DETAILED ACTION
Examiner acknowledges receipt of Applicant’s Request for Continued Examination (RCE) filed 12/3/2025.
In the RCE, Applicant:
amended claims 1, 11-14, 17, 19-22, 25-27, and 30; and
cancelled claims 15, 23, and 28.
Claims 1, 11-14, 16, 17, 19-22, 24-27, 29, and 30 are currently pending.
Response to Arguments
Examiner has fully considered Applicant's arguments, see page 9, filed 12/3/2025, with respect to the rejection of claims 1, 11-17, and 19-30 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) but they are not persuasive. The intended claim scope and meaning of the phrase “partial sensing stride” is still unclear. The rejection due to the phrase “a subset of a periodicity value” has been withdrawn as this phrase has been cancelled from the claims.
Examiner has fully considered Applicant's arguments, see pages 9-11, filed 12/3/2025, with respect to the rejection of 1, 11-17, and 19-30 under 35 U.S.C. 102 but they are not persuasive.
On pages 9-10, Applicant notes the prior art reference, indicates general disagreement with the rejection, and recites part of amended claim 1. Next, Applicant cites [0196] and [0218] of Yoon and assert that Yoon does not disclose the limitation of “wherein the at least one partial sensing stride is configured by a network”. Examiner respectfully disagrees. As noted in the rejection, the partial sensing stride maps to the various P values throughout Yoon. Further, the value of the partial sensing stride is based in part on network configuration (upper layer signaling) as indicated in at least [0226]-[0228] and [0235].
In the next paragraph, Applicant argues that Yoon does not disclose the limitation that the preset range “comprises a range between a starting position of a resource sensing window and a starting position of the resource selection window”. Applicant asserts that this limitation is “now required” by amened claim 1. However, this limitation is claimed in the alternative and the other option (that the preset range is “between a starting position of a resource sensing window and an ending position of the resource sensing window” is disclosed by Yoon as indicated in the rejection.)
In the next paragraph, Applicant argues that Yoon does not disclose the last limitation (that the position of the first resource sensing window is “last N positions from the end of the present range, wherein N is a value determined based on RRC configuration information”). Applicant argues that Yoon is silent about all of the sensing windows being located at the end of duration Y. Examiner respectfully disagrees. As indicated in the rejection, a bitmap is flexible and could include N bits at the end of duration Y (for example, a bitmap of 0000001111). This interpretation of the claim language as reading on a bitmap such as that in Yoon is based in part on Applicant’s specification, which in [0142] and [0145] indicate that “N is an actual quantity of the first resource sensing windows, or a predefined or preconfigured or configured value, or a value determined according to configuration information (for example, obtained according to bitmap indication)”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1, 11-17, and 19-30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding claims 1, 19, and 20, the scope of the term “partial sensing stride” is unclear. It appears to be a term specific to this application, however a specific definition of the meaning of this term does not appear to be present in the specification.
Claims 11-17 and 21-30 depend from one of the above claims and are thus similarly indefinite.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 11-14, 16, 17, 19, 20-22, 24-27, 29, and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Yoon (US 2023/0156670).
Regarding claim 1: Yoon discloses a method for obtaining a sensing window, performed by a terminal, comprising at least one of the following:
determining a first resource sensing window according to at least one partial sensing stride (disclosed throughout; for example, see [0196], which gives one example of obtaining a sensing window as “the UE may configure a sensing window that needs to be sensed based on the slot y among the determined Y slots, based on y-k*P”; thus, the first sensing window is based on at least one value of P (interpreted as the claimed stride P); note that P is also referred to using other names in Yoon, include a “resource reservation interval”, Prsvp_TX, Prsvp_RX (see [0181]-[182], for example)) and a resource selection window disclosed throughout; see the abstract, which discloses “determining a selection window”), wherein the at least one partial sensing stride is configured by a network (disclosed throughout; first, see [0226], which indicates that “a periodicity value may be set as an arbitrary value through upper layer signaling based on an upper layer parameter ‘sl-ResourceReservePeriodList’”; further, as indicated throughout, the value of P (stride P) may be determined according to a periodicity value (see [0227]-[0228], for example, which disclose that these P values may be determined as in Table 12 to be one of the higher-layer allowed periodicity values or based on these periodicity values (a divisor or multiple value); see also [0235]); and
performing resource exclusion with a first periodicity value as a periodicity value according to at least one of a sensing result in the first resource sensing window, wherein the first periodicity value is a periodicity value carried in sidelink control information received by the terminal in the first resource sensing window (disclosed throughout; see the abstract, for example, which discloses “excluding an overlapping resource through sensing in the determined sensing window”; see also [0212], which discloses “The UE may verify whether resources periodically reserved for transmission from the slot m based on the SCI received in the slot m and resources periodically reservable for transmission in the slot y and from the slot y overlap. Here, when the resource overlaps, the UE may exclude the corresponding resource.”; further, as indicated in [0227], the UE receives a first periodicity value in sidelink control information (SCI) – “the UE may determine a period to be used for actual data transmission based on the higher-layer-allowed periodicity value and may transmit the determined period to a UE that receives data through SCI”),
