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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 and 17 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed 02/27/2026 has been entered. Claims 1 and 17 have been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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 1-4, 6-10, 11-17, and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hoang et al. (US 2024/0298243), hereinafter Hoang in further view of Gora et al. (US 2015/0049664), hereinafter Gora.
Regarding Claim 1, Hoang teaches: A method, comprising: receiving, from a source user equipment by a primary user equipment comprising a processor, a request for an end-to-end quality-of-service report corresponding to a destination secondary user equipment: “The WTRU may include any of the following information in the sidelink measurement: a CBR of the resource pool; a CR of the WTRU; a QoS of the service; an expected response timing; information about the delay budget of the packet; and a location of the WTRU” (Hong ¶ 0240) and “The sidelink relay [primary relay] receives an indication from another WTRU (e.g., a source WTRU or a destination WTRU) to report the sidelink measurements of the first hop and/or the second hop. For example, the sidelink relay may receive an indication in the SCI (e.g., the WTRU may use one bitfield in the first and/or the second SCI or one dedicated 2nd SCI format) and/or MAC CE to report the sidelink measurements of the second hop” (Hoang ¶ 0246 and Fig. 5 below) where the first and second hop in combination represent end-to-end communication, and thus the quality of service report is an end-to-end quality-of-service report; transmitting, by the primary user equipment to a first intermediate secondary user equipment of at least one intermediate secondary user equipment, a first partial quality-of-service report request requesting a first quality-of-service parameter metric, associated with at least one quality-of-service parameter metric type, corresponding to a first communication link of at least one communication link between the at least one intermediate secondary user equipment: where Fig. 5 below shows the primary UE, the “current relay,” sending a request for SL measurements to a destination WTRU, the first intermediate secondary user equipment, which requests from the first intermediate secondary user equipment a quality of service report corresponding to the connection between the primary UE and the first intermediate secondary user equipment, the quality of service metric relating to the “first hop”; receiving, from the first intermediate secondary user equipment by the primary user equipment, responsive to the first partial quality-of-service report request, a first partial quality-of-service report comprising a first quality-of-service parameter metric indication indicative of the first quality-of-service parameter metric corresponding to the first communication link: “The sidelink relay may receive sidelink measurements of one hop (e.g., the second hop). In one example, the sidelink relay may forward the sidelink measurements of the second hop whenever it receives a sidelink measurement report from the destination WTRU” (Hoang ¶ 0247), though as stated before, in Fig. 5 the hop for which the primary user equipment receives the sidelink measurements is the first hop; and transmitting, by the primary user equipment to the source user equipment, responsive to the request for the end-to-end quality-of-service report, the end-to-end quality-of-service report, wherein the end-to-end quality-of-service report is based on the first quality-of-service parameter metric indication: “A sidelink relay may forward sidelink measurements of one hop (e.g., the hop between the sidelink relay and a destination WTRU—“a second hop”) to another node (e.g., a source WTRU and/or a gNB). The sidelink relay may combine sidelink measurements of multiple hops (e.g., two hops-a hop between source WTRU and a sidelink relay and a hop between the same or different sidelink relay and a destination WTRU) to report in the same message” (Hoang ¶ 0241) which when interpreted in accordance with the network structure in Fig. 2 below shows the “second hop” being drawn between differing sidelink relays.
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Hoang does not teach: the first partial quality of service report results from combining multiple quality of service metrics corresponding to multiple hops between the at least one intermediate secondary user equipment according to at least one defined function that is based on the at least one quality-of-service metric type, and wherein the combining is performed by the primary user equipment.
Regarding Claim 1, Gora teaches: the first partial quality of service report results from combining multiple quality of service metrics corresponding to multiple hops between the at least one intermediate secondary user equipment according to at least one defined function that is based on the at least one quality-of-service metric type: “In the second embodiment, all nodes (DeNB, nested-RNs and end-RNs) collect packet delay measurements from all subordinate and superior nodes and sum them to estimate delay for each subordinating connection (future delay) and for the preceding connection (previous delay)” (Gora ¶ 0081), and wherein the combining is performed by the primary user equipment: “Depending on the nested-RN functionalities, it could be also possible that the nested-RN can calculate the sum of its own delay measurement and the delay of subordinate RNs, and forward it as the total delay in the part of the network topology supported by the nested-RN. For example as shown in FIG. 3, the nested RN 102 may report a total delay for the shown part of the network topology (i.e. RN 102 to RN 201 to UE 103)” (Gora ¶ 0083).
