DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 03/06/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Claims 1, 5, 11, 12, 14, 19, and 20 have been amended.
Claims 1, 3-20 are pending.
1. Applicant's arguments with respect to the claim(s) have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1, 3-5, 8-13, 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WU et al. (US 20230224959, hereinafter, “WU”) in view of Shilov et al. (US 20200374861, hereinafter, “Shilov”), and further in view of SHIN et al. (US 20200314804, hereinafter, “SHIN”).
Claim 1. WU teaches: A transceiver - See Fig. 10, ¶ [0128], (“transceiver”) of a wireless communication system, - See Fig. 1, ¶ [0049], (“an example of a wireless communications system 100 that supports channel access with reservation for sidelink communication…may include…one or more UEs”, transceiver is implemented within the UE)
wherein the transceiver is configured to operate in a sidelink in-coverage, out of coverage or partial coverage scenario, - See Fig. 1, ¶ [0074], (“One or more UEs 115 utilizing D2D communications may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 105. Other UEs 115 in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 105 or be otherwise unable to receive transmissions from a base station”) in which resources for a sidelink communication are pre-configured by the wireless communication system - in ¶ [0093], (“a wireless node (e.g., base station, RSU, etc.) may provide the sharing information to configure COT sharing for sidelink transmissions…a base station 105-a may transmit COT sharing configuration 215-b to wireless device 115-a.”) or allocated or scheduled autonomously by the transceiver, - in ¶ [0038], (“sidelink communications may support resource (e.g., symbol, slot, mini slot) reservation in autonomous resource allocation for licensed radio frequency spectrum…a UE may identify future time frequency resources (e.g., candidate resources)…the UE may schedule its reserved resources in future slots to transmit a retransmission of information (e.g., packet) from a sidelink transmission.”)
wherein the transceiver is configured - in ¶ [0040], (“the wireless device may use Category 2 LBT, which includes using LBT without random back-off”) to perform a single-shot-sensing on resources of the sidelink prior to a sidelink transmission - in ¶ [0044 – 0045], (“the UE may perform a channel sensing…preceding the transmission of the reserved resource (e.g., Category 2 LBT)…The UE may transmit the sidelink transmission…”, This describes Category 2 Listen-before-Talk (LBT), a single sensing attempt conducted before transmission (aligns with single-shot-sensing).) to another transceiver or multiple other transceivers of the wireless communication system, - See Fig. 1, ¶ [0041], (“The UE may transmit one or more sidelink transmissions over the sidelink channel…A wireless communications system…may implement sidelink COT sharing, which may enable multiple UEs to transmit one or more sidelink transmissions over the sidelink channel”); See Fig. 6, ¶ [0118], (“Process flow 600 may include sidelink transmissions between a wireless device 115-d and a wireless device 115-e”) in order to acquire a sensing information, - in ¶ [0038], (“the UE may monitor the sidelink transmissions within the sensing window by decoding sidelink control information (SCI)…The SCI may provide resource reservation information of time frequency resources reserved for a sidelink transmission…The UE may project the RSRP measurement to corresponding reserved resources in the SCI…to identify the corresponding resources as reserved (e.g., busy).”, This describes the UE acquiring sensing information (SCI) to detect which resources are reserved.)
wherein the transceiver is configured to determine, for said sidelink transmission, - in ¶ [0038], (“a UE may identify future time frequency resources (e.g., candidate resources) of a channel available for future sidelink transmission within a selection window.”) a set of candidate resources out of the resources of the sidelink - in ¶ [0038], (“a UE may identify future time frequency resources (e.g., candidate resources) of a channel available for future sidelink transmission…the candidate resources including one or more resources which may be identified as available in the selection window.”) based on the sensing information, - in ¶ [0038], (“the UE may determine that the corresponding reserved resources are available as candidate resources…the UE may identify the candidate resources in the selection window based on the SCI decoding”, This describes the UE identifying a set of candidate resources that the UE can potentially use for transmission based on SCI decoding (sensing information).)
wherein the transceiver is configured to select, - in ¶ [0038], (“The UE may then select one or more resources from the candidate resources in the selection window, the candidate resources including one or more resources which may be identified as available in the selection window.”) for said sidelink transmission, - in ¶ [0038], (“The UE may select the one or more resources from the candidate resources upon a triggering for resource selection or an arrival of a packet for transmission.”) resources out of the set of candidate resources - in ¶ [0038], (“the UE may identify the candidate resources in the selection window based on the SCI decoding, the RSRP measurement, or a combination thereof”) and to perform said sidelink transmission using the selected resources, - in ¶ [0038], (“the UE may reserve the selected resources by indicating reservations via sidelink control signaling in a sidelink transmission performed by the UE.”)
wherein the resources of the sidelink are accessed in a time domain on a slot basis, - in ¶ [0006], (“the UE may reserve the time frequency resources through a sidelink message transmitted in a slot (e.g., a reserving sidelink transmission)…the UE may transmit the sidelink transmission in the reserved resource if the UE determines that the channel is accessible”, This confirms sidelink resource access is slot-based in the time domain.)
