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 . Claims 1-20 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-7, 10-14, 17-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by NPL “Discussion on remaining MAC open issues for 5G V2X with NR SL” (hereinafter referred to as Huawei).
RE Claim 1, Huawei discloses A data reception apparatus, configured in a first terminal equipment, the first terminal equipment being configured with sidelink discontinuous reception (SL DRX) (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – RX UE; configured with SL DRX (e.g. 2.1)), the apparatus comprising:
a receiver configured to receive sidelink data from a second terminal equipment (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – RX UE receiving SL data from TX UE (e.g. 2.1)); and
a processor configured to:
decode a transmission of received sidelink data transmitted by the second terminal equipment to obtain a decoding result (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – RX UE receiving data and decoding result (e.g. 2.1, 2.2)); and
in a case where a sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) used for transmitting the decoding result is unable to be transmitted (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – in case where PSFCH is not configured/utilized for transmitting HARQ-ACK feedback (e.g. 2.1 – pg. 2)), if sidelink control information to which the transmission of sidelink data received by the first terminal equipment corresponds reserves a sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) resource for a next transmission of the sidelink data (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – SCI reserving resources for transmission and retransmission on PSSCH (e.g. 2.3, pg 6, pg. 5 – Proposal 5)), for a corresponding sidelink process, acknowledge that the first terminal equipment is at active time in a time unit where the reserved sidelink shared channel resource is present (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – if PSFCH is not configured (received), considered in DRX mode, utilizes drx_HARQ_RTT_TimerSL & drx-RetransmissionTimerSL (performs decoding of reserved PSSCH for retransmissions during RetransmissionTimerSL time interval (i.e. time unit)) (e.g. 2.1, 2.2.2)).
RE Claim 2¸ Huawei discloses an apparatus, as set forth in claim 1 above, wherein a reception resource pool of the first terminal equipment is configured with sidelink feedback channel resources (See Huawei 2.3 – e.g. RAN1 #100-e agreement – PSFCH determined by resource pool configuration), and the control information to which the sidelink data correspond indicates HARQ-ACK enabling (See Huawei 2.2 (pg. 2) & pgs. 37-38 – control information indicates HARQ feedback enabling for SL).
RE Claim 3¸ Huawei discloses an apparatus, as set forth in claim 1 above, wherein the decoding result is incorrect, the processor detects a sidelink control channel (PSCCH) to which the next transmission of the sidelink data corresponds in the time unit where the reserved sidelink shared channel resource is present, so as to receive the next transmission of the sidelink data (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – if PSFCH is not received, retransmission performed at next PSSCH occasion).
RE Claim 4¸ Huawei discloses an apparatus, as set forth in claim 1 above, wherein the decoding result is correct, the processor detects a sidelink control channel to which the next transmission of the sidelink data corresponds in the time unit where the reserved sidelink shared channel resource is present, so as to receive the next transmission of the sidelink data and transmits ACK via a sidelink feedback channel resource to which the reserved sidelink shared channel resource corresponds (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – if decoding result is correct (i.e. ACK), decoding next transmission of PSSCH and transmitting ACK via PSFCH on next available opportunity).
RE Claim 5¸ Huawei discloses an apparatus, as set forth in claim 1 above, wherein if the sidelink control information to which the transmission of sidelink data received by the first terminal equipment corresponds does not reserve a sidelink shared channel resource for the next transmission of the sidelink data (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – after the end of the PSSCH resources carrying the MAC PDU (2.1)), the processor starts a first timer for a corresponding sidelink process at a first slot after a resource where the sidelink feedback channel is located comes to an end (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – starts drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerSL after reception of PSFCH (2.1)), and starts a second timer after the first timer expires, the first terminal equipment being at active time when the second timer is running (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – starts drx-RetransmissionTimerSL after drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerSL expires; while drx-RetransmissionTimerSL is running, considered in “active time” and monitors for incoming retransmissions).
RE Claim 6¸ Huawei discloses an apparatus, as set forth in claim 5 above, wherein the decoding result is incorrect, the processor detects a sidelink control channel when the second timer is running so as to receive the next transmission of the sidelink data (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – while drx-RetransmissionTimerSL is running, if decoding result is incorrect, waiting for retransmission (2.2 – SCI scheduling retransmission – i.e. NDI not toggled)).