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It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosure of Hoang with Gora for the purpose of providing a mechanism to manage the control of overall transmission time. According to Gora: “In view of the above-described situation, there exists a need for an improved technique that enables to provide a control of the total delay or transmission time. Hence, a system or method being able to provide an overall control of the transmission time may be needed” (Gora ¶ 0005).
Regarding Claim 2, Hoang teaches: The method of claim 1, wherein the primary user equipment, the first intermediate secondary user equipment, and the destination secondary user equipment are members of a sidelink group of user equipment: “In various embodiments, a WTRU may prioritize a sidelink relay over other sidelink relays if, for example, the sidelink relay is in the same group with the remote WTRU (source WTRU and/or destination WTRU). Group information may be implicitly/explicitly included in a direct communication message (e.g., DIRECT_COMM_REQ message) . . . In various embodiments, the WTRU may further prioritize the sidelink relay in the group based on a WTRU ID and/or a sidelink relay ID. For example, the WTRU may prioritize a WTRU that is a group leader of the group as the sidelink relay. Alternatively, the WTRU may prioritize a specific WTRU ID in the group based on its ID” (Hoang ¶ 0399).
Regarding Claim 3, Hong teaches: The method of claim 1, wherein the first quality-of-service parameter metric comprises one of: a Packet Error Rate or a Packet Delay Budget: “The WTRU may include any of the following information in the sidelink measurement: a CBR of the resource pool; a CR of the WTRU; a QoS of the service; an expected response timing; information about the delay budget of the packet; and a location of the WTRU” (Hong ¶ 0240).
Regarding Claim 4, Hong teaches: The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the primary user equipment from the source user equipment, a portion of traffic that is directed to the destination secondary user equipment based on the end-to-end quality-of-service report: “The WTRU may perform path selection following reception of a direct communication message based on any of the following: (i) a number of hops; (ii) sidelink measurements, e.g., combined sidelink measurement of multiple hops” (Hong ¶ 0300).
Regarding Claim 6, Hong teaches: The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, by the primary user equipment, an intermediate user equipment set of the at least one intermediate secondary user equipment to be used to relay at least a portion of traffic from the source user equipment to the destination secondary user equipment: “In various embodiments, methods for, and/or for use in connection with, performing relay selection or reselection (“(re)selection”) may be implemented in a first WTRU. Among such methods is a method that may include any of receiving, from one or more sidelink relays, one or more sidelink measurements associated with a path defining a plurality of hops, including (i) a first hop between the first WTRU and a first of the one or more sidelink relays and (ii) a second hop between the first or a second of the one or more sidelink relays and a second WTRU or a network element” (Hoang ¶ 0130 and Fig. 2 above).
Regarding Claim 7, Hoang teaches: The method of claim 6, wherein the request for the first partial quality-of-service report requests a combined parameter metric report corresponding to the at least one communication link between the at least one intermediate secondary user equipment: “The sidelink relay receives an indication from another WTRU (e.g., a source WTRU or a destination WTRU) to report the sidelink measurements of the first hop and/or the second hop. For example, the sidelink relay may receive an indication in the SCI (e.g., the WTRU may use one bitfield in the first and/or the second SCI or one dedicated 2nd SCI format) and/or MAC CE to report the sidelink measurements of the second hop” (Hoang ¶ 0246 and Fig. 5 above).
Regarding Claim 8, Hoang teaches: The method of claim 7, wherein the request is a first request: “The sidelink relay receives an indication from another WTRU (e.g., a source WTRU or a destination WTRU) to report the sidelink measurements of the first hop and/or the second hop” (Hoang ¶ 0246), and wherein the method further comprises: transmitting, by the primary user equipment directed to a second intermediate secondary user equipment, a second request for a second partial quality-of-service report requesting at least one quality-of-service parameter metric corresponding to a second communication link, wherein the first partial quality-of-service report is based on the second partial quality-of-service report comprising a second parameter metric indication indicative of a second quality-of-service parameter metric corresponding to the second communication link: “FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the communications system 100 including sidelink relays 201. Each sidelink relay 201 may be configured with, and may implement, relaying functionality to support connectivity and/or traffic relaying between any of (i) the network and a WTRU 203, (ii) the network and another sidelink relay 201, (iii) two other sidelink relays 201, (iv) another sidelink relay 201 and the WTRU 203, and (v) between two WTRUs 203” (Hoang ¶ 0074 and Fig. 2 above) and “In various embodiments, the first WTRU may be a source WTRU and the second WTRU may be a destination WTRU. In various embodiments, the source WTRU may receive, from a sidelink relay, RSRP measurements of a first hop between the source WTRU and sidelink relay and a second hop between sidelink relay and the destination WTRU. In various embodiments, the source WTRU may trigger relay (re)selection on condition that the combined RSRP measurements satisfy the QoS-dependent condition (e.g., based on a minimum of the two RSRP measurements)” (Hoang ¶ 0147).
