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 .
REMARKS
1. On pages 10-11 of the remark Applicant argued none of the processes of Ko's Figs. 12, 13, 14A, or 14B, however, does a UE identify "LTE subframes" including "an ending LTE subframe minus a first value ... in units of milliseconds" as recited in the independent claims.
In response:
Examiner agrees prior art Ko does not disclose this claim limitation. Examiner notes here that prior art Sun was applied to reject this claim limitation (See office action dated 11/26/2025; pages 3-4).
Applicant’s own specification at [0251]; [0263] in the pre-grant publication discloses this claim limitation that discloses the LTE-based sensing results can be the sensing results within a sensing window [m3−T0, m3−Tproc,0.SL).
Prior art Sun at Fig.2B; [0052]-[0054] shows and discloses the similar feature wherein resource selection is triggered at time n, and the first reserved resource is located at time m1-T3. The re-evaluation cut-off time is m1-T3, that is, the UE re-evaluates the resources until m1-T3. At time m1-T3, the UE determines that the reserved resource mi is no longer available based on information sensed in a new sensing window. [0120] discloses time value is the unit of millisecond. [0055] discloses a UE may perform resource selection for a sidelink transmission associated with a first RAT (e.g., NR) based on a sensing result of a second RAT (e.g., LTE).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
1. 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 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.
2. 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 of this title, 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.
3. Claims 1-6 and 11-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Publication No. US 2022/0183044 to Ko et al. (hereinafter Ko) in view of U.S. Publication No, US 2024/0349311 to Sun et al. (hereinafter Sun) in view of U.S. Publication No, US 2024/0381380 to Salim et al. (hereinafter Salim)
As to claims 1 and 11, Ko discloses a user equipment (UE) for dynamic channel co-existence of long term evolution (LTE) sidelink and new radio (NR) sidelink in a communication system (Ko; [0123]-[0125] discloses wherein a UE is equipped with both NR SL module and LTE SL module), the UE comprising:
a transceiver (Ko; [0212]); and
a processor coupled to the transceiver (Ko; [0212]), and configured to:
identify information associated with LTE within a predefined time range corresponding to LTE subframes (Ko; Fig.12, Fig.13, Fig.14A, Fig.14B [0126]-[0127], [0140], [0143]; [0145]-[0146] shows and discloses information (i.e DCI) associated with LTE subframe) wherein:
m3 is an LTE subframe that corresponds to an NR slot (Ko; [0127]; [0140] discloses timing offset X and K value may be defined in units of time (ms) or in units of a slot or in units of a subframe means m3 is an LTE subframe that corresponds to an NR slot. Fig.12, Fig.13, Fig. 14A and Fig. 14B shows LTE is indicated by subframe wherein NR is indicated by slots);
determine a first set of resources associated with the NR sidelink according to resource allocation mode 2 based on the information associated with the LTE and a sensing window (Ko; Abstract; [0112] discloses in LTE transmission mode 2, the UE determines resources by performing sensing and sends sidelink information to another UE through pscch and PSSCH), and
transmit a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) based on at least one resource included in the first set of resources (Ko; [0112] discloses in LTE transmission mode 2, the UE determines resources by performing sensing and sends sidelink information to another UE through pscch and PSSCH)
Ko discloses plurality of subframes, but fails to disclose an ending LTE subframe among the LTE subframes is m3 minus a first value, where the first value is in units of milliseconds. However, Sun discloses
an ending LTE subframe among the LTE subframes is m3 minus a first value, where the first value is in units of milliseconds (Sun; Fig.2B; [0053]-[0054] shows and discloses resource selection is triggered at time n, and the first reserved resource is located at time m1-T3. The re-evaluation cut-off time is m1-T3, that is, the UE re-evaluates the resources until m1-T3. At time m1-T3, the UE determines that the reserved resource mi is no longer available based on information sensed in a new sensing window. [0120] discloses time value is the unit of millisecond),
It is obvious for a person of ordinary skilled in the art to combine the teachings before the effective filing date of the invention. One would be motivated to combine the teachings so that a UE can determine the re-evaluation cut-off time and thus use the limited resources in an effective way.
Ko-Sun discloses a UE that is configured to select side-link resources by performing a sensing in the sensing window. Ko fails to explicitly disclose wherein a sensing window is
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. However, Salim discloses
determining a first set of resources according to sensing window
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Where (i) n3 is the NR slot and (ii) T0 and
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are in units of slots (Salim; [0135]; [0160] discloses sensing window is defined by the range of slots [n−T0, n−Tproc,0SL)). T0 and Tproc,0SL is defined in slots)
It is obvious for a person of ordinary skilled in the art to combine the teachings before the effective filing date of the invention. One would be motivated to combine the teachings so that a UE can determine if a side-link resource is reserved by another UE and based on the determination the UE can reserve side-link resources for a future transmission.
As to claims 2 and 12, the rejection of claim 1 as listed above is incorporated herein. In addition, Ko-Sun-Salim discloses wherein the information associated with the LTE is identified by an LTE sidelink module of the UE and provided to an NR sidelink module of the UE (Ko; [0123]-[0127]; [0140]; [0146]).
As to claims 3 and 13, the rejection of claim 1 as listed above is incorporated herein. In addition, Ko-Sun-Salim discloses wherein a starting LTE subframe among the LTE subframes corresponds to m3 minus second value, where the second value is in units of milliseconds (Sun; Fig.2B; [0053]-[0054] shows and discloses resource selection is triggered at time n, and the first reserved resource is located at time m1-T3. The re-evaluation cut-off time is m1-T3, that is, the UE re-evaluates the resources until m1-T3. At time m1-T3, the UE determines that the reserved resource mi is no longer available based on information sensed in a new sensing window. [0120] discloses time value is the unit of millisecond)
As to claims 4 and 14, the rejection of claim 1 as listed above is incorporated herein. In addition, Ko-Sun-Salim discloses wherein for determining the first set of resources, the processor is further configured to:
determine a second set of resources based on a resource pool associated with the NR sidelink; and
exclude, from the second set of resources based on the information associated with the LTE, a resource identified based on an LTE sidelink control information (SCI) format, a periodicity associated with the LTE SCI format, a priority associated with the LTE SCI format and a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement associated with the LTE SCI format (Salim; [0163]-[0169])
As to claims 5 and 15, the rejection of claim 1 as listed above is incorporated herein. In addition, Ko-Sun-Salim discloses wherein first set of resources is determined based on a resource selection window [n3 + T1, n3 + T2] (Salim; [0156]-[0159]),
wherein T1 satisfies
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where
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is in units of slots (Salim; [0156]-[0159]), and
wherein T2 satisfies
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remaining packet delay budget or
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is equal to the remaining packet delay budget, where T2min is configured by a higher layer (Salim; [0156]-[0159]).
As to claims 6 and 16, the rejection of claim 1 as listed above is incorporated herein. In addition, Ko-Sun-Salim discloses wherein the dynamic channel co-existence corresponds to resources being shared between the LTE sidelink and the NR sidelink (Ko; Fig.12, Fig.13, Fig.14A, Fig.14B [0126]-[0127], [0140], [0143]; [0145]-[0146] shows and discloses plurality of subframes and also discloses NR SL module may complete transferring the converted LTE SL DCI information to the LTE SL module (subframe m3 in FIG. 12) means resources being shared between the LTE sidelink and the NR sidelink).
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/FAISAL CHOUDHURY/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2478
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