, Sarkis ‘327 discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium configured to store instructions that, when executed by a processor (FIG. 4, para 113 and 117; a UE includes a processor and a memory, where the memory stores instructions executed by the processor), cause
a user equipment (UE) in a coexistence band of a first communication scheme and a second communication scheme (para 5-7; a wireless sensing UE monitors a set of frequencies in a shared frequency band to receive access information from a scheduling UE, where the scheduling UE transmits the access information via a radio interface that is different from another radio interface; the access information indicates to the sensing UE frequencies in the shared frequency band to use for transmission; the sensing UE reads on a UE; the shared frequency band reads on a coexistence band; the another radio interface reads on a first communication scheme; the radio interface that is different from the another radio interface reads on a second communication scheme) to:
receive, from an assisting UE, resource assistance information, wherein the resource assistance information is determined by the assisting UE based on a coexistence resource pool of the first and the second communication schemes (para 5-7; the sensing UE receives the access information from the scheduling UE, where the access information indicates to the sensing UE frequencies in the shared frequency band to use for transmission; thus, the sensing UE receives the access information indicating transmission frequencies, where the scheduling device determines the indicated frequencies from the shared frequency band; the access information reads on resource assistance information; the shared frequency band that is a shared band that includes frequencies for the sensing UE to transmit on reads on a first communication scheme resource pool and a coexistence resource pool of the first and the second communication schemes; the another radio interface reads on the first communication scheme; the radio interface that is different from the another radio interface reads on the second communication scheme), and
select a resource for transmission based on the resource assistance information (para 5-7; the sensing UE receives the access information from the scheduling UE, where the access information indicates to the sensing UE frequencies in the shared frequency band to use for transmission; thus, the sensing UE selects frequencies for transmission based on the received access information).
Although Sarkis ‘327 discloses select a resource for transmission based on the resource assistance information, Sarkis ‘327 does not specifically disclose select a resource for transmission based on sensing information of the first and second communication schemes.
Ye ‘337 teaches select a resource for transmission based on sensing information of the first and second communication schemes (para 55 and 87; a transmitting wireless device senses radio frequencies to select unused frequencies, using a single shared radio, shared by multiple wireless communication protocols; thus, the device selects unused transmission frequencies based on sensing information of the single shared radio for multiple communication protocols).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Sarkis ‘327’s UE that performs transmission in a coexistence band, to include Ye ‘337’s device that senses radio frequencies to select unused frequencies. The motivation for doing so would have been to increase coverage and better serve an increasing demand and range of uses in wireless communications (Ye ‘337, para 3).
Although Sarkis ‘327 in combination with Ye ‘337 discloses receive, from an assisting UE, resource assistance information, wherein the resource assistance information is determined by the assisting UE based on a coexistence resource pool of the first and the second communication schemes, Sarkis ‘327 in combination with Ye ‘337 does not specifically disclose the resource information is determined based on a first communication scheme resource pool and a coexistence resource pool of the first and the second communication schemes, and wherein resources in the first communication scheme resource pool are different than resources in the coexistence resource pool.
Ye ‘075 teaches the resource information is determined based on a first communication scheme resource pool and a coexistence resource pool of the first and the second communication schemes, and wherein resources in the first communication scheme resource pool are different than resources in the coexistence resource pool (FIGS. 2 and 6, para 1, 17-19, 28-29, and 81-87; resource pools of two different radio access technologies (RATs), such as NR SL and LTE SL, overlap partially; resources are selected from a portion of a first resource pool that does not overlap with a second resource pool; thus, the selected resources are determined based on the portion of the first resource pool that does not overlap with the second resource pool, taking into account the portion of the first resource pool that overlaps with a portion of the second resource pool, where the portion of the first resource pool that does not overlap with the second resource pool is different from the portion of the first resource pool that does overlap with the overlapping portion of the second resource pool; the portion of the first resource pool that does not overlap with the second resource pool reads on the first communication scheme resource pool; the overlapping portion where the first resource pool overlaps with the second resource pool reads on the coexistence resource pool).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add features to the combined UE of Sarkis ‘327 and Ye ‘337, to include Ye ‘075’s resource pools of two different RATs that overlap partially. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve UE operation in a co-channel coexistence setting (Ye ‘075, para 25).
Regarding claims 13, 22, and 31, Sarkis ‘327 in combination with Ye ‘337 and Ye ‘075 discloses all the limitations with respect to claims 12, 21, and 30, respectively, as outlined above.