RE Claim 7¸ Huawei discloses an apparatus, as set forth in claim 5 above, wherein the decoding result is correct, the processor detects a sidelink control channel when the second timer is running so as to receive the next transmission of the sidelink data, and after a sidelink shared channel to which the next transmission of the sidelink data corresponds is detected, transmits ACK via a sidelink feedback channel resource to which a resource of the sidelink shared channel corresponds (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – while drx-RetransmissionTimerSL is running, if decoding result is correct, waiting for next transmission; transmitting ACK feedback).
RE Claim 10, Huawei discloses A data reception apparatus, configured in a first terminal equipment, the first terminal equipment being configured with sidelink discontinuous reception (SL DRX) (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – RX UE; configured with SL DRX (e.g. 2.1)), the apparatus comprising:
a receiver configured to receive sidelink data from a second terminal equipment (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – RX UE receiving SL data from TX UE (e.g. 2.1)); and
a processor configured to:
decode a transmission of received sidelink data transmitted by the second terminal equipment to obtain a decoding result (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – RX UE receiving data and decoding result (e.g. 2.1, 2.2)); and
in a case where a sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) used for transmitting the decoding result is unable to be transmitted (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – in case where PSFCH is not configured/utilized for transmitting HARQ-ACK feedback (e.g. 2.1 – pg. 2)), start a first timer for a corresponding sidelink process at a first slot after a resource where the sidelink feedback channel is located comes to an end (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – starts drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerSL after reception of PSFCH (2.1)), and start a second timer for a corresponding sidelink process after the first timer expires, the first terminal equipment being at active time when the second timer is running (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – starts drx-RetransmissionTimerSL after drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerSL expires; while drx-RetransmissionTimerSL is running, considered in “active time” and monitors for incoming retransmissions (e.g. 2.1, 2.2.2)).
RE Claim 11¸ Huawei discloses an apparatus, as set forth in claim 10 above, wherein the decoding result is incorrect, the processor detects a sidelink control channel when the second timer is running so as to receive the next transmission of the sidelink data (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – while drx-RetransmissionTimerSL is running, if decoding result is incorrect, waiting for retransmission (2.2 – SCI scheduling retransmission – i.e. NDI not toggled)).
RE Claim 12¸ Huawei discloses an apparatus, as set forth in claim 10 above, wherein a reception resource pool of the first terminal equipment is configured with sidelink feedback channel resources (See Huawei 2.3 – e.g. RAN1 #100-e agreement – PSFCH determined by resource pool configuration), and the control information to which the sidelink data correspond indicates HARQ-ACK enabling (See Huawei 2.2 (pg. 2) & pgs. 37-38 – control information indicates HARQ feedback enabling for SL), and
the second terminal equipment transmits the sidelink data via unicast manner (See Huawei 2.2 – unicast).
RE Claim 13¸ Huawei discloses an apparatus, as set forth in claim 10 above, wherein the PSFCH used for transmitting the decoding result is unable to be transmitted due to UL/SL prioritization (See Huawei 2.2.1 - The RX UE dropped the PSFCH transmission when there is overlapped UL transmission which has higher priority than the PSFCH transmission occurs).
RE Claim 14¸ Huawei discloses an apparatus, as set forth in claim 10 above, wherein the decoding result is correct, the processor detects a sidelink control channel when the second timer is running so as to receive the next transmission of the sidelink data, and after a sidelink shared channel to which the next transmission of the sidelink data corresponds is detected, transmits ACK via a sidelink feedback channel resource to which a resource of the sidelink shared channel corresponds (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – while drx-RetransmissionTimerSL is running, if decoding result is correct, waiting for next transmission; transmitting ACK feedback).
RE Claim 17, Huawei discloses A data reception apparatus, configured in a first terminal equipment, the first terminal equipment being configured with sidelink discontinuous reception (SL DRX) (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – RX UE; configured with SL DRX (e.g. 2.1)), the apparatus comprising:
a receiver configured to receive sidelink data from a second terminal equipment (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – RX UE receiving SL data from TX UE (e.g. 2.1)); and
a processor configured to:
decode a transmission of received sidelink data transmitted by the second terminal equipment to obtain a decoding result (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – RX UE receiving data and decoding result), the decoding result being correct (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – RX UE receiving data and decoding result is correct (i.e. ACK)); and
in a case where a sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) used for transmitting the decoding result is unable to be transmitted (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – in case where PSFCH is not configured/utilized for transmitting HARQ-ACK feedback (e.g. 2.1 – pg. 2)), for a corresponding sidelink process, transmit ACK at a sidelink feedback channel resource to which a sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) resource reserved by the second terminal equipment for a next transmission of the sidelink data corresponds (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – while drx-RetransmissionTimerSL is running, if decoding result is correct, waiting for next transmission; transmitting ACK feedback corresponding to PSSCH received (e.g. 2.1, 2.2.2)).