wherein determining the first resource sensing window comprises: determining a position of the first resource sensing window within a preset range (disclosed throughout; see [0191], for example, which discloses “for arbitrary slot y that belongs to duration Y, slots corresponding to y-k*Pa may belong to a sensing window”; thus, the position of a first resource sensing window is determined (a slot corresponding to y-k*Pa) within a preset range (duration Y)),
wherein the preset range comprises at least one of the following:
a range between a starting position of a resource sensing window and a starting position of the resource selection window, or
a range between a starting position of a resource sensing window and an ending position of the resource sensing window (clearly, this range includes positions between the starting and ending positions of the resource sensing window),
wherein the position of the first resource sensing window is: last N positions from the end of the preset range, wherein N is a value determined based on RRC configuration information (disclosed throughout; see [0191], which discloses at least that the some positions are indicated by a bitmap; clearly, a bitmap is flexible and can include the last N positions and these positions (when indicated in the bitmap) are determined according to configuration information; note that the broadest reasonable interpretation is based in part on Applicant’s specification, which in [0142] and [0145] indicate that “N is an actual quantity of the first resource sensing windows, or a predefined or preconfigured or configured value, or a value determined according to configuration information (for example, obtained according to bitmap indication)”).
Regarding claim 19: Yoon discloses a terminal, comprising
a processor (see processor 2270 of Figure 22, for example); and a memory having a computer program or an instruction stored thereon (see memory 2266 of Figure 22, for example), wherein the computer program or the instruction, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to implement a method for obtaining a sensing window (see [0324]-[0327], for example), comprising:
determining a first resource sensing window according to at least one partial sensing stride (disclosed throughout; for example, see [0196], which gives one example of obtaining a sensing window as “the UE may configure a sensing window that needs to be sensed based on the slot y among the determined Y slots, based on y-k*P”; thus, the first sensing window is based on at least one value of P (interpreted as the claimed stride P); note that P is also referred to using other names in Yoon, include a “resource reservation interval”, Prsvp_TX, Prsvp_RX (see [0181]-[182], for example)) and a resource selection window (disclosed throughout; see the abstract, which discloses “determining a selection window”), wherein the at least one partial sensing stride is configured by a network (disclosed throughout; first, see [0226], which indicates that “a periodicity value may be set as an arbitrary value through upper layer signaling based on an upper layer parameter ‘sl-ResourceReservePeriodList’”; further, as indicated throughout, the value of P (stride P) may be determined according to a periodicity value (see [0227]-[0228], for example, which disclose that these P values may be determined as in Table 12 to be one of the higher-layer allowed periodicity values or based on these periodicity values (a divisor or multiple value); see also [0235]); and
performing resource exclusion with a first periodicity value as a periodicity value according to at least one of a sensing result in the first resource sensing window, wherein the first periodicity value is a periodicity value carried in sidelink control information received by the terminal in the first resource sensing window (disclosed throughout; see the abstract, for example, which discloses “excluding an overlapping resource through sensing in the determined sensing window”; see also [0212], which discloses “The UE may verify whether resources periodically reserved for transmission from the slot m based on the SCI received in the slot m and resources periodically reservable for transmission in the slot y and from the slot y overlap. Here, when the resource overlaps, the UE may exclude the corresponding resource.”; further, as indicated in [0227], the UE receives a first periodicity value in sidelink control information (SCI) – “the UE may determine a period to be used for actual data transmission based on the higher-layer-allowed periodicity value and may transmit the determined period to a UE that receives data through SCI”),
wherein determining the first resource sensing window comprises: determining a position of the first resource sensing window within a preset range (disclosed throughout; see [0191], for example, which discloses “for arbitrary slot y that belongs to duration Y, slots corresponding to y-k*Pa may belong to a sensing window”; thus, the position of a first resource sensing window is determined (a slot corresponding to y-k*Pa) within a preset range (duration Y)),
wherein the preset range comprises at least one of the following:
a range between a starting position of a resource sensing window and a starting position of the resource selection window, or
a range between a starting position of a resource sensing window and an ending position of the resource sensing window (clearly, this range includes positions between the starting and ending positions of the resource sensing window),
wherein the position of the first resource sensing window is: last N positions from the end of the preset range, wherein N is a value determined based on RRC configuration information (disclosed throughout; see [0191], which discloses at least that the some positions are indicated by a bitmap; clearly, a bitmap is flexible and can include the last N positions and these positions (when indicated in the bitmap) are determined according to configuration information; note that the broadest reasonable interpretation is based in part on Applicant’s specification, which in [0142] and [0145] indicate that “N is an actual quantity of the first resource sensing windows, or a predefined or preconfigured or configured value, or a value determined according to configuration information (for example, obtained according to bitmap indication)”).
