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 .
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.
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.
Claim(s) 1-5 and 15-19 and 21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chae et al. (US 2021/0212117) in view of R1-2007895 (R1-2007895; 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 Meeting #103-e; e-Meeting, October 26th - November 13th, 2020; Agenda item: .11.2.1; Source: LG Electronics; Title: Discussion on resource allocation for power saving; Document for: Discussion and decision)(cited in Applicant’s IDS filed on August 2, 2023)
Regarding claim 1, Chae discloses a wireless device (Chae, paragraph [0001], ) comprising:
one or more processors; and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the wireless device (Chae, Figs. 19, 25) to:
receive one or more configuration parameters for a sidelink resource pool, wherein the one or more configuration parameters (Chae, paragraph [0178]-[0179], eNB configures sidelink resource pools corresponding to priority of the packet) indicate:
a first resource selection procedure for the sidelink resource pool (Chae, paragraph [0018], based on priority of the packet higher than a preset threshold, transmission resource may be selected after carrier sensing is performed, and based on priority of the packet lower than the preset threshold, transmission resource randomly selected without performing carrier sensing);
a second resource selection procedure for the sidelink resource pool (Chae, paragraph [0018], based on priority of the packet higher than a preset threshold, transmission resource may be selected after carrier sensing is performed, and based on priority of the packet lower than the preset threshold, transmission resource randomly selected without performing carrier sensing); and
a priority value threshold, wherein the second resource selection procedure is allowed based on the being below the threshold (Chae, paragraph [0018], based on priority of the packet higher than a preset threshold, transmission resource may be selected after carrier sensing is performed, and based on priority of the packet lower than the preset threshold, transmission resource randomly selected without performing carrier sensing); and
transmit a sidelink transport block via one or more transmission resources of the sidelink resource pool selected based on the second resource selection procedure in response to the value being less than the threshold (Chae, paragraph [0008], transmitting the sidelink signal on the selected transmission resource).
Chae does not explicitly disclose a remaining on-time value of the wireless device, based on at least one of: a remaining battery level of the wireless device or a consuming power level of the wireless device.
R1-2007895 discloses a wireless device (R1-2007895, page 2, Proposal 1, P-UE) to:
determine a remaining on-time value of the wireless device, based on at least one of: a remaining battery level of the wireless device or a consuming power level of the wireless device (R1-2007895, page 1, section 1, sidelink random resource selection and partial sensing; page 2, Proposal 1, TX pool configuration allows that P-UE selects partial sensing operation or random resource selection based on an amount of remaining battery/priority value being higher or lower than a preconfigured threshold; page 3, Proposal 4, P-UE may perform sensing operation and avoids the random resources based on priority of packets and/or amount of remaining battery compared to a threshold);
receive one or more configuration parameters for a sidelink resource pool, wherein the one or more configuration parameters (R1-2007895, page 1, section 1, sidelink random resource selection and partial sensing; page 2, Proposal 1, TX pool configuration allows that P-UE selects partial sensing operation or random resource selection based on an amount of remaining battery/priority value being higher or lower than a preconfigured threshold) indicate:
a first resource selection procedure for the sidelink resource pool (R1-2007895, page 1, section 1, sidelink random resource selection and partial sensing; page 2, Proposal 1, TX pool configuration allows that P-UE selects partial sensing operation or random resource selection based on an amount of remaining battery/priority value being higher or lower than a preconfigured threshold; page 3, Proposal 4, P-UE may perform sensing operation and avoids the random resources based on priority of packets and/or amount of remaining battery compared to a threshold);
a second resource selection procedure for the sidelink resource pool (R1-2007895, page 1, section 1, sidelink random resource selection and partial sensing; page 2, Proposal 1, TX pool configuration allows that P-UE selects partial sensing operation or random resource selection based on an amount of remaining battery/priority value being higher or lower than a preconfigured threshold; page 3, Proposal 4, P-UE may perform sensing operation and avoids the random resources based on priority of packets and/or amount of remaining battery compared to a threshold); and
a remaining on-time threshold, wherein the second resource selection procedure is allowed based on the remaining on-time value being below the remaining on-time threshold (R1-2007895, page 1, section 1, sidelink random resource selection and partial sensing; page 2, Proposal 1, TX pool configuration allows that P-UE selects partial sensing operation or random resource selection based on an amount of remaining battery/priority value being higher or lower than a preconfigured threshold; page 3, Proposal 4, P-UE may perform sensing operation and avoids the random resources based on priority of packets and/or amount of remaining battery compared to a threshold); and
transmit a sidelink transport block via one or more transmission resources of the sidelink resource pool selected based on the second resource selection procedure in response to the remaining on-time value being less than the remaining on-time threshold (R1-2007895, page 1, section 1, sidelink random resource selection and partial sensing; page 2, Proposal 1, TX pool configuration allows that P-UE selects partial sensing operation or random resource selection based on an amount of remaining battery/priority value being higher or lower than a preconfigured threshold; page 3, Proposal 4, P-UE may perform sensing operation and avoids the random resources based on priority of packets and/or amount of remaining battery compared to a threshold).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to configure a priority value based on a remaining on-time value of the wireless device, based on at least one of: a remaining battery level of the wireless device or a consuming power level of the wireless device, in the invention of Chae. The motivation to combine the references would have been to conserve battery power in power-limited P-UEs.