Regarding Claim 9, Hoang teaches: The method of claim 6, further comprising: determining, by the primary user equipment, a second intermediate secondary user equipment, as a member of the intermediate user equipment set, to be used to relay at least the portion of traffic from the source user equipment to the destination secondary user equipment via a second communication link: “In various embodiments, a WTRU may prioritize a sidelink relay over other sidelink relays if, for example, the sidelink relay is in the same group with the remote WTRU (source WTRU and/or destination WTRU). Group information may be implicitly/explicitly included in a direct communication message (e.g., DIRECT_COMM_REQ message) . . . In various embodiments, the WTRU may further prioritize the sidelink relay in the group based on a WTRU ID and/or a sidelink relay ID. For example, the WTRU may prioritize a WTRU that is a group leader of the group as the sidelink relay. Alternatively, the WTRU may prioritize a specific WTRU ID in the group based on its ID” (Hoang ¶ 0399) and “In various embodiments, the first WTRU may be a source WTRU and the second WTRU may be a destination WTRU. In various embodiments, the source WTRU may receive, from a sidelink relay, RSRP measurements of a first hop between the source WTRU and sidelink relay and a second hop between sidelink relay and the destination WTRU. In various embodiments, the source WTRU may trigger relay (re)selection on condition that the combined RSRP measurements satisfy the QoS-dependent condition (e.g., based on a minimum of the two RSRP measurements)” (Hoang ¶ 0147).
Regarding Claim 10, Hoang teaches: The method of claim 9, wherein the request is a first request: “The sidelink relay receives an indication from another WTRU (e.g., a source WTRU or a destination WTRU) to report the sidelink measurements of the first hop and/or the second hop” (Hoang ¶ 0246), and where in the method further comprises: transmitting, by the primary user equipment directed to the second intermediate secondary user equipment, a second request for a second partial quality-of-service report requesting a second quality-of-service parameter metric corresponding to a second communication link: “The sidelink relay receives an indication from another WTRU (e.g., a source WTRU or a destination WTRU) to report the sidelink measurements of the first hop and/or the second hop. For example, the sidelink relay may receive an indication in the SCI (e.g., the WTRU may use one bitfield in the first and/or the second SCI or one dedicated 2nd SCI format) and/or MAC CE to report the sidelink measurements of the second hop. Following reception of such indication, the sidelink relay may report the sidelink measurements to the source WTRU” (Hoang ¶ 0246); and receiving, by the primary user equipment, responsive to the second request for the second partial quality-of-service report, the second partial quality-of-service report comprising a second quality-of-service parameter metric indication indicative of the second quality-of-service parameter metric, wherein the end-to-end quality-of-service report comprises a composite metric indication that is a function of at least one of the first quality-of-service parameter metric or the second quality-of-service parameter metric: “A sidelink relay may forward sidelink measurements of one hop (e.g., the hop between the sidelink relay and a destination WTRU—“a second hop”) to another node (e.g., a source WTRU and/or a gNB). The sidelink relay may combine sidelink measurements of multiple hops (e.g., two hops-a hop between source WTRU and a sidelink relay and a hop between the same or different sidelink relay and a destination WTRU) to report in the same message” (Hoang ¶ 0241).
Regarding Claim 11, Hoang teaches: The method of claim 10, further comprising: receiving, by the primary user equipment from the source user equipment, at least a portion of traffic that is directed to the destination secondary user equipment based on the composite metric indication: “The WTRU may perform path selection following reception of a direct communication message based on any of the following: (i) a number of hops; (ii) sidelink measurements, e.g., combined sidelink measurement of multiple hops” (Hong ¶ 0300) where Fig. 5 above shows the portion of traffic being received by Current Relay and sent to Destination WTRU; as well as Fig. 2 above showing a linked network of side linked devices where at least one Sidelink Relay (201) would need to be used to conduct information from the RAN or one of the Remote WTRUs (203) to another Remote WTRU (203).