Regarding claim 20: Yoon discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, storing a computer program or an instruction that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to implement a method for obtaining a sensing window (see processor 2270 and memory 2266 of Figure 22 as well as [0324]-[0327], for example), comprising:
determining a first resource sensing window according to at least one partial sensing stride (disclosed throughout; for example, see [0196], which gives one example of obtaining a sensing window as “the UE may configure a sensing window that needs to be sensed based on the slot y among the determined Y slots, based on y-k*P”; thus, the first sensing window is based on at least one value of P (interpreted as the claimed stride P); note that P is also referred to using other names in Yoon, include a “resource reservation interval”, Prsvp_TX, Prsvp_RX (see [0181]-[182], for example)), and a resource selection window (disclosed throughout; see the abstract, which discloses “determining a selection window”), wherein the at least one partial sensing stride is configured by a network (disclosed throughout; first, see [0226], which indicates that “a periodicity value may be set as an arbitrary value through upper layer signaling based on an upper layer parameter ‘sl-ResourceReservePeriodList’”; further, as indicated throughout, the value of P (stride P) may be determined according to a periodicity value (see [0227]-[0228], for example, which disclose that these P values may be determined as in Table 12 to be one of the higher-layer allowed periodicity values or based on these periodicity values (a divisor or multiple value); see also [0235]); and
performing resource exclusion with a first periodicity value as a periodicity value according to at least one of a sensing result in the first resource sensing window, wherein the first periodicity value is a periodicity value carried in sidelink control information received by the terminal in the first resource sensing window (disclosed throughout; see the abstract, for example, which discloses “excluding an overlapping resource through sensing in the determined sensing window”; see also [0212], which discloses “The UE may verify whether resources periodically reserved for transmission from the slot m based on the SCI received in the slot m and resources periodically reservable for transmission in the slot y and from the slot y overlap. Here, when the resource overlaps, the UE may exclude the corresponding resource.”; further, as indicated in [0227], the UE receives a first periodicity value in sidelink control information (SCI) – “the UE may determine a period to be used for actual data transmission based on the higher-layer-allowed periodicity value and may transmit the determined period to a UE that receives data through SCI”),
wherein determining the first resource sensing window comprises: determining a position of the first resource sensing window within a preset range (disclosed throughout; see [0191], for example, which discloses “for arbitrary slot y that belongs to duration Y, slots corresponding to y-k*Pa may belong to a sensing window”; thus, the position of a first resource sensing window is determined (a slot corresponding to y-k*Pa) within a preset range (duration Y)),
wherein the preset range comprises at least one of the following:
a range between a starting position of a resource sensing window and a starting position of the resource selection window, or
a range between a starting position of a resource sensing window and an ending position of the resource sensing window (clearly, this range includes positions between the starting and ending positions of the resource sensing window),
wherein the position of the first resource sensing window is: last N positions from the end of the preset range, wherein N is a value determined based on RRC configuration information (disclosed throughout; see [0191], which discloses at least that the some positions are indicated by a bitmap; clearly, a bitmap is flexible and can include the last N positions and these positions (when indicated in the bitmap) are determined according to configuration information; note that the broadest reasonable interpretation is based in part on Applicant’s specification, which in [0142] and [0145] indicate that “N is an actual quantity of the first resource sensing windows, or a predefined or preconfigured or configured value, or a value determined according to configuration information (for example, obtained according to bitmap indication)”).