Regarding claim 2, Chae in view of R1-2007895 discloses the wireless device of claim 1, wherein:
the first resource selection procedure is a selection procedure with sensing sidelink signals (Chae, paragraph [0018], based on priority of the packet higher than a preset threshold, transmission resource may be selected after carrier sensing is performed, and based on priority of the packet lower than the preset threshold, transmission resource randomly selected without performing carrier sensing); and
the second resource selection procedure is a selection procedure with without sensing sidelink signals (Chae, paragraph [0018], based on priority of the packet higher than a preset threshold, transmission resource may be selected after carrier sensing is performed, and based on priority of the packet lower than the preset threshold, transmission resource randomly selected without performing carrier sensing).
Regarding claim 3, Chae in view of R1-2007895 discloses the wireless device of claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the wireless device to select resources, for the sidelink transport block, from the sidelink resource pool based on the second resource selection procedure in response to the remaining on-time value of the wireless device being below the remaining on-time threshold (Chae, paragraph [0018], based on priority of the packet higher than a preset threshold, transmission resource may be selected after carrier sensing is performed, and based on priority of the packet lower than the preset threshold, transmission resource randomly selected without performing carrier sensing) (R1-2007895, page 1, section 1, sidelink random resource selection and partial sensing; page 2, Proposal 1, TX pool configuration allows that P-UE selects partial sensing operation or random resource selection based on an amount of remaining battery/priority value being higher or lower than a preconfigured threshold; page 3, Proposal 4, P-UE may perform sensing operation and avoids the random resources based on priority of packets and/or amount of remaining battery compared to a threshold).
Regarding claim 4, Chae in view of R1-2007895 discloses the wireless device of claim 1, wherein the instructions further cause the wireless device to determine that the wireless device transport block has a remaining on-time value below the remaining on-time threshold (Chae, paragraph [0018], based on priority of the packet higher than a preset threshold, transmission resource may be selected after carrier sensing is performed, and based on priority of the packet lower than the preset threshold, transmission resource randomly selected without performing carrier sensing) (R1-2007895, page 1, section 1, sidelink random resource selection and partial sensing; page 2, Proposal 1, TX pool configuration allows that P-UE selects partial sensing operation or random resource selection based on an amount of remaining battery/priority value being higher or lower than a preconfigured threshold; page 3, Proposal 4, P-UE may perform sensing operation and avoids the random resources based on priority of packets and/or amount of remaining battery compared to a threshold).
Regarding claim 5, Chae in view of R1-2007895 discloses the wireless device of claim 1, wherein:
the first resource selection procedure is a full sensing resource selection procedure or a partial sensing resource selection procedure (Chae, paragraph [0018], based on priority of the packet higher than a preset threshold, transmission resource may be selected after carrier sensing is performed, and based on priority of the packet lower than the preset threshold, transmission resource randomly selected without performing carrier sensing); and
the second resource selection procedure is a random resource selection procedure (Chae, paragraph [0018], based on priority of the packet higher than a preset threshold, transmission resource may be selected after carrier sensing is performed, and based on priority of the packet lower than the preset threshold, transmission resource randomly selected without performing carrier sensing).
Claims 15-19 are rejected under substantially the same rationale as claims 1-5, respectively.
Regarding claim 21, Chae in view of R1-2007895 discloses the wireless device of claim 1, wherein the consuming power level is based on at least one of: a computational load of the wireless device; or a capability of the wireless device (R1-2007895, page 1, section 1, sidelink random resource selection and partial sensing; page 2, Proposal 1, TX pool configuration allows that [Power Saving UE] P-UE selects partial sensing operation or random resource selection based on an amount of remaining battery/priority value being higher or lower than a preconfigured threshold; page 3, Proposal 4, P-UE may perform sensing operation and avoids the random resources based on priority of packets and/or amount of remaining battery compared to a threshold).
Claim(s) 8-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. 103 as obvious over Lee at al. (US 2022/0416969).