Regarding Claim 12, Hoang teaches: A first user equipment, comprising: a processor: “Moreover, in the embodiments provided above, processing platforms, computing systems, controllers, and other devices containing processors are noted” (Hoang ¶ 0432) configured to: receive a subset indication indicative of a determined subset of nodes of a communication path usable to carry traffic directed from a source user equipment to a destination user equipment, wherein the communication path comprises a first communication link between a first node and a second node of the determined subset of nodes, and wherein the first user equipment corresponds to the first node: “In various embodiments, a WTRU may prioritize a sidelink relay over other sidelink relays if, for example, the sidelink relay is in the same group with the remote WTRU (source WTRU and/or destination WTRU). Group information may be implicitly/explicitly included in a direct communication message (e.g., DIRECT_COMM_REQ message) . . . In various embodiments, the WTRU may further prioritize the sidelink relay in the group based on a WTRU ID and/or a sidelink relay ID. For example, the WTRU may prioritize a WTRU that is a group leader of the group as the sidelink relay. Alternatively, the WTRU may prioritize a specific WTRU ID in the group based on its ID” (Hoang ¶ 0399); receive a first request for a first partial quality-of-service report requesting at least one quality-of-service metric corresponding to the first communication link: “The sidelink relay may receive sidelink measurements of one hop (e.g., the second hop). In one example, the sidelink relay may forward the sidelink measurements of the second hop whenever it receives a sidelink measurement report from the destination WTRU” (Hoang ¶ 0247); receive a remote partial quality-of-service report that was transmitted by a second user equipment corresponding to the second node in response to a second request for a second partial quality-of-service report requesting at least one quality-of-service metric corresponding to a second communication link, of the communication path, corresponding to the second user equipment, wherein the remote partial quality-of-service report comprises a second metric indication indicative of a second quality-of-service metric corresponding to the second communication link: “The sidelink relay receives an indication from another WTRU (e.g., a source WTRU or a destination WTRU) to report the sidelink measurements of the first hop and/or the second hop. For example, the sidelink relay may receive an indication in the SCI (e.g., the WTRU may use one bitfield in the first and/or the second SCI or one dedicated 2nd SCI format) and/or MAC CE to report the sidelink measurements of the second hop” (Hoang ¶ 0246 and Fig. 5 above), where Fig. 5 above shows the labeled “Current Relay” device performing and transmitting a report concerning its connection to both a source and destination UE; combine a first quality-of-service metric of the at least one quality-of-service metric corresponding to the first communication link and the second quality-of-service metric to result in a combined partial quality-of-service report; and transmit the combined partial quality-of-service report directed to the source user equipment: “A sidelink relay may forward sidelink measurements of one hop (e.g., the hop between the sidelink relay and a destination WTRU—“a second hop”) to another node (e.g., a source WTRU and/or a gNB). The sidelink relay may combine sidelink measurements of multiple hops (e.g., two hops-a hop between source WTRU and a sidelink relay and a hop between the same or different sidelink relay and a destination WTRU) to report in the same message” (Hoang ¶ 0241) which when interpreted in accordance with the network structure in Fig. 2 below shows the “second hop” being drawn between differing sidelink relays.
Regarding Claim 13, Hoang teaches: The first user equipment of claim 12, wherein the first request for the first partial quality-of-service report comprises a request for the combined partial quality-of-service report corresponding to the determined subset of nodes, and wherein the combined partial quality-of-service report is transmitted, by the first user equipment, to the primary user equipment: “The sidelink relay receives an indication from another WTRU (e.g., a source WTRU or a destination WTRU) to report the sidelink measurements of the first hop and/or the second hop. For example, the sidelink relay may receive an indication in the SCI (e.g., the WTRU may use one bitfield in the first and/or the second SCI or one dedicated 2nd SCI format) and/or MAC CE to report the sidelink measurements of the second hop” (Hoang ¶ 0246 and Fig. 5 above).
Regarding Claim 14, Hoang teaches: The first user equipment of claim 13, wherein the determined subset of nodes comprises the first user equipment, the second user equipment, and the primary user equipment; and wherein the first user equipment, the second user equipment, and the primary user equipment are included in a sidelink group of user equipment: “In various embodiments, a WTRU may prioritize a sidelink relay over other sidelink relays if, for example, the sidelink relay is in the same group with the remote WTRU (source WTRU and/or destination WTRU). Group information may be implicitly/explicitly included in a direct communication message (e.g., DIRECT_COMM_REQ message) . . . In various embodiments, the WTRU may further prioritize the sidelink relay in the group based on a WTRU ID and/or a sidelink relay ID. For example, the WTRU may prioritize a WTRU that is a group leader of the group as the sidelink relay. Alternatively, the WTRU may prioritize a specific WTRU ID in the group based on its ID” (Hoang ¶ 0399) and see Fig. 2 above.