RE Claim 18¸ Huawei discloses an apparatus, as set forth in claim 17 above, wherein a reception resource pool of the first terminal equipment is configured with sidelink feedback channel resources (See Huawei 2.3 – e.g. RAN1 #100-e agreement – PSFCH determined by resource pool configuration), and the control information to which the sidelink data correspond indicates HARQ-ACK enabling (See Huawei 2.2 (pg. 2) & pgs. 37-38 – control information indicates HARQ feedback enabling for SL).
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 8-9, 15-16, and 19-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over NPL “Discussion on remaining MAC open issues for 5G V2X with NR SL” (hereinafter referred to as Huawei) in view of Park et al. (US# 2023/0164768 hereinafter referred to as Park).
RE Claim 8¸ Huawei discloses an apparatus, as set forth in claim 5 above. Huawei does not specifically disclose wherein after the sidelink control channel corresponding to the sidelink data of the sidelink process to which the second timer corresponds is received, if the first terminal equipment is a destination terminal indicated in the sidelink control information carried by the sidelink control channel, and/or, the second terminal equipment is a source terminal indicated in the sidelink control information carried by the sidelink control channel, the processor terminates the running second timer.
However, Park teaches of wherein after the sidelink control channel corresponding to the sidelink data of the sidelink process to which the second timer corresponds is received, if the first terminal equipment is a destination terminal indicated in the sidelink control information carried by the sidelink control channel, and/or, the second terminal equipment is a source terminal indicated in the sidelink control information carried by the sidelink control channel, the processor terminates the running second timer (See Park [0112] – upon receiving PSCCH, Rx UE may stop DRX_RetransmissionTimer_RX).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to implement the sidelink DRX system, as disclosed in Huawei, wherein after the sidelink control channel corresponding to the sidelink data of the sidelink process to which the second timer corresponds is received, if the first terminal equipment is a destination terminal indicated in the sidelink control information carried by the sidelink control channel, and/or, the second terminal equipment is a source terminal indicated in the sidelink control information carried by the sidelink control channel, the processor terminates the running second timer, as taught in Park. One is motivated as such in order to more efficiently perform SL communication (See Park Background; Summary).
RE Claim 9¸ Huawei discloses an apparatus, as set forth in claim 5 above, wherein the slot refers to a slot able to be used for transmission of sidelink data (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – during drx-RetransmissionTimerSL, slot able to be used for receiving retransmission data (i.e. retransmissions are decoded during the duration of drx-RetransmissionTimerSL)).
Huawei does not specifically disclose within a slot belonging to the reception resource pool of the first terminal equipment.
Howeever, Park teaches of within a slot belonging to the reception resource pool of the first terminal equipment (See Park [0091] - For example, the UE may autonomously select or schedule a resource for SL transmission. For example, the UE may perform SL communication by autonomously selecting a resource within a configured resource pool. For example, the UE may autonomously select a resource within a selective window by performing a sensing and resource (re)selection procedure. For example, the sensing may be performed in unit of subchannels. In addition, the UE 1 which has autonomously selected the resource within the resource pool may transmit the SCI to the UE 2 through a PSCCH, and thereafter may transmit data based on the SCI to the UE 2 through a PSSCH).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to implement the sidelink DRX system, as disclosed in Huawei, comprising within a slot belonging to the reception resource pool of the first terminal equipment, as taught in Park. One is motivated as such in order to more efficiently perform SL communication (See Park Background; Summary).
RE Claim 15¸ Huawei discloses an apparatus, as set forth in claim 10 above. Huawei does not specifically disclose wherein after the sidelink control channel corresponding to the sidelink data of the sidelink process to which the second timer corresponds is received, if the first terminal equipment is a destination terminal indicated in the sidelink control information carried by the sidelink control channel, and/or, the second terminal equipment is a source terminal indicated in the sidelink control information carried by the sidelink control channel, the processor terminates the running second timer.
However, Park teaches of wherein after the sidelink control channel corresponding to the sidelink data of the sidelink process to which the second timer corresponds is received, if the first terminal equipment is a destination terminal indicated in the sidelink control information carried by the sidelink control channel, and/or, the second terminal equipment is a source terminal indicated in the sidelink control information carried by the sidelink control channel, the processor terminates the running second timer (See Park [0112] – upon receiving PSCCH, Rx UE may stop DRX_RetransmissionTimer_RX).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to implement the sidelink DRX system, as disclosed in Huawei, wherein after the sidelink control channel corresponding to the sidelink data of the sidelink process to which the second timer corresponds is received, if the first terminal equipment is a destination terminal indicated in the sidelink control information carried by the sidelink control channel, and/or, the second terminal equipment is a source terminal indicated in the sidelink control information carried by the sidelink control channel, the processor terminates the running second timer, as taught in Park. One is motivated as such in order to more efficiently perform SL communication (See Park Background; Summary).