wherein the transceiver is configured - in ¶ [0040], (“the wireless device may use Category 2 LBT, which includes using LBT without random back-off”) to perform the single-shot-sensing - in ¶ [0044], (“the UE may perform a channel sensing procedure preceding the transmission of the reserved resource (e.g., Category 2 LBT).”, This describes Category 2 Listen-before-Talk (LBT), a single sensing attempt conducted before transmission (aligns with single-shot-sensing).) by means of receiving and decoding sidelink control information – See Fig.1, ¶ [0038], (“the UE may monitor the sidelink transmissions within the sensing window by decoding sidelink control information (SCI) for each sidelink transmission within the sensing window.”) transmitted by other transceivers of a wireless communication network – See Fig. 1, 6, ¶ [0038], (“The SCI may provide resource reservation information of time frequency resources reserved for a sidelink transmission by the corresponding UE transmitting the sidelink transmission.”) in slots of the sensing window, - in ¶ [0038], (“sidelink communications may support resource (e.g., symbol, slot, mini slot) reservation…The UE may monitor each sidelink transmission of the channel within a sensing window, which may include one or more time frequency resources,”) and
wherein the sensing information acquired - in ¶ [0038], (“the UE may monitor the sidelink transmissions within the sensing window by decoding sidelink control information (SCI) for each sidelink transmission within the sensing window.”) by performing the single-shot-sensing - in ¶ [0044], (“the UE may perform a channel sensing procedure preceding the transmission of the reserved resource (e.g., Category 2 LBT).”, This describes Category 2 Listen-before-Talk (LBT), a single sensing attempt conducted before transmission (aligns with single-shot-sensing).) describes resources of a transmission window - in ¶ [0038, (“UE may identify future time frequency resources (e.g., candidate resources) of a channel available for future sidelink transmission within a selection window.”, selection window corresponds to transmission window) that are reserved by the other transceivers of the wireless communication network, - See Fig. 1, 6, ¶ [0038], (“the UE may identify time frequency resources reserved by other UEs that communicate using the channel…The SCI may provide resource reservation information of time frequency resources reserved for a sidelink transmission by the corresponding UE transmitting the sidelink transmission…The UE may…identify the corresponding resources as reserved (e.g., busy)”)
WU does not explicitly teach:
wherein the transceiver is configured to select the resources out of the set of candidate resources for said sidelink transmission and to be ready to perform said sidelink transmission until an end of a last occurring slot of a sensing window used for said single-shot-sensing,
However, Shilov teaches:
wherein the transceiver is configured to select the resources out of the set of candidate resources - See Fig. 1, ¶ [0013], (“UE may select, during the resource selection window 106, a set of candidate resources from the sidelink resource pool and generate a single sidelink control information (SCI) for transmission.”) for said sidelink transmission - in ¶ [0015], (“the UE may…configure lower layers to transmit a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) and a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH)…the PSCCH may include the single SCI transmitted before an end of the scheduling window…the PSSCH may comprise corresponding data within a selected set of sidelink resources that are scheduled by the SCI.”, both PSCCH and PSSCH are transmitted using the selected sidelink resources) and to be ready to perform said sidelink transmission - See Fig. 1, ¶ [0015], (“the UE may be configured to continue to monitor the slots of the sidelink resource pool during the sensing window 102 after sidelink resource selection or reselection is triggered...the UE may…configure lower layers to transmit a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) and a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH)”) until an end of a last occurring slot of a sensing window used for said single-shot-sensing, - See Fig. 1, ¶ [0015], (“the UE may be configured to continue to monitor the slots of the sidelink resource pool during the sensing window 102 after sidelink resource selection or reselection is triggered…the PSCCH may include the single SCI transmitted before an end of the scheduling window 104.”, This shows the UE (transceiver) continues monitoring through to the end of the sensing window and does not immediately select resources upon trigger (UE remains prepared for transmission until the last slot of the sensing window). All candidate resource selection is based on a single sensing window (aligns with single-shot-sensing))
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified WU with Shilov to include the transceiver selects resources from candidate resources and is ready to transmit until the end of a last occurring slot of a sensing window used for single-shot-sensing, as taught by Shilov. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to improve sidelink autonomous resource selection by ensuring the transceiver selects resources and prepares for transmission based on the most recent sensing data, as suggested by Shilov, herein present mechanisms of resource selection reselection to support resource allocation…with various benefits (e.g., improving robustness of NR V2X sidelink communication, and improving efficiency of sidelink autonomous resource selection procedure). - ¶ [0011]
Combination of WU and Shilov does not explicitly teach:
wherein the sensing window of the single-shot-sensing extends over a single slot.