Regarding Claim 15, Hoang teaches: The first user equipment of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to transmit, to the source user equipment, an end-to-end quality-of-service report comprising an end-to-end quality-of-service indication indicative of an end-to-end quality-of-service of an end-to-end communication path between the source user equipment and the destination user equipment, and wherein the end-to-end quality-of-service report comprises the combined partial quality-of-service report: “A sidelink relay may forward sidelink measurements of one hop (e.g., the hop between the sidelink relay and a destination WTRU—“a second hop”) to another node (e.g., a source WTRU and/or a gNB). The sidelink relay may combine sidelink measurements of multiple hops (e.g., two hops-a hop between source WTRU and a sidelink relay and a hop between the same or different sidelink relay and a destination WTRU) to report in the same message” (Hoang ¶ 0241).
Regarding Claim 16, Hoang teaches: The first user equipment of claim 12, wherein the combining of the first quality-of-service metric and the second quality-of-service metric comprises applying a defined function to the first quality-of-service metric and second quality-of-service metric to result in the combined partial quality-of-service report: “The WTRU may determine the transmission behavior of a message based on a combined sidelink measurement and/or any sidelink measurement of a current path. For example, the WTRU may determine a pre-transmission behavior of a direct communication message (e.g., trigger transmission of the message) when the combined RSRP measurement of two hops satisfies a condition (e.g., satisfies (e.g., is smaller than) a first threshold)” (Hoang ¶ 0211) where the cited segment of Hoang indicates combined sidelink measurement would be the result of some mathematical function, as the multiple sidelink measurements are to be compared to a single value (first threshold).
Regarding Claim 17, Hoang teaches: A non-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor of a primary relay user equipment, facilitate performance of operations: “Moreover, in the embodiments provided above, processing platforms, computing systems, controllers, and other devices containing processors are noted. These devices may contain at least one Central Processing Unit (“CPU”) and memory” (Hoang ¶ 0432) comprising: receiving, from a source user equipment, an end-to-end quality-of-service report request corresponding to an end-to-end quality-of-service between the source user equipment and a destination user equipment: “The WTRU may include any of the following information in the sidelink measurement: a CBR of the resource pool; a CR of the WTRU; a QoS of the service; an expected response timing; information about the delay budget of the packet; and a location of the WTRU” (Hong ¶ 0240) and “The sidelink relay [primary relay] receives an indication from another WTRU (e.g., a source WTRU or a destination WTRU) to report the sidelink measurements of the first hop and/or the second hop. For example, the sidelink relay may receive an indication in the SCI (e.g., the WTRU may use one bitfield in the first and/or the second SCI or one dedicated 2nd SCI format) and/or MAC CE to report the sidelink measurements of the second hop” (Hoang ¶ 0246 and Fig. 5 above) where the first and second hop in combination represent end-to-end communication, and thus the quality of service report is an end-to-end quality-of-service report, wherein the primary relay user equipment, the destination user equipment, and at least a first intermediate relay user equipment are members of a remote group of user equipment, wherein the first intermediate relay user equipment and the destination user equipment are beyond a long-range communication range of the source user equipment, wherein the primary relay user equipment and the first intermediate relay user equipment communicate via a first short-range communication link: “A WTRU may determine to forward a message (e.g., a direct communication message) based on a required communication range. For example, the WTRU may determine to forward the message if the required communication range of the service is larger than a threshold and/or the distance between the WTRU and the source WTRU is smaller than a function of the minimum communication range” (Hoang ¶ 0293), wherein the first intermediate relay user equipment and the destination user equipment communicate via a second short-range communication link: “In various embodiments, methods for, and/or for use in connection with, performing relay selection or reselection (“(re)selection”) may be implemented in a first WTRU. Among such methods is a method that may include any of receiving, from one or more sidelink relays, one or more sidelink measurements associated with a path defining a plurality of hops, including (i) a first hop between the first WTRU and a first of the one or more sidelink relays and (ii) a second hop between the first or a second of the one or more sidelink relays and a second WTRU or a network element” (Hoang ¶ 0130 and Fig. 2 below); transmitting, to the first intermediate relay user equipment, a first partial quality-of-service report request requesting at least one quality-of-service parameter metric corresponding to the second short-range communication link: “The sidelink relay may receive sidelink measurements of one hop (e.g., the second hop). In one example, the sidelink relay may forward the sidelink measurements of the second hop whenever it receives a sidelink measurement report from the destination WTRU” (Hoang ¶ 0247); receiving, from the first intermediate relay user equipment, responsive to the first partial quality-of-service report request, a first partial quality-of-service report comprising a first metric indication indicative of a first quality-of-service metric corresponding to the second short-range communication link: “The sidelink relay receives an indication