DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present U.S. non-provisional application is being examined under the first-inventor-to-file provisions of the AIA . The present U.S. non-provisional application, filed on July 11, 2023, claims priority to a foreign application, filed on July 12, 2022.
Response to Amendment
This Office action is responsive to the amendment and arguments on November 13, 2025. Claims 1, 7, 9-11, 15 and 16 were amended. Claims 1-13 and 15-18 are pending for consideration in the present U.S. non-provisional application.
Response to Arguments
The arguments (page 9) directed to the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112 have been considered. The arguments are directed to the amendment, and considered as sufficient to overcome the rejections. Accordingly, the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112 are withdrawn.
The arguments (pages 9-11) directed to the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been considered. The arguments are directed to the amendment, and considered as not sufficient to overcome the rejections. The arguments indicate that Okvist does not meet the claim features of wide and narrow beams because it merely recognizes narrow beams and corresponding measurement reports. However, Okvist at paragraphs [0111] and [0116] provides prior art disclosure and suggestions for the claimed invention via description of measurement reports for wide and narrow beams. Accordingly, the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 103 are maintained.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7 and 8 would be considered as allowable if rewritten into independent form to include all of the limitations of the respective base claim and any intervening claims. The claimed invention is neither anticipated by the prior art of record, nor considered as obvious in view thereof to a person having ordinary skill in the art.
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 1-6, 9-13 and 15-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ganesan et al. (US 2023/0361955 A1) in view of Okvist et al. (US 2023/0126503 A1).
1. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause (Ganesan, FIG. 2) the apparatus to:
transmit at least one beam of a first set of sidelink, SL, beam management reference signals, -BMRS, and at least one beam of a second set of SL-BMRS, wherein the first set corresponds to a wide beam group and the second set corresponds to a narrow beam group (Okvist, paras. [0111], [0116], “In response to receiving the radio signal in some initial set of wide beams, the first wireless device 121 may also identify the best Tx wide beam from the at least one second wireless device 122, 123, 124, and its own best corresponding Rx wide beam, i.e. by measuring the signal strengths of the received UL SL-SRS signal on the set of received wide beams. […] Optionally, the at least one second wireless device 122, 123, 124 may here schedule and transmit further UL SL SRS signals for a selected set of SideLink Tx narrow beams that are within scope/range of the SideLink Tx wide-beam according to the received first SideLink measurement report. In this case, the first wireless device 121 may measure the UL SL-SRS signal strength on the SideLink Tx narrow beams, and transmit a second SideLink measurement report to the at least one second wireless device 122, 123, 124 regarding the signal strength of the received UL SL-SRS signal on the set of received the SideLink Tx narrow beams. Upon receiving the second SideLink measurement report, the at least one second wireless device 122, 123, 124 may configure the beamforming for the SideLink by adjusting its SideLink Tx narrow beam according to the received second SideLink measurement report.”);
receive a beam report information indicative of quality information about at least one of the at least one beam of the first set of SL-BMRS, or at least one beam of the second set of SL-BMRS (Ganesan, paras. [0067], [0072], “In some embodiments, a TX UE may configure a dedicated feedback resource for each SL CSI RS resource or a group of the SL CSI-RS resources with a corresponding slot offset for feedback reception. The feedback from a RX UE (e.g., UE2) may include L1 reference signal received power (“RSRP”) (“L1-RSRP”) (or L1 signal to interference and noise ratio (“SINR”) (“L1-SINR”)) feedback measurement corresponding to at least one (e.g., the strongest and/or best) SL CSI-RS resource and/or beam and/or an indication of the SL CSI-RS resource and/or beam in a single reporting instance. In one example, if the