However, SHIN teaches:
wherein the sensing window of the single-shot-sensing extends over a single slot. – See Fig. 6A, ¶ [0114], (“The sensing window B 6-04 may be configured as one slot or at least one slot by the configured values of T1′ and T2′); ¶ [0111], (“when k indicates a slot in which a resource is lastly selected, the sensing window B 6-04 is stopped in slot k, and the sensing window B 6-04 in this case is [n+T1′, k].”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified WU and Shilov with SHIN to include the sensing window of the single-shot-sensing extends over a single slot, as taught by SHIN. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to improve sidelink resource selection, as suggested by SHIN, various terminal autonomous resource allocation methods in a sidelink communication, and thus, enables various types of traffic supports and operations of quality of service (QoS) in a sidelink. - ¶ [0009]
Claim 3. Combination of WU, Shilov, and SHIN teaches The transceiver according to claim 1, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
WU teaches:
wherein the set of candidate resources lay within a transmission window, - in ¶ [0038], (“a UE may identify future time frequency resources (e.g., candidate resources) of a channel available for future sidelink transmission within a selection window.”, selection window is equated to transmission window) wherein a first occurring slot of the transmission window immediately follows a last slot of the sensing window. - See Fig. 4, ¶ [0111 - 0112], (“The sensing duration may begin within slot 420-a and end when slot 420-b begins…In some aspects, the sensing window 435 may begin at the start of slot 420-b and end at the start of reserved time frequency resource 430.”)
Claim 4. Combination of WU, Shilov, and SHIN teaches The transceiver according to claim 3, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
WU teaches:
wherein the transmission window extends over a single slot, – See Fig. 4, ¶ [0112], (“the sensing window 435 may begin at the start of slot 420-b and end at the start of reserved time frequency resource 430.”, resource 430 corresponds to the slot in which the UE transmits (transmission window)); ¶ [0125], (“In some cases, the LBT procedure may listen over one or more symbols in the preceding slot of the reserved slot. At 655, wireless device 115-d may utilize the reserved resource by transmitting a sidelink message in the resource.”) or wherein the transmission window extends over a plurality of slots immediately following each other. - in ¶ [0038], (“In some examples, the UE may schedule its reserved resources in future slots to transmit a retransmission of information (e.g., packet) from a sidelink transmission.”); See Fig. 5, ¶ [0114], (“the first wireless device may reserve in consecutive time frequency resource 530-a if the sidelink transmission in time frequency resource 525-a”, these consecutive slots fall within the window during which data is scheduled to be transmitted (transmission window))
Claim 5. Combination of WU, Shilov, and SHIN teaches The transceiver according to claim 3, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
WU teaches:
wherein the sensing information acquired by performing - in ¶ [0038], (“The UE may monitor each sidelink transmission of the channel within a sensing window…by decoding sidelink control information (SCI)…the UE may identify reserved resources by performing a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement”) the single-shot-sensing - in ¶ [0044], (“the UE may perform a channel sensing procedure preceding the transmission of the reserved resource (e.g., Category 2 LBT).”, This describes Category 2 Listen-before-Talk (LBT), a single sensing attempt conducted before transmission (aligns with single-shot-sensing).) completely describes all resources - in ¶ [0038], (“The SCI may provide resource reservation information…The UE may project the RSRP measurement to corresponding reserved resources in the SCI, and compare…to identify the corresponding resources as reserved (e.g., busy). If the RSRP measurement is above the RSRP threshold for a given transmission, the UE may determine that the corresponding reserved resources are busy.”) of the transmission window - in ¶ [0038], (“a UE may identify future time frequency resources (e.g., candidate resources) of a channel available for future sidelink transmission within a selection window…The UE may then select one or more resources from the candidate resources in the selection window”, selection window is equated to transmission window) that are reserved by the other transceivers of the wireless communication network. - in ¶ [0038], (“the UE may identify time frequency resources reserved by other UEs that communicate using the channel…reserved for a sidelink transmission by the corresponding UE transmitting the sidelink transmission.”)
Claim 8. Combination of WU, Shilov, and SHIN teaches The transceiver according to claim 1, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
WU teaches:
wherein the sidelink control information transmitted in a respective slot - in ¶ [0038], (“the UE may monitor the sidelink transmissions within the sensing window by decoding sidelink control information (SCI) for each sidelink transmission within the sensing window.”) comprises a resource occupation signaling information - in ¶ [0038], (“The SCI may provide resource reservation information of time frequency resources reserved for a sidelink transmission by the corresponding UE transmitting the sidelink transmission.”) signaling slots immediately following the respective slot - in ¶ [0038], (“the UE may schedule its reserved resources in future slots to transmit a retransmission of information (e.g., packet) from a sidelink transmission.”) that are occupied by another transceiver of the wireless communication system. - in ¶ [0038], (“The SCI may provide resource reservation information…by the corresponding UE transmitting the sidelink transmission.”)
Claim 9. Combination of WU, Shilov, and SHIN teaches The transceiver according to claim 1, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
WU teaches:
wherein the sidelink control information transmitted in a respective slot - in ¶ [0038], (“the UE may monitor the sidelink transmissions within the sensing window by decoding sidelink control information (SCI) for each sidelink transmission within the sensing window.”) comprises a resource reservation signaling information - in ¶ [0038], (“The SCI may provide resource reservation information of time frequency resources reserved for a sidelink transmission by the corresponding UE transmitting the sidelink transmission.”, time frequency resources (eq. resource reservation information)) signaling slots and/or sub-channels reserved by another transceiver of the wireless communication system. - in ¶ [0038], (“reserved for a sidelink transmission by the corresponding UE transmitting the sidelink transmission.”, time frequency resources (eq. resource reservation information) include slots and/or subchannels)
Claim 10. Combination of WU, Shilov, and SHIN teaches The transceiver according to claim 1, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
WU further teaches:
wherein the transceiver is configured to complete the decoding of the sidelink control information until the end of the last occurring slot of the sensing window. - in ¶ [0038], (“the UE may monitor the sidelink transmissions within the sensing window by decoding sidelink control information (SCI) for each sidelink transmission within the sensing window.”)