from another WTRU (e.g., a source WTRU or a destination WTRU) to report the sidelink measurements of the first hop and/or the second hop. For example, the sidelink relay may receive an indication in the SCI (e.g., the WTRU may use one bitfield in the first and/or the second SCI or one dedicated 2nd SCI format) and/or MAC CE to report the sidelink measurements of the second hop” (Hoang ¶ 0246 and Fig. 5 above), where Fig. 5 above shows the labeled “Current Relay” device performing and transmitting a report concerning its connection to both a source and destination UE; wherein the group quality-of-service metric associated with a third short-range communication link between a second intermediate relay user equipment and the destination user equipment, wherein the group quality-of-service indication is determined according to a defined function that is based on at least one quality-of-service parameter metric type associated with at least one quality-of-service parameter metric corresponding to the second short-range communication link or the third short-range communication link: “A sidelink relay may forward sidelink measurements of one hop (e.g., the hop between the sidelink relay and a destination WTRU—“a second hop”) to another node (e.g., a source WTRU and/or a gNB). The sidelink relay may combine sidelink measurements of multiple hops (e.g., two hops-a hop between source WTRU and a sidelink relay and a hop between the same or different sidelink relay and a destination WTRU) to report in the same message” (Hoang ¶ 0241) which when interpreted in accordance with the network structure in Fig. 2 above shows the “second hop” being drawn between differing sidelink relays.
Hoang does not teach: wherein the primary relay user equipment is a leader of the remote group of user equipment; transmitting, responsive to the end-to-end quality-of-service report request, to the source user equipment, an end-to-end quality-of-service report comprising a group quality-of-service metric indication that is indicative of a group quality-of-service corresponding to the remote group of user equipment and that is based on the first quality-of-service metric and a second quality-of service metric associated with a third short-rage communication link between a second intermediate relay user equipment and the destination user equipment.
Regarding Claim 17, Gora teaches: the primary relay user equipment is a leader of the remote group of user equipment: “Depending on the nested-RN functionalities, it could be also possible that the nested-RN can calculate the sum of its own delay measurement and the delay of subordinate RNs, and forward it as the total delay in the part of the network topology supported by the nested-RN. For example as shown in FIG. 3, the nested RN 102 may report a total delay for the shown part of the network topology (i.e. RN 102 to RN 201 to UE 103)” (Gora ¶ 0083); transmitting, responsive to the end-to-end quality-of-service report request, to the source user equipment, an end-to-end quality-of-service report comprising a group quality-of-service metric indication that is indicative of a group quality-of-service corresponding to the remote group of user equipment and that is based on the first quality-of-service metric and a second quality-of service metric associated with a third short-rage communication link between a second intermediate relay user equipment and the destination user equipment: “In the second embodiment, all nodes (DeNB, nested-RNs and end-RNs) collect packet delay measurements from all subordinate and superior nodes and sum them to estimate delay for each subordinating connection (future delay) and for the preceding connection (previous delay)” (Gora ¶ 0081).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosure of Hoang with Gora for the purpose of providing a mechanism to manage the control of overall transmission time. According to Gora: “In view of the above-described situation, there exists a need for an improved technique that enables to provide a control of the total delay or transmission time. Hence, a system or method being able to provide an overall control of the transmission time may be needed” (Gora ¶ 0005).
Regarding Claim 18, Hoang teaches: The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the remote group of user equipment comprises the first intermediate relay user equipment and a second intermediate relay user equipment, wherein the first intermediate relay user equipment and the second intermediate relay user equipment are communicatively linked via the second short-range communication link: “A WTRU may determine to forward a message (e.g., a direct communication message) based on a required communication range. For example, the WTRU may determine to forward the message if the required communication range of the service is larger than a threshold and/or the distance between the WTRU and the source WTRU is smaller than a function of the minimum communication range” (Hoang ¶ 0293), wherein the second intermediate relay user equipment communicates with the destination user equipment via a third short-range communication link: See Fig. 2 above which shows a network of side linked relays, wherein the first partial quality-of-service report comprises a second metric indication indicative of a second quality-of-service metric corresponding to the third short-range communication link, and wherein the group quality-of-service metric indication is based on the first quality-of-service metric and the second quality-of-service metric: “A sidelink relay may forward sidelink measurements of one hop (e.g., the hop between the sidelink relay and a destination WTRU—“a second hop”) to another node (e.g., a source WTRU and/or a gNB). The sidelink relay may combine sidelink measurements of multiple hops (e.g., two hops-a hop between source WTRU and a sidelink relay and a hop between the same or different sidelink relay and a destination WTRU) to report in the same message” (Hoang ¶ 0241).