RX UE feedbacks and/or reports measurements for more than one SL CSI-RS resource, the feedback report may include the indication of the SL CSI-RS resources and/or beams included in the report. Moreover, the report may include the measurement (e.g., L1-RSRP) for the strongest beam and a differential value of measurement with respect to the strongest beam measurement for the remaining beams. In another example, a beam correspondence is assumed, and the feedback is sent on resources with the same spatial domain transmission filter used for reception of the corresponding SL CSI-RS transmission. Since each of the feedback resources are mapped to the specific CSI-RS resource, the inclusion of a beam and/or SL CSI-RS resource ID in a feedback message may not be needed…”);
wherein the beam report information comprises an indicator that is suitable to identify such at least one beam of at least one of the first set of SL-BMRS, or the second set of SL-BMRS (Ganesan, paras. [0067], [0072], “…The feedback from a RX UE (e.g., UE2) may include L1 reference signal received power (“RSRP”) (“L1-RSRP”) (or L1 signal to interference and noise ratio (“SINR”) (“L1-SINR”)) feedback measurement corresponding to at least one (e.g., the strongest and/or best) SL CSI-RS resource and/or beam and/or an indication of the SL CSI-RS resource and/or beam in a single reporting instance. In one example, if the RX UE feedbacks and/or reports measurements for more than one SL CSI-RS resource, the feedback report may include the indication of the SL CSI-RS resources and/or beams included in the report…” Id.);
determine whether the beam report information is indicative of quality information of at least one beam of the first set of SL-BMRS or of at least one beam of the second set of SL-BMRS, or a combination of at least two beams of the first set of SL-BMRS and the second set of SL-BMRS (Ganesan, paras. [0067], [0072], “…The feedback from a RX UE (e.g., UE2) may include L1 reference signal received power (“RSRP”) (“L1-RSRP”) (or L1 signal to interference and noise ratio (“SINR”) (“L1-SINR”)) feedback measurement corresponding to at least one (e.g., the strongest and/or best) SL CSI-RS resource and/or beam and/or an indication of the SL CSI-RS resource and/or beam in a single reporting instance. In one example, if the RX UE feedbacks and/or reports measurements for more than one SL CSI-RS resource, the feedback report may include the indication of the SL CSI-RS resources and/or beams included in the report…” Id.); and
attempt to establish or establishing communication based on the beam report information with another apparatus (Ganesan, paras. [0067], [0072], “…FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a system 400 having standalone SL CSI-RS transmission prior to the transmission of a discovery request message in PC5 RRC. The system 400 includes a first UE 402 (UE-1), a second UE 404 (UE-2), and a third UE 406 (UE-3). The second UE 404 determines 408 a destination layer 2 ID for signaling reception. The third UE 406 determines 410 a destination layer 2 ID for signaling reception. A V2X application layer of the first UE 402 provides 412 application information for PC5 unicast connection. The first UE 402 transmits 414 physical sidelink control channel (“PSCCH”)+CSI-RS optionally with a transmission 416 to the second UE 404 and/or a transmission 418 to the third UE 406. The second UE 404 provides 420 feedback on a best beam or transmit CSI-RS to the first UE 402. The first UE 402 provides 422 a direct communication request (e.g., via a higher layer).” emphasis added. Id.)
Ganesan et al. may not seem to describe the identical claimed invention, however in the same field of endeavor, Okvist et al. provides prior art disclosure for the claimed invention, such as transmit at least one beam of a first set of sidelink, SL, beam management reference signals, -BMRS, and at least one beam of a second set of SL-BMRS, wherein the first set corresponds to a wide beam group and the second set corresponds to a narrow beam group (Okvist, paras. [0111], [0116], Id.) The prior art disclosure and suggestions of Okvist et al. are for reasons of improving the use of direct V2X/D2D communication links (Okvist, paras. [0010], [0116], “It is an object of embodiments herein to improve the use of direct V2x/D2D communication links between wireless devices in a wireless communications network...”) In view of the prior art of record, the claimed invention 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, for reasons of improving the use of direct V2X/D2D communication links.