RE Claim 16¸ Huawei discloses an apparatus, as set forth in claim 10 above, wherein the slot refers to a slot able to be used for transmission of sidelink data (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – during drx-RetransmissionTimerSL, slot able to be used for receiving retransmission data (i.e. retransmissions are decoded during the duration of drx-RetransmissionTimerSL)).
Huawei does not specifically disclose within a slot belonging to the reception resource pool of the first terminal equipment.
Howeever, Park teaches of within a slot belonging to the reception resource pool of the first terminal equipment (See Park [0091] - For example, the UE may autonomously select or schedule a resource for SL transmission. For example, the UE may perform SL communication by autonomously selecting a resource within a configured resource pool. For example, the UE may autonomously select a resource within a selective window by performing a sensing and resource (re)selection procedure. For example, the sensing may be performed in unit of subchannels. In addition, the UE 1 which has autonomously selected the resource within the resource pool may transmit the SCI to the UE 2 through a PSCCH, and thereafter may transmit data based on the SCI to the UE 2 through a PSSCH).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to implement the sidelink DRX system, as disclosed in Huawei, comprising within a slot belonging to the reception resource pool of the first terminal equipment, as taught in Park. One is motivated as such in order to more efficiently perform SL communication (See Park Background; Summary).
RE Claim 19¸ Huawei discloses an apparatus, as set forth in claim 17 above, wherein the processor starts a first timer for a corresponding sidelink process at a first slot after a resource where the sidelink feedback channel is located comes to an end (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – starts drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerSL after reception of PSFCH (2.1)), and transmits ACK at a feedback channel resource to which the reserved sidelink shared channel resource corresponds (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – if decoding result is correct (i.e. ACK), decoding next transmission of PSSCH and transmitting ACK via PSFCH on next available opportunity), the second timer being set for the first terminal equipment to receive retransmission of the sidelink data, and the first terminal equipment being at active time when the second timer is running (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – starts drx-RetransmissionTimerSL after drx-HARQ-RTT-TimerSL expires; while drx-RetransmissionTimerSL is running, considered in “active time” and monitors for incoming retransmissions).
Huawei does not specifically disclose the reception apparatus does not start a second timer after the first timer expires.
However, Park teaches of the reception apparatus does not start a second timer after the first timer expires (See Park [0116] – starting retransmission timer based on success/failure of decoding for PSSCH (i.e. if successful, may not start retransmission timer)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to implement the sidelink DRX system, as disclosed in Huawei, wherein the reception apparatus does not start a second timer after the first timer expires, as taught in Park. One is motivated as such in order to more efficiently perform SL communication (See Park Background; Summary).
RE Claim 20¸ Huawei discloses an apparatus, as set forth in claim 10 above, wherein the slot refers to a slot able to be used for transmission of sidelink data (See Huawei 2.1-2.3 – during drx-RetransmissionTimerSL, slot able to be used for receiving retransmission data (i.e. retransmissions are decoded during the duration of drx-RetransmissionTimerSL)).
Huawei does not specifically disclose within a slot belonging to the reception resource pool of the first terminal equipment.
Howeever, Park teaches of within a slot belonging to the reception resource pool of the first terminal equipment (See Park [0091] - For example, the UE may autonomously select or schedule a resource for SL transmission. For example, the UE may perform SL communication by autonomously selecting a resource within a configured resource pool. For example, the UE may autonomously select a resource within a selective window by performing a sensing and resource (re)selection procedure. For example, the sensing may be performed in unit of subchannels. In addition, the UE 1 which has autonomously selected the resource within the resource pool may transmit the SCI to the UE 2 through a PSCCH, and thereafter may transmit data based on the SCI to the UE 2 through a PSSCH).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to implement the sidelink DRX system, as disclosed in Huawei, comprising within a slot belonging to the reception resource pool of the first terminal equipment, as taught in Park. One is motivated as such in order to more efficiently perform SL communication (See Park Background; Summary).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Steve R Young whose telephone number is (571)270-7518. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am-5pm.
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/STEVE R YOUNG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2477