Regarding Claim 21, Hoang teaches: The method of claim 1.
Hoang does not teach: wherein the at least one quality-of-service metric type is at least one of a packet delay budget or a packet error rate and wherein the at least one defined function is at least one of summation or multiplication, respectively: “In the second embodiment, all nodes (DeNB, nested-RNs and end-RNs) collect packet delay measurements from all subordinate and superior nodes and sum them to estimate delay for each subordinating connection (future delay) and for the preceding connection (previous delay)” (Gora ¶ 0081) and “Depending on the nested-RN functionalities, it could be also possible that the nested-RN can calculate the sum of its own delay measurement and the delay of subordinate RNs, and forward it as the total delay in the part of the network topology supported by the nested-RN. For example as shown in FIG. 3, the nested RN 102 may report a total delay for the shown part of the network topology (i.e. RN 102 to RN 201 to UE 103)” (Gora ¶ 0083).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosure of Hoang with Gora for the purpose of providing a mechanism to manage the control of overall transmission time. According to Gora: “In view of the above-described situation, there exists a need for an improved technique that enables to provide a control of the total delay or transmission time. Hence, a system or method being able to provide an overall control of the transmission time may be needed” (Gora ¶ 0005).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hoang and Gora as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Hu et al. (US 2022/0038943), hereinafter Hu.
Regarding Claim 5, Hoang and Gora teach: The method of claim 1.
Hoang and Gora do not teach: the request for the first partial quality-of-service report comprises a parameter index indicative of a combination of one or more parameter metrics of a configured set of parameter metrics.
Regarding Claim 5, Hu teaches: the request for the first partial quality-of-service report comprises a parameter index indicative of a combination of one or more parameter metrics of a configured set of parameter metrics: ”receiving, at a user equipment, at least one QoS flow; monitoring, at the user equipment, at least one QoS parameter of the at least one QoS flow, wherein the at least one QoS parameter is configured by QoS monitoring configuration information; and transmitting, from the user equipment, a feedback report based on the monitored QoS parameter and the QoS monitoring configuration information” (Hu ¶ 0011).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosure of Hoang and Gora with Hu for the purpose of providing a method for QoS monitoring and feedback in sidelink (V2X) communications. According to Hu: “One object of the present application is to provide a technical solution for QoS monitoring and feedback in V2X communication, especially between V2X UEs and between at least one V2X UE and a base station, which can meet the strict QoS requirement in the advanced V2X services” (Hu ¶ 0010).
Claims 19-20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hoang and Gora as applied to claim 17 above, and further in view of Srinivasan et al. (US 2023/0127924), hereinafter Srinivasan.
Regarding Claim 19, Hoang teaches: The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise: transmitting, to the third intermediate relay user equipment, a second partial quality-of-service report request requesting at least one quality-of-service parameter metric corresponding to the second relay subgroup: “A WTRU may determine to forward a message (e.g., a direct communication message) based on a required communication range. For example, the WTRU may determine to forward the message if the required communication range of the service is larger than a threshold and/or the distance between the WTRU and the source WTRU is smaller than a function of the minimum communication range” (Hoang ¶ 0293); and receiving, from the third intermediate relay user equipment, responsive to the second partial quality-of-service report request, a second partial quality-of-service report comprising a third metric indication indicative of a third quality-of-service metric corresponding to the second relay subgroup: “The sidelink relay receives an indication from another WTRU (e.g., a source WTRU or a destination WTRU) to report the sidelink measurements of the first hop and/or the second hop. For example, the sidelink relay may receive an indication in the SCI (e.g., the WTRU may use one bitfield in the first and/or the second SCI or one dedicated 2nd SCI format) and/or MAC CE to report the sidelink measurements of the second hop” (Hoang ¶ 0246 and Fig. 5 and Fig. 2 above); while Fig. 5 shows only a single relay, the sidelink relay map of Fig. 2 along with the disclosures of Hoang show the disclosure of Hoang encompasses at least three sidelink relays reporting QoS metrics for a combined QoS report, wherein the group quality-of-service metric is based on the first quality-of-service metric, the second quality-of-service metric, and the third quality-of-service metric “A measurement configuration for one link/hop may depend (e.g., be based) on the measurement values and/or a measurement configuration on another hop . . . Any of the measurements disclosed herein may be used (possible in combination) in such embodiment . . . The WTRU may have an association of WTRUs which may trigger such dependency, whereby such association is based on the path of a relayed link (e.g., a sidelink relay may have an association for its measurements configured to a destination WTRU based with the measurements configured by a source WTRU when the sidelink relay is acting as a relay between the source and destination)” (Hoang ¶ 0258).