Regarding claim 8, Lee discloses a first wireless device (Lee, paragraph [0992], UE) comprising:
one or more processors; and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors (Lee, Fig. 27, paragraph [0361]), cause the first wireless device to:
transmit, to a second wireless device, one or more configuration parameters, wherein the one or more configuration parameters (Lee, paragraph [0108], another UE may inform the UE1 of the resource pool) cause the second wireless device to:
select, for transmission of a sidelink transport block, one or more transmission resources from a sidelink resource pool (Lee, paragraph [0108], UE may autonomously select a resource within a configured resource pool) configured with:
a first type of wireless device configured to perform sensing sidelink signals (Lee, paragraph [0226], UE may transmit information related to a sensing type through SCI, including partial sensing, full sensing and/or no sensing, including selecting resources randomly without a sensing operation by the UE); and
a second type of wireless device configured to not perform sensing sidelink signals (Lee, paragraph [0226], UE may transmit information related to a sensing type through SCI, including partial sensing, full sensing and/or no sensing, including selecting resources randomly without a sensing operation by the UE); and
transmit sidelink control information (SCI) indicating a field indicating a type of wireless device among the first type and the second type (Lee, paragraph [0226], UE may transmit information related to a sensing type through SCI).
Regarding claim 9, Lee discloses the first wireless device of claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the first wireless device to:
transmit one or more configuration parameters for a sidelink resource pool (Lee, paragraph [0108], another UE may inform the UE1 of the resource pool; paragraph [0115], UE may autonomously select resource for SL communication within a configured resource pool; paragraph [0225], information related to SL mode may include information related to resource selection for SL transmission of the UE) configured with:
the first type of wireless device configured to perform sensing sidelink signals within a sensing window in the sidelink resource pool (Lee, paragraph [0226], UE may transmit information related to a sensing type through SCI, including partial sensing, full sensing and/or no sensing, including selecting resources randomly without a sensing operation by the UE); and
the second type of wireless device configured to not perform sensing sidelink signals within the sensing window in the sidelink resource pool (Lee, paragraph [0226], UE may transmit information related to a sensing type through SCI, including partial sensing, full sensing and/or no sensing, including selecting resources randomly without a sensing operation by the UE).
Regarding claim 10, Lee discloses the first wireless device of claim 8, wherein:
the field is a first field (Lee, paragraph [0226], UE may transmit information related to a sensing type through SCI); and
the SCI further comprises a second field indicating the one or more transmission resources (Lee, paragraph [0108], another UE may inform the UE1 of the resource pool; paragraph [0115], UE may autonomously select resource for SL communication within a configured resource pool; paragraph [0225], information related to SL mode may include information related to resource selection for SL transmission of the UE).
Regarding claim 11, Lee discloses the first wireless device of claim 8, wherein:
the first type of wireless device is configured to perform a full sensing resource selection procedure or a partial sensing resource selection procedure (Lee, paragraph [0226], UE may transmit information related to a sensing type through SCI, including partial sensing, full sensing and/or no sensing, including selecting resources randomly without a sensing operation by the UE); and
the second type of wireless device is configured to perform a random resource selection (Lee, paragraph [0226], UE may transmit information related to a sensing type through SCI, including partial sensing, full sensing and/or no sensing, including selecting resources randomly without a sensing operation by the UE).
Regarding claim 12, Lee discloses the first wireless device of claim 11, wherein:
the full sensing resource selection procedure comprises sensing for sidelink signals within an entirety of a sensing window (Lee, paragraph [0115], UE may autonomously select resources with a selective window for a sensing and resource selection procedure; paragraph [0226], UE may transmit information related to a sensing type through SCI, including partial sensing, full sensing and/or no sensing); and
the partial sensing resource selection procedure comprises sensing for sidelink signals within a time interval of the sensing window (Lee, paragraph [0115], UE may autonomously select resources with a selective window for a sensing and resource selection procedure; paragraph [0226], UE may transmit information related to a sensing type through SCI, including partial sensing, full sensing and/or no sensing).
Regarding claim 13, Lee discloses the first wireless device of claim 8, wherein sensing sidelink signals comprises:
monitoring, in a sensing window within the sidelink resource pool, one or more sidelink control channels for sidelink control information (SCI) comprising resource reservations transmitted by other wireless devices (Lee, paragraph [0115], UE may autonomously select resources with a selective window for a sensing and resource selection procedure; paragraph [0148]. TX UE may transmit information through SCIs; paragraph [0149], SCI may include resource reservation information; paragraph [0151], SCI may include SCI indicator for measuring RSRP; paragraph [0226], UE may transmit information related to a sensing type through SCI, including partial sensing, full sensing and/or no sensing); and
measuring a reference signal received power (RSRP) of a reference signal indicated by the SCI detected during the sensing window (Lee, paragraph [0115], UE may autonomously select resources with a selective window for a sensing and resource selection procedure; paragraph [0148]. TX UE may transmit information through SCIs; paragraph [0149], SCI may include resource reservation information; paragraph [0151], SCI may include SCI indicator for measuring RSRP; paragraph [0226], UE may transmit information related to a sensing type through SCI, including partial sensing, full sensing and/or no sensing).