Shilov further teaches:
wherein the transceiver is configured to complete the decoding of the sidelink control information until the end of the last occurring slot of the sensing window. - See Fig. 1, ¶ [0015], (“the UE may be configured to continue to monitor the slots of the sidelink resource pool during the sensing window…the PSCCH may include the single SCI transmitted”, This confirms that the UE continues decoding SCI throughout the sensing window and is completed by the end of the last occurring slot in that window.)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified WU with Shilov to include until the end of the last occurring slot of the sensing window, as taught by Shilov. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to improve sidelink autonomous resource selection, as suggested by Shilov, herein present mechanisms of resource selection reselection to support resource allocation…with various benefits (e.g., improving robustness of NR V2X sidelink communication, and improving efficiency of sidelink autonomous resource selection procedure). - ¶ [0011]
Claim 11. Combination of WU, Shilov, and SHIN teaches The transceiver according to claim 10, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Shilov further teaches:
wherein the transceiver is configured to exploit a fast decoding of the sidelink control information - See Fig. 1, ¶ [0015], (“the UE may be configured to continue to monitor the slots of the sidelink resource pool during the sensing window…the PSCCH may include the single SCI transmitted…the PSSCH may comprise corresponding data within a selected set of sidelink resources that are scheduled by the SCI.”, Real-time monitoring during each slot requires the UE to immediately decode incoming SCI to track occupied resources (aligning with fast decoding of the SCI)) transmitted by one or more other transceivers of the wireless communication network, - See Fig. 1, ¶ [0015], (“the UE may be configured to continue to monitor the slots of the sidelink resource pool during the sensing window”, Monitroring the pool involves receiving SCI sent by other UEs (i.e. transceivers)); ¶ [0013], (“the single SCI may indicate the selected set of candidate resources”)
such that the decoding of the sidelink control information is completed until the end of the last occurring slot of the sensing window. - See Fig. 1, ¶ [0015], (“the UE may be configured to continue to monitor the slots of the sidelink resource pool during the sensing window…the PSCCH may include the single SCI transmitted”, This confirms that the UE continues decoding SCI throughout the sensing window and finishes by the last slot.)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified WU with Shilov to include the transceiver performs fast decoding of SCI from other transceivers, completing it by the end of the sensing window, as taught by Shilov. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to improve sidelink autonomous resource selection, as suggested by Shilov, herein present mechanisms of resource selection reselection to support resource allocation…with various benefits (e.g., improving robustness of NR V2X sidelink communication, and improving efficiency of sidelink autonomous resource selection procedure). - ¶ [0011]
Claim 12. Combination of WU, Shilov, and SHIN teaches The transceiver according to claim 1, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
WU teaches:
wherein the transceiver is configured to perform at least one out of
- the single-shot-sensing, - in ¶ [0044], (“the UE may perform a channel sensing procedure preceding the transmission of the reserved resource (e.g., Category 2 LBT).”, This describes Category 2 Listen-before-Talk (LBT), a single sensing attempt conducted before transmission (aligns with single-shot-sensing).)
- determining the set of candidate resources, - in ¶ [0038], (“the UE may determine that the corresponding reserved resources are available as candidate resources…the UE may identify the candidate resources in the selection window based on the SCI decoding”) and
- selecting of the set of resources out of the candidate resources - in ¶ [0038], (“the UE may identify the candidate resources in the selection window based on the SCI decoding…may then select to reserve candidate resources. In some examples, the UE may select a resource for its current transmission”)
in a physical layer. - in ¶ [0056], (“The term “carrier” may refer to a set of radio frequency spectrum resources having a defined physical layer structure…Each physical layer channel may carry…control signaling that coordinates operation for the carrier”)
Claim 13. Combination of WU, Shilov, and SHIN teaches The transceiver according to claim 1, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
WU teaches:
wherein the set of candidate resources are a set of candidate resource blocks, - in ¶ [0042], (“the UE may reserve one or more time frequency resources (e.g., one or multiple resource blocks (RBs) or subchannels in one or multiple slots)…the other UEs may designate the reserved resources indicated by the UE as busy, and may exclude those resources from being candidate resources”) wherein the selected resources are selected resources blocks, - in ¶ [0038], (“The UE may select the one or more resources from the candidate resources upon a triggering”); ¶ [0042], (“the UE may reserve one or more time frequency resources (e.g., one or multiple resource blocks (RBs)”) each resource block being defined as a single slot in the time domain and a single sub-channel in a frequency domain. - See Fig. 3, (“time frequency diagram 300 may span a number of slots 320 (e.g., slot n, slot n+1, slot n+2, etc.) in a time domain of the COT 315, and may span a number of subchannels (e.g., subchannels 310-a through 310-d) of a channel…resources of the time frequency diagram 300 may span one symbol by one subcarrier, or one symbol by multiple subcarriers.”, resource bocks correspond to a slot and a subchannel)
Claims 19-20 are rejected under the same rationale as Claim 1 since they recite nearly identical limitations.