Hoang and Gora do not teach: the first intermediate relay user equipment and the second intermediate relay user equipment compose a first relay subgroup of the remote group of user equipment, wherein the first intermediate relay user equipment is a first subgroup leader of the first relay subgroup, wherein the remote group of user equipment comprises a second relay subgroup comprising a third intermediate relay user equipment, wherein the second intermediate relay user equipment and the third intermediate relay user equipment are communicatively linked via the third short-range communication link, wherein the third intermediate relay user equipment is configured to communicate with the destination user equipment via a fourth short-range communication link.
Regarding Claim 19, Srinivasan teaches: the first intermediate relay user equipment and the second intermediate relay user equipment compose a first relay subgroup of the remote group of user equipment: “FIG. 19 illustrates an embodiment in accordance with which the communication between the transmitting entity 402 and the receiving entity 404 is using N relays 400, N≥2. Each relay layer includes a plurality of relay devices 1 to m, like relay UEs. The respective relay layers 486.sub.1 to 486.sub.N may include the same number of relay UEs or some or all of the relay layers 486.sub.1 to 486.sub.N may include different numbers of relay UEs. The receiving entity 404 may connect to the relays of the first relay layer 486.sub.1” (Srinivasan ¶ 0400), wherein the remote group of user equipment comprises a second relay subgroup comprising a third intermediate relay user equipment: “The respective relays in the different relay layers 486.sub.1, 486.sub.2 may connect with each other, as is indicated, schematically, at 566. Some or all of the relays in the first relay layer 486.sub.1 may connect with some or all of the relays in the second relay layer 486.sub.2” (Srinivasan ¶ 0400 and Fig. 20 Below), wherein the second intermediate relay user equipment and the third intermediate relay user equipment are communicatively linked via the third short-range communication link: “The respective relays in the different relay layers 486.sub.1, 486.sub.2 may connect with each other, as is indicated, schematically, at 566. Some or all of the relays in the first relay layer 486.sub.1 may connect with some or all of the relays in the second relay layer 486.sub.2” (Srinivasan ¶ 0400 and Fig. 19 Below), wherein the third intermediate relay user equipment is configured to communicate with the destination user equipment via a fourth short-range communication link: “The receiving entity 404 may connect to the relays of the first relay layer 486.sub.1, and the transmitting entity 402 and may connect to the relays of the relay layer 486.sub.N” (Srinivasan ¶ 0400).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the disclosure of Hoang and Gora with Srinivasan for the purpose of allowing the system to calculate achievable values for QoS parameters. According to Srinivasan: “Rather than sticking to the respective QoS profiles for the links, tolerances for the QoS parameters are introduced that may be signaled as additional information, also referred to as QoS assistance information, QoS_AI. Once the QoS profiles for the links exist, measurements are performed on the links so as to determine or calculate the value for the QoS parameters that are actually achievable” (Srinivasan ¶ 0106).
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Regarding Claim 20, Hoang teaches: The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the first short-range communication link, the second short-range communication link, the third short-range communication link, or the fourth short-range communication link are respectively either a sidelink communication link or a Wi-Fi communication link: “Each sidelink relay 201 may be configured with, and may implement, relaying functionality to support connectivity and/or traffic relaying between any of (i) the network and a WTRU 203, (ii) the network and another sidelink relay 201, (iii) two other sidelink relays 201, (iv) another sidelink relay 201 and the WTRU 203, and (v) between two WTRUs 203” (Hoang ¶ 0074).
Conclusion
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/BRADLEY D LYTLE JR./Examiner, Art Unit 2473 /B.D.L./Examiner, Art Unit 2473
/KWANG B YAO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2473
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