Further, Ye ‘337 teaches wherein the resource assistance information is generated by the assisting UE further based on the sensing information of the first and second communication schemes (para 55 and 87; a transmitting wireless device senses radio frequencies to select unused frequencies, using a single shared radio, shared by multiple wireless communication protocols; thus, the device generates information about unused frequencies based on sensing information of the single shared radio for multiple communication protocols; information about unused frequencies reads on the resource assistance information).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add features to the combined UE of Sarkis ‘327, Ye ‘337, and Ye ‘075, to further include Ye ‘337’s device that senses radio frequencies to select unused frequencies. The motivation for doing so would have been to increase coverage and better serve an increasing demand and range of uses in wireless communications (Ye ‘337, para 3).
Regarding claims 14 and 23, Sarkis ‘327 in combination with Ye ‘337 and Ye ‘075 discloses all the limitations with respect to claims 12 and 21, respectively, as outlined above.
Further, Ye ‘075 teaches wherein the resources in the first communication scheme resource pool have higher priorities than the resources in the coexistence resource pool (FIG. 6, para 81-87; the portion of the first resource pool that does not overlap with the second resource pool is prioritized over the overlapping portion).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add features to the combined UE of Sarkis ‘327, Ye ‘337, and Ye ‘075, to further include Ye ‘075’s portion of the first resource pool that does not overlap with the second resource pool that is prioritized over the overlapping portion. The motivation for doing so would have been to improve UE operation in a co-channel coexistence setting (Ye ‘075, para 25).
Regarding claims 15 and 24, Sarkis ‘327 in combination with Ye ‘337 and Ye ‘075 discloses all the limitations with respect to claims 12 and 21, respectively, as outlined above.
Further, Sarkis ‘327 teaches wherein the resource assistance information includes resources that are subject to coexistence (para 5-7; the sensing UE receives the access information from the scheduling UE, where the access information indicates to the sensing UE frequencies in the shared frequency band to use for transmission; thus, the access information includes frequency indicates frequency resources that are part of the shared frequency band; therefore, the access information includes frequency resources that are subject to sharing).
Regarding claims 17 and 26, Sarkis ‘327 in combination with Ye ‘337 and Ye ‘075 discloses all the limitations with respect to claims 12 and 21, respectively, as outlined above.
Further, Sarkis ‘327 teaches wherein the resource assistance information includes at least one of preferred or non-preferred resources selected by the assisting UE (para 5-7; the sensing UE receives the access information from the scheduling UE, where the access information indicates to the sensing UE frequencies in the shared frequency band to use for transmission; thus, the access information includes preferred resources selected by the scheduling UE; examiner notes the use of alternative language; for rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art).
Regarding claims 18 and 27, Sarkis ‘327 in combination with Ye ‘337 and Ye ‘075 discloses all the limitations with respect to claims 12 and 21, respectively, as outlined above.
Further, Ye ‘337 teaches further comprising disabling resource selection from the coexistence band based on a determined channel busy ratio (CBR) (para 87 and 95-96; a transmitting wireless device senses radio frequencies to select unused frequencies, where the sensing is performed during multiple sets of reservation periods; the device switches between sets of reservation periods based on a determined CBR; thus, the device disables resource selection in a set of reservation periods when it switches to a different set of reservation periods based on the determined CBR).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add features to the combined UE of Sarkis ‘327, Ye ‘337, and Ye ‘075, to further include Ye ‘337’s device that senses radio frequencies to select unused frequencies. The motivation for doing so would have been to increase coverage and better serve an increasing demand and range of uses in wireless communications (Ye ‘337, para 3).
6. Claims 16 and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sarkis ‘327, in view of Ye ‘337, further in view of Ye ‘075, and further in view of Gulati ‘588 (US 2020/0106588, “Gulati ‘588”).
Regarding claims 16 and 25, Sarkis ‘327 in combination with Ye ‘337 and Ye ‘075 discloses all the limitations with respect to claims 12 and 21, respectively, as outlined above.
However, Sarkis ‘327 in combination with Ye ‘337 and Ye ‘075 does not specifically disclose wherein the resource assistance information indicates that a resource pool preconfigured to the UE is the coexistence resource pool.