Claims 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WU et al. (US 20230224959, hereinafter, “WU”) in view of Shilov et al. (US 20200374861, hereinafter, “Shilov”), and further in view of SHIN et al. (US 20200314804, hereinafter, “SHIN”) and Selvanesan et al. (US 20230247596, hereinafter, “Selvanesan”).
Claim 6. Combination of WU, Shilov, and SHIN teaches The transceiver according to claim 1, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
WU teaches:
wherein the set of candidate resources lay within a reservation window, wherein there is a time gap between the sensing window and the reservation window. - in ¶ [0038], (“a UE may identify future time frequency resources (e.g., candidate resources) of a channel available for future sidelink transmission…the candidate resources including one or more resources which may be identified as available in the selection window.”)
Combination of WU, Shilov, and SHIN does not explicitly teach:
wherein the set of candidate resources lay within a reservation window, wherein there is a time gap between the sensing window and the reservation window.
However, Selvanesan teaches:
wherein the set of candidate resources lay within a reservation window, - See Fig. 3, ¶ [0042], (“the resources on which the receiving UE expects receiving a transmission or transport block, TB, is a resource in the current time slot and a resource in the t1 time slot.”); ¶ [0043], (“the reservation window 200 starts at a current time slot t0, at which the SCI associated with the transmission is received at a receiving UE.”)
wherein there is a time gap between the sensing window and the reservation window, - in ¶ [0222], (“the UE may carry out sensing in a SSW having a length duration_of_subset. The duration_of_subset may refer to time slots where the UE is carrying out sensing and m is a gap between the sensing and the transmission at time slot n, with m ≥ 0…sensing may be performed from slot n - duration_of_subset - m to slot n - m - 1.”, This states a time gap (m) exists between the sensing window and the transmission start (the reservation window).)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified WU, Shilov, and SHIN with Selvanesan to include lay within a reservation window and a time gap between the sensing window and the reservation window, as taught by Selvanesan. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to improve sidelink autonomous resource selection and transmission reliability by specifying a structured approach, as suggested by Selvanesan, Embodiments relate to the operation of user devices, UEs, carrying out sensing, like UEs operating in Mode 1 so as to carry out sensing, e.g. to generate a sensing report, or in Mode 2 so as to autonomously carry out resource selection and allocation by sensing.- ¶ [0001]
Claim 7. Combination of WU, Shilov, and Selvanesan teaches The transceiver according to claim 6, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Selvanesan further teaches:
wherein a length of the sensing window depends on a length of the time gap. - in ¶ [0222], (“the UE may carry out sensing in a SSW having a length duration_of_subset. The duration_of_subset may refer to time slots where the UE is carrying out sensing and m is a gap between the sensing and the transmission at time slot n, with m ≥ 0…sensing may be performed from slot n - duration_of_subset - m to slot n - m - 1.”, This states a time gap (m) exists between the sensing window and the transmission start (the reservation window).)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified WU, Shilov, and SHIN with Selvanesan to include a length of the sensing window depends on a length of the gap, as taught by Selvanesan. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to improve sidelink autonomous resource selection and transmission reliability by specifying a structured approach, as suggested by Selvanesan, Embodiments relate to the operation of user devices, UEs, carrying out sensing, like UEs operating in Mode 1 so as to carry out sensing, e.g. to generate a sensing report, or in Mode 2 so as to autonomously carry out resource selection and allocation by sensing.- ¶ [0001]
Claims 14-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over WU et al. (US 20230224959, hereinafter, “WU”) in view of Selvanesan et al. (US 20230247596, hereinafter, “Selvanesan”), and further in view of SHIN et al. (US 20200314804, hereinafter, “SHIN”).
Claim 14. WU teaches: A transceiver - See Fig. 10, ¶ [0128], (“transceiver”) of a wireless communication system, - See Fig. 1, ¶ [0049], (“an example of a wireless communications system 100 that supports channel access with reservation for sidelink communication…may include…one or more UEs”, transceiver is implemented within the UE)
wherein the transceiver is configured to operate in a sidelink in-coverage, out of coverage or partial coverage scenario, - See Fig. 1, ¶ [0074], (“a UE 115 may also be able to communicate directly with other UEs 115 over a D2D communication link 135 (e.g., using a peer-to-peer (P2P) or D2D protocol). One or more UEs 115 utilizing D2D communications may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 105. Other UEs 115 in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 105 or be otherwise unable to receive transmissions from a base station”)
in which resources for a sidelink communication are pre-configured by the wireless communication system - in ¶ [0093], (“a wireless node (e.g., base station, RSU, etc.) may provide the sharing information to configure COT sharing for sidelink transmissions. For example, a base station 105-a may transmit COT sharing configuration 215-b to wireless device 115-a.”) or
allocated or scheduled autonomously by the transceiver, - in ¶ [0038], (“sidelink communications may support resource (e.g., symbol, slot, mini slot) reservation in autonomous resource allocation for licensed radio frequency spectrum. For example, a UE may identify future time frequency resources (e.g., candidate resources)…the UE may schedule its reserved resources in future slots to transmit a retransmission of information (e.g., packet) from a sidelink transmission.”)