Regarding claims 11, 21, and 26: Yoon discloses the limitations of wherein the first resource sensing window comprises at least one first resource sensing window, and the method further comprises at least one of the following: determining the quantity of the at least one first resource sensing window; or determining positions of the at least one first resource sensing window (disclosed throughout; see [0191], for example, which discloses that the quantity and position of the (at least one) sensing windows y are determined using a bitmap; in the example, up to 10 slots/sending windows may be optionally selected (where 10 is determined from T0/Pa) and in this case five windows are selected at the positions indicated by k=1, 2, 5, 8, and 10).
Regarding claim 12: Yoon discloses the limitations that wherein the quantity of the at least one first resource sensing window is related to a configured quantity (disclosed throughout; see [0191], for example, which discloses that the quantity and position of the sensing windows y are determined using a bitmap; in the example, up to 10 slots/sending windows may be optionally selected (where 10 is determined from T0/Pa) and in this case five windows are selected at the positions indicated by k=1, 2, 5, 8, and 10; thus, the quantity of the first resource sensing windows is related to at least T0 and the stride P as well as a configured quantity).
Regarding claim 13: Yoon discloses the limitations of the quantity of the at least one first resource sensing window comprises at least one of the following:
(T1+t0)/P;
(T1min+t0)/P;
(T2+T0)/P;
(T2max+T0)/P;
T0/P;
(T0- TSLproc,0)/P;
(T0+ TSLproc,0 - 100)/P;
(T1+T0-100)/P;
(T1min+T0-100)/P;
(T2+T0-100)/P;
(T2max+T0-100)/P;
(T0-100)/P;
(T0- TSLproc,0 - 100)/P;
(T0+ TSLproc,1 - 100)/P; or
a predefined or pre-configured or configured quantity (disclosed throughout; see [0191], for example, which discloses that the quantity and position of the sensing windows y are determined using a bitmap; in the example, up to 10 slots/sending windows may be optionally selected (where 10 is determined from T0/Pa) and in this case five windows are selected at the positions indicated by k=1, 2, 5, 8, and 10; thus, the quantity of the first resource sensing windows comprises at least T0/P as well as a predefined or pre-configured or configured quantity).
Regarding claims 14, 22, and 27: Yoon discloses the limitations of the determining positions of the first resource sensing windows comprises:
determining the positions of the at least one first resource sensing window as: some or all positions meeting Y-j*P within the preset range, wherein Y is a resource in the resource selection window of the terminal, j is a value obtained according to a configured parameter, and P is the at least one partial sensing stride (disclosed throughout; see [0191], for example, which discloses “for arbitrary slot y that belongs to duration Y, slots corresponding to y-k*Pa may belong to a sensing window”).
Regarding claims 16, 24, and 29: Yoon discloses the limitations of performing the resource exclusion with a first stride as a periodicity value according to at least one of a sensing result in the first resource sensing window, wherein the first stride is a stride corresponding to the periodicity value carried in the sidelink control information received by the terminal in the first resource sensing window (disclosed throughout; see the abstract, for example, which discloses “excluding an overlapping resource through sensing in the determined sensing window”; see also [0212], which discloses “The UE may verify whether resources periodically reserved for transmission from the slot m based on the SCI received in the slot m and resources periodically reservable for transmission in the slot y and from the slot y overlap. Here, when the resource overlaps, the UE may exclude the corresponding resource.”; further, as indicated in [0227], the UE receives a first periodicity value in sidelink control information (SCI) – “the UE may determine a period to be used for actual data transmission based on the higher-layer-allowed periodicity value and may transmit the determined period to a UE that receives data through SCI”).
Regarding claims 17, 25, and 30: Yoon discloses the limitations of a value of a quantity of excluded resources is Q, wherein Q is one of the following: Q is equal to 1; Q is equal to ceil (P/periodicity value T), wherein the ceil is a rounding-up operation, and the periodicity value T is not 0; Q is equal to floor (P/periodicity value T), wherein the floor is a rounding-down operation, and the periodicity value T is not 0; or Q is equal to round (P/periodicity value T), wherein the round is a rounding operation, the periodicity value T is not 0, and P is a sensing stride corresponding to the periodicity value T (disclosed throughout; see [0283], for example, which states “Q is calculated according to Equation 7, and otherwise, Q=l”).
Conclusion
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Robert C. Scheibel
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2467
/Robert C Scheibel/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2467 January 28, 2026