Regarding claim 14, Lee discloses the first wireless device of claim 8, wherein without sensing sidelink signals comprises at least one of:
skipping monitoring, in a sensing window within the sidelink resource pool, one or more sidelink control channels for sidelink control information (SCI) comprising resource reservations transmitted by other wireless devices (Lee, paragraph [0115], UE may autonomously select resources with a selective window for a sensing and resource selection procedure; paragraph [0148], TX UE may transmit information through SCIs; paragraph [0149], SCI may include resource reservation information; paragraph [0151], SCI may include SCI indicator for measuring RSRP; paragraph [0226], UE may transmit information related to a sensing type through SCI, including partial sensing, full sensing and/or no sensing); or
skipping measuring a reference signal received power (RSRP) of a reference signal indicated by the SCI detected during the sensing window (Lee, paragraph [0115], UE may autonomously select resources with a selective window for a sensing and resource selection procedure; paragraph [0148]. TX UE may transmit information through SCIs; paragraph [0149], SCI may include resource reservation information; paragraph [0151], SCI may include SCI indicator for measuring RSRP; paragraph [0226], UE may transmit information related to a sensing type through SCI, including partial sensing, full sensing and/or no sensing).
Claim(s) 6 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Chae et al. (US 2021/0212117) in view of R1-2007895, and further in view of Lee at al. (US 2022/0416969).
Regarding claim 6, Chae in view of R1-2007895 discloses the wireless device of claim 5, wherein:
the full sensing resource selection procedure comprises sensing for sidelink signals within an entirety of a sensing window (Chae, Fig. 10, sensing window; paragraph [0018], based on priority of the packet higher than a preset threshold, transmission resource may be selected after carrier sensing is performed; paragraph [0163], UE may determine whether to perform additional sensing based on an attribute of a packet; paragraph [0164], UE may select transmission resource after additional carrier sensing is performed); and
the partial sensing resource selection procedure comprises sensing for sidelink signals within a time interval of the sensing window (Chae, Fig. 10, sensing window; paragraph [0018], based on priority of the packet higher than a preset threshold, transmission resource may be selected after carrier sensing is performed; paragraph [0163], UE may determine whether to perform additional sensing based on an attribute of a packet; paragraph [0164], UE may select transmission resource after additional carrier sensing is performed).
Chae does not explicitly disclose a sensing window.
Lee discloses the full sensing resource selection procedure comprises sensing for sidelink signals within an entirety of a sensing window (Lee, paragraph [0115], UE may autonomously select resources with a selective window for a sensing and resource selection procedure; paragraph [0226], UE may transmit information related to a sensing type through SCI, including partial sensing, full sensing and/or no sensing); and
the partial sensing resource selection procedure comprises sensing for sidelink signals within a time interval of the sensing window (Lee, paragraph [0115], UE may autonomously select resources with a selective window for a sensing and resource selection procedure; paragraph [0226], UE may transmit information related to a sensing type through SCI, including partial sensing, full sensing and/or no sensing).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to perform a full or partial sensing procedure in the invention of Chae. The motivation to combine the references would have been to conserve power in types of UE that are sensitive to power consumption (see paragraph 0226] of Lee)
Claim 20 is rejected under substantially the same rationale as claim 6.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed November 17, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive or are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
With regard to claims 8-14, Applicant asserts that Lee does not teach or suggest at least "transmit, to a second wireless device, one or more configuration parameters” or “a sidelink resource pool configured with: a first type of wireless device configured to perform sensing sidelink signals; and a second type of wireless device configured to not perform sensing sidelink signals," as recited in claim 8. However, this is incorrect. Lee discloses, for example in paragraph [0108], another UE may inform the UE1 of the resource pool; paragraph [0115], UE may autonomously select resource for SL communication within a configured resource pool; paragraph [0225], information related to SL mode may include information related to resource selection for SL transmission of the UE). This reads on "transmit, to a second wireless device, one or more configuration parameters.” Lee discloses, for example in paragraph [0226], UE may transmit information related to a sensing type through SCI, including partial sensing, full sensing and/or no sensing, including selecting resources randomly without a sensing operation by the UE.” This reads on “a sidelink resource pool configured with: a first type of wireless device configured to perform sensing sidelink signals; and a second type of wireless device configured to not perform sensing sidelink signals." Applicant has provided no analysis explaining why Lee’s sidelink resource pool used by UEs that do and do not perform sensing would be different from “a sidelink resource pool configured with: a first type of wireless device configured to perform sensing sidelink signals; and a second type of wireless device configured to not perform sensing sidelink signals."
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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/ALAN L LINDENBAUM/Examiner, Art Unit 2466
/FARUK HAMZA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2466