wherein the transceiver is configured - in ¶ [0040], (“the wireless device may use Category 2 LBT, which includes using LBT without random back-off”) to perform a single-shot-sensing on resources of the sidelink prior to a sidelink transmission - in ¶ [0044 – 0045], (“the UE may perform a channel sensing…preceding the transmission of the reserved resource (e.g., Category 2 LBT)…The UE may transmit the sidelink transmission…”, This describes Category 2 Listen-before-Talk (LBT), a single sensing attempt conducted before transmission (aligns with single-shot-sensing).) to another transceiver or multiple other transceivers of the wireless communication system, - See Fig. 1, ¶ [0041], (“The UE may transmit one or more sidelink transmissions over the sidelink channel…A wireless communications system…may implement sidelink COT sharing, which may enable multiple UEs to transmit one or more sidelink transmissions over the sidelink channel”); See Fig. 6, ¶ [0118], (“Process flow 600 may include sidelink transmissions between a wireless device 115-d and a wireless device 115-e”) in order to acquire a sensing information, - in ¶ [0038], (“the UE may monitor the sidelink transmissions within the sensing window by decoding sidelink control information (SCI)…The SCI may provide resource reservation information of time frequency resources reserved for a sidelink transmission…The UE may project the RSRP measurement to corresponding reserved resources in the SCI…to identify the corresponding resources as reserved (e.g., busy).”, This describes the UE acquiring sensing information (SCI) to detect which resources are reserved.)
wherein the transceiver is configured to determine, for said sidelink transmission, - in ¶ [0038], (“a UE may identify future time frequency resources (e.g., candidate resources) of a channel available for future sidelink transmission within a selection window.”) a set of candidate resources out of the resources of the sidelink - in ¶ [0038], (“a UE may identify future time frequency resources (e.g., candidate resources) of a channel available for future sidelink transmission…the candidate resources including one or more resources which may be identified as available in the selection window.”) based on the sensing information, - in ¶ [0038], (“the UE may determine that the corresponding reserved resources are available as candidate resources…the UE may identify the candidate resources in the selection window based on the SCI decoding”, This describes the UE identifying a set of candidate resources that the UE can potentially use for transmission based on SCI decoding (sensing information).)
wherein the transceiver is configured to select, - in ¶ [0038], (“The UE may then select one or more resources from the candidate resources in the selection window, the candidate resources including one or more resources which may be identified as available in the selection window.”) for said sidelink transmission, - in ¶ [0038], (“The UE may select the one or more resources from the candidate resources upon a triggering for resource selection or an arrival of a packet for transmission.”) resources out of the set of candidate resources - in ¶ [0038], (“the UE may identify the candidate resources in the selection window based on the SCI decoding, the RSRP measurement, or a combination thereof”) and to perform said sidelink transmission using the selected resources, - in ¶ [0038], (“the UE may reserve the selected resources by indicating reservations via sidelink control signaling in a sidelink transmission performed by the UE.”)
wherein the resources of the sidelink are accessed in a time domain on a slot basis, - in ¶ [0006], (“the UE may reserve the time frequency resources through a sidelink message transmitted in a slot (e.g., a reserving sidelink transmission)…the UE may transmit the sidelink transmission in the reserved resource if the UE determines that the channel is accessible”, This confirms sidelink resource access is slot-based in the time domain.)
wherein the set of candidate resources lay within a reservation window, wherein there is a time gap between a sensing window and the reservation window, wherein the reservation window comprises - in ¶ [0038], (“a UE may identify future time frequency resources (e.g., candidate resources) of a channel available for future sidelink transmission…the candidate resources including one or more resources which may be identified as available in the selection window.”)
- a first transmission window zone comprising candidate resources out of the set of candidate resources determined - in ¶ [0038], (“a UE may identify future time frequency resources (e.g., candidate resources) of a channel available for future sidelink transmission…the candidate resources including one or more resources which may be identified as available in the selection window.”) based on the sensing information, - in ¶ [0038], (“the UE may determine that the corresponding reserved resources are available as candidate resources…the UE may identify the candidate resources in the selection window based on the SCI decoding”, This describes the UE identifying a set of candidate resources that the UE can potentially use for transmission based on SCI decoding (sensing information).)