Gulati ‘588 teaches wherein the resource assistance information indicates that a resource pool preconfigured to the UE is the coexistence resource pool (FIG. 6, para 110; second UE determines a reference signal (RS) configuration based on an indicated preconfigured resource pool; thus, the indication of the preconfigured resource pool assists in the determination of the RS configuration; therefore, the indication of the preconfigured resource pool is resource assistance information, and the resource assistance information indicates that the preconfigured resource pool is a specific and identified resource pool).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add features to the combined UE of Sarkis ‘327, Ye ‘337, and Ye ‘075, to include Gulati ‘588’s UE that selects a signal configuration based on an indicated preconfigured resource pool. The motivation for doing so would have been to provide reliable reception of communications (Gulati ‘588, para 4).
7. Claims 19 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sarkis ‘327, in view of Ye ‘337, further in view of Ye ‘075, and further in view of Calcev ‘020 (US 2023/0189020, “Calcev ‘020”).
Regarding claims 19 and 28, Sarkis ‘327 in combination with Ye ‘337 and Ye ‘075 discloses all the limitations with respect to claims 18 and 27, respectively, as outlined above.
Further, Ye ‘337 teaches wherein the CBR is determined based on: a measured received signal strength indicator (RSSI) (para 96; CBR is determined by measuring RSSI).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add features to the combined UE of Sarkis ‘327, Ye ‘337, and Ye ‘075, to further include Ye ‘337’s CBR that is determined by measuring RSSI. The motivation for doing so would have been to increase coverage and better serve an increasing demand and range of uses in wireless communications (Ye ‘337, para 3).
Although Sarkis ‘327 in combination with Ye ‘337 and Ye ‘075 discloses wherein the CBR is determined based on: a measured received signal strength indicator (RSSI), Sarkis ‘327 in combination with Ye ‘337 and Ye ‘075 does not specifically disclose one of: a measured received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of all of the resources in the first communication scheme resource pool and the coexistence resource pool, a measured RSSI of the resources in the coexistence resource pool only, or a measured RSSI of the resources in the first communication scheme resource pool only.
Calcev ‘020 teaches one of: a measured received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of all of the resources in the first communication scheme resource pool and the coexistence resource pool,
a measured RSSI of the resources in the coexistence resource pool only, or
a measured RSSI of the resources in the first communication scheme resource pool only (para 160; cross link interference RSSI (CLI-RSSI) is measured in a configured measurement bandwidth, where the configured measurement bandwidth is not a shared spectrum; thus, CLI-RSSI is measured in the configured measurement bandwidth only, and not in the shared spectrum; examiner notes the use of alternative language; for rejection purposes, only one of the alternative limitations must be disclosed by prior art).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add features to the combined UE of Sarkis ‘327, Ye ‘337, and Ye ‘075, to include Calcev ‘020’s RSSI measurement bandwidth that is not a shared spectrum. The motivation for doing so would have been to enable receiver-assisted channel access in cellular networks (Calcev ‘020, para 140-141).
8. Claims 20 and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sarkis ‘327, in view of Ye ‘337, further in view of Ye ‘075, and further in view of Seo ‘562 (US 2013/0114562, “Seo ‘562”).
Regarding claims 20 and 29, Sarkis ‘327 in combination with Ye ‘337 and Ye ‘075 discloses all the limitations with respect to claims 12 and 21, respectively, as outlined above.
However, Sarkis ‘327 in combination with Ye ‘337 and Ye ‘075 does not specifically disclose wherein, when a collision occurs in a selected resource within a subframe of the second communication scheme, the UE transmits in each slot overlapping with the subframe of the second communication scheme.
Seo ‘562 teaches wherein, when a collision occurs in a selected resource within a subframe of the second communication scheme, the UE transmits in each slot overlapping with the subframe of the second communication scheme (FIGS. 5 and 8, para 54 and 153-154; in time-domain interference coordination, an interfering cell sets UL transmission of only minimal control signaling, so that a victim cell receives interference that is less than a specific threshold, in two slots that form a subframe; thus, when there is interference in the two slots of the subframe, the UE transmits only minimal control signaling in those two slots of the subframe).
Therefore, it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to add features to the combined UE of Sarkis ‘327, Ye ‘337, and Ye ‘075, to include Seo ‘562’s transmission of minimal control signaling for interference coordination. The motivation for doing so would have been to control uplink transmission power for each uplink resource (or each uplink resource unit) such that uplink transmission can be efficiently and successfully performed when intercell interference is present (Seo ‘562, para 9).
Conclusion
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/NEVENA ZECEVIC SANDHU/Examiner, Art Unit 2474
/Michael Thier/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2474
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