- a gap window zone where no sensing information is available, and
- a second transmission window zone where all resources are potentially free,
wherein the set of candidate resources comprises one or more resources out of the resources of the second transmission window zone, - in ¶ [0038], (“a UE may identify future time frequency resources (e.g., candidate resources) of a channel available for future sidelink transmission…the candidate resources including one or more resources which may be identified as available in the selection window.”) and
wherein the sensing information acquired - in ¶ [0038], (“the UE may monitor the sidelink transmissions within the sensing window by decoding sidelink control information (SCI) for each sidelink transmission within the sensing window.”) by performing the single-shot-sensing - in ¶ [0044], (“the UE may perform a channel sensing procedure preceding the transmission of the reserved resource (e.g., Category 2 LBT).”, This describes Category 2 Listen-before-Talk (LBT), a single sensing attempt conducted before transmission (aligns with single-shot-sensing).) describes resources of a transmission window - in ¶ [0038, (“UE may identify future time frequency resources (e.g., candidate resources) of a channel available for future sidelink transmission within a selection window.”, selection window corresponds to transmission window) that are reserved by other transceivers of a wireless communication network, - See Fig. 1, 6, ¶ [0038], (“the UE may identify time frequency resources reserved by other UEs that communicate using the channel…The SCI may provide resource reservation information of time frequency resources reserved for a sidelink transmission by the corresponding UE transmitting the sidelink transmission…The UE may…identify the corresponding resources as reserved (e.g., busy)”)
wherein the transceiver is configured - in ¶ [0040], (“the wireless device may use Category 2 LBT, which includes using LBT without random back-off”) to perform the single-shot-sensing - in ¶ [0044], (“the UE may perform a channel sensing procedure preceding the transmission of the reserved resource (e.g., Category 2 LBT).”, This describes Category 2 Listen-before-Talk (LBT), a single sensing attempt conducted before transmission (aligns with single-shot-sensing).) by means of receiving and decoding sidelink control information – See Fig.1, ¶ [0038], (“the UE may monitor the sidelink transmissions within the sensing window by decoding sidelink control information (SCI) for each sidelink transmission within the sensing window.”) transmitted by the other transceivers of a wireless communication network – See Fig. 1, 6, ¶ [0038], (“The SCI may provide resource reservation information of time frequency resources reserved for a sidelink transmission by the corresponding UE transmitting the sidelink transmission.”) in slots of the sensing window, - in ¶ [0038], (“sidelink communications may support resource (e.g., symbol, slot, mini slot) reservation…The UE may monitor each sidelink transmission of the channel within a sensing window, which may include one or more time frequency resources,”) and
WU does not explicitly teach:
wherein the set of candidate resources lay within a reservation window,
wherein there is a time gap between a sensing window and the reservation window,
wherein the reservation window comprises
- a first transmission window zone comprising candidate resources out of the set of candidate resources determined based on the sensing information,
- a gap window zone where no sensing information is available, and
- a second transmission window zone where all resources are potentially free,
wherein the set of candidate resources comprises one or more resources out of the resources of the second transmission window zone,
However, Selvanesan teaches:
wherein the set of candidate resources lay within a reservation window, - See Fig. 3, ¶ [0042], (“the resources on which the receiving UE expects receiving a transmission or transport block, TB, is a resource in the current time slot and a resource in the t1 time slot.”); ¶ [0043], (“the reservation window 200 starts at a current time slot t0, at which the SCI associated with the transmission is received at a receiving UE.”)
wherein there is a time gap between a sensing window and the reservation window, - in ¶ [0222], (“the UE may carry out sensing in a SSW having a length duration_of_subset. The duration_of_subset may refer to time slots where the UE is carrying out sensing and m is a gap between the sensing and the transmission at time slot n, with m ≥ 0…sensing may be performed from slot n - duration_of_subset - m to slot n - m - 1.”, This states a time gap (m) exists between the sensing window and the transmission start (the reservation window).)
wherein the reservation window comprises - See Fig. 3, ¶ [0043]
- a first transmission window zone comprising candidate resources out of the set of candidate resources determined based on the sensing information, - See Fig. 6(a), ¶ [0200], (“the UE 400 performs sensing only over the SSWs spanning only a subset of time resources or time slots…This allows for a reliable sensing because the UE 400, when carrying out sensing during the SSWs, receives the SCI indicating the other transmission occurrences in the reservation window so that no sensing is needed there.”, This describes the UE determining the future transmission occurrences (resources), which aligns with the first transmission zone where resource usage is known from sensing.)
- a gap window zone where no sensing information is available, - in ¶ [0222], (“sensing may be performed from slot n - duration_of_subset - m to slot n - m - 1. The gap or time gap may be useful when a processing time or a turn-around time required to switch from RX to TX in the UE needs to be considered.”, no sensing is performed during this gap) and
- a second transmission window zone where all resources are potentially free, - See Fig. 6(c), ¶ [0203], (“the SCI received at time slot 412 indicates, as is indicated at 417, the further transmission occurrences at time slots 414 and 418…since the transmission occurrence at time slot 414 may be predicted by the UE 400 based on the SCI information received in the SSW 416, the UE does not need to carry out sensing of the time slot 414.”, This shows that other resources within the reservation window that are not indicated by SCI and not sensed, are not associated with known reservations. Therefore, the UE may treat these resources as potentially free (forming the second transmission window zone).)
wherein the set of candidate resources comprises one or more resources out of the resources of the second transmission window zone, - See Fig. 6(c), ¶ [0203], (“since the transmission occurrence at time slot 414 may be predicted by the UE 400 based on the SCI information received in the SSW 416, the UE does not need to carry out sensing of the time slot 414.”, This shows resources not covered by sensing or SCI prediction fall into the second transmission zone.)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified WU with Selvanesan to include transmission window zones within the reservation window, as taught by Selvanesan. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to improve sidelink autonomous resource selection and transmission reliability by specifying a structured reservation window divided into three zones, as suggested by Selvanesan, Embodiments relate to the operation of user devices, UEs, carrying out sensing, like UEs operating in Mode 1 so as to carry out sensing, e.g. to generate a sensing report, or in Mode 2 so as to autonomously carry out resource selection and allocation by sensing.- ¶ [0001]
Combination of WU and Selvanesan does not explicitly teach:
wherein the sensing window of the single-shot-sensing extends over a single slot.
However, SHIN teaches:
wherein the sensing window of the single-shot-sensing extends over a single slot. – See Fig. 6A, ¶ [0114], (“The sensing window B 6-04 may be configured as one slot or at least one slot by the configured values of T1′ and T2′); ¶ [0111], (“when k indicates a slot in which a resource is lastly selected, the sensing window B 6-04 is stopped in slot k, and the sensing window B 6-04 in this case is [n+T1′, k].”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified WU and Selvanesan with SHIN to include the sensing window of the single-shot-sensing extends over a single slot, as taught by SHIN. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to improve sidelink resource selection, as suggested by SHIN, various terminal autonomous resource allocation methods in a sidelink communication, and thus, enables various types of traffic supports and operations of quality of service (QoS) in a sidelink. - ¶ [0009]
Claim 15. Combination of WU, Selvanesan, and SHIN teaches The transceiver according to claim 14, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Selvanesan further teaches:
wherein a length of the sensing window depends on a length W of the reservation window. - See Fig. 6(a), ¶ [0200], (“the UE 400 performs sensing only over the SSWs spanning only a subset of time resources or time slots and also having a duration substantially shorter than the reservation window.”); ¶ [0222], (“the UEs may be preconfigured by the system with a SSW having a certain duration being less than the duration of the reservation window as discussed above.”, This clearly states SSW duration is selected relative to the reservation window’s duration.); See Fig. 3, ¶ [0043], (“the reservation window 200 has a reservation window size of 32 time slots 202.”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified WU with Selvanesan to include a length of the sensing window depends on a length W of the reservation window, as taught by Selvanesan. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to improve sidelink resource selection and transmission reliability by specifying a structured approach, as suggested by Selvanesan, there may be a need for improvements or enhancements for user devices carrying out sensing. - ¶ [0017]
Claim 16. Combination of WU, Selvanesan, and SHIN teaches The transceiver according to claim 14, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Selvanesan further teaches:
wherein the first transmission window zone comprises a length that is equal to a length W of the reservation window minus a length G of the time gap minus one slot. - in ¶ [0222], (“The duration_of_subset may refer to time slots where the UE is carrying out sensing and m is a gap between the sensing and the transmission at time slot n, with m ≥ 0…Thus, sensing may be performed from slot n - duration_of_subset - m to slot n - m - 1.”, W = reservation window length; m= gap (G) between sensing and transmission; the sensing window ends at slot n-m-1 and transmission occurs at slot n. Therefore, there is one slot (n-m) just after the sensing window but before transmission starts (aligning with W-G-1 slots fall under the sensing influenced zone (the first transmission zone).); See Fig. 3, ¶ [0043], (“the reservation window 200 has a reservation window size of 32 time slots 202.”)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified WU with Selvanesan to include the first transmission window zone comprises a length that is equal to a length W of the reservation window minus a length G of the gap minus one slot, as taught by Selvanesan. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to improve sidelink resource selection and transmission reliability by specifying a structured approach, as suggested by Selvanesan, there may be a need for improvements or enhancements for user devices carrying out sensing. - ¶ [0017]
Claim 17. Combination of WU, Selvanesan, and SHIN teaches The transceiver according to claim 14, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Selvanesan further teaches:
wherein a length of the gap window zone is equal to a length G of the time gap. - in ¶ [0222], (“m is a gap between the sensing and the transmission at time slot n, with m ≥ 0…The gap or time gap may be useful when a processing time or a turn-around time required to switch from RX to TX”, m = length G)
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified WU with Selvanesan to include a length of the gap window zone is equal to the length G of the gap, as taught by Selvanesan. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to improve sidelink resource selection and transmission reliability by specifying a structured approach, as suggested by Selvanesan, there may be a need for improvements or enhancements for user devices carrying out sensing. - ¶ [0017]
Claim 18. Combination of WU, Selvanesan, and SHIN teaches The transceiver according to claim 14, - refer to the indicated claim for reference(s).
Selvanesan further teaches:
wherein the second transmission window zone comprises a length of one slot. - See Fig. 6(c), ¶ [0203], (“no sensing is carried out at time slot 412…SCI received at time slot 412 indicates, as is indicated at 417, the further transmission occurrences at time slots 414 and 418 within the reservation window 200”, This shows that one final slot (418) at the end of the reservation window isn’t sensed or covered by SCI. It is treated as a separate slot where resources are assumed free unless later SCI says otherwise. (aligning with the second transmission window zone = 1 slot))
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified WU with Selvanesan to include the second transmission window zone comprises a length of one slot, as taught by Selvanesan. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to make this modification to improve sidelink autonomous resource selection and transmission reliability by specifying a structured approach, as suggested by Selvanesan, there may be a need for improvements or enhancements for user devices carrying out sensing. - ¶ [0017]
Conclusion
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/SHIMA WASEL/Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2475
/KHALED M KASSIM/supervisory patent examiner, Art Unit 2475
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