2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein if determined that the beam report information is indicative of quality information of at least two beams of both the first set of SL-BMRS and the second set of SL-BMRS, the communication is attempted to be established or established via at least one beam of the second set of SL-BMRS belonging to at least one of multiple antenna panels or antenna elements used for a transmitting of the at least one beam of the second set of SL-BMRS (Ganesan, paras. [0067], [0113], “…In various embodiments, there may be a new SL beam candidate identification: upon SL BFD, a RX UE initiates procedures to identify a new SL beam from a SL beam candidate list. The identification of the new TX SL beam may be based on a best measured SL CSI-RS or any SL-RS L1-RSRP from a SL beam candidate list (e.g., TX-UE common beam list) by the RX UE. In certain embodiments, an RX UE may perform TX UE measurements based on beam quality metrics and may report a better beam candidate to a TX UE for beam and/or panel reselection and/or switching using the following criteria: 1) RX UE periodically measures the SL”)
3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: if determined that the beam report information is indicative of quality information of one beam of the first set of SL-BMRS, the communication is attempted to be established or established via at least one beam of the first set of SL-BMRS belonging to at least one of multiple antenna panels or antenna elements used for a transmitting of the at least one beam of the first set of SL-BMRS (Ganesan, paras. [0067], [0113], Id.); and
the apparatus further comprises: at least one processor: and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: search for one or more beams of the second set of SL-BMRS by sequentially transmitting on the at least one of multiple antenna panels or antenna elements to establish the communication (Ganesan, paras. [0067], [0113], Id.)
4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: if determined that the beam report information is indicative of quality information of one beam of the second set of SL-BMRS, the communication is attempted to be established or established via at least one beam of the second set of SL-BMRS belonging to at least one of multiple antenna panels or antenna elements used for a transmitting of the at least one beam of the second set of SL-BMRS (Ganesan, paras. [0067], [0113], Id.); and
the apparatus further comprises: at least one processor: and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: search for one or more beams of the second set of SL-BMRS sequentially on the at least one of multiple antenna panels or antenna elements to establish the communication (Ganesan, paras. [0067], [0113], Id.)
5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first set of SL-BMRS corresponds to a wide beam group comprising at least one wide beam, wherein the wide beam group is indicative of at least one wide SL-BMRS beam (Okvist, paras. [0111], [0116], Id.)
6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the second set of SL-BMRS corresponds to a narrow beam group comprising at least one first narrow beam and at least one second narrow beam, wherein the narrow beam group is indicative of at least a first narrow SL-BMRS beam and a second narrow SL-BMRS beam, wherein a respective narrow beam is narrower than the at least one SL-BMRS wide beam of the wide beam group (Okvist, paras. [0111], [0116], Id.)
9. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause (Ganesan, FIG. 2, Id.) the apparatus to:
receive at least one beam of a first set of sidelink, SL, beam management reference signals, -BMRS, and at least one beam of a second set of SL-BMRS, wherein the first set corresponds to a wide beam group and the second set corresponds to a narrow beam group (Okvist, paras. [0111], [0116], Id.);
transmit a beam report information indicative of a quality information about at least one of the at least one received beam of the first set of SL-BMRS, or at least one received beam of the second set of SL-BMRS (Ganesan, paras. [0067], [0072], Id.);
wherein the beam report information comprises an indicator that is suitable to identify such at least one beam of at least one of the first set of SL-BMRS, or the second set of SL-BMRS (Ganesan, paras. [0067], [0072], Id.); and
attempt to establish or establishing communication with another apparatus (Ganesan, paras. [0067], [0072], Id. cf. Claim 1).
Ganesan et al. may not seem to describe the identical claimed invention, however in the same field of endeavor, Okvist et al. provides prior art disclosure for the claimed invention, such as receive at least one beam of a first set of sidelink, SL, beam management reference signals, -BMRS, and at least one beam of a second set of SL-BMRS, wherein the first set corresponds to a wide beam group and the second set corresponds to a narrow beam group (Okvist, paras. [0111], [0116], Id.) The prior art disclosure and suggestions of Okvist et al. are for reasons of improving the use of direct V2X/D2D communication links (Okvist, paras. [0010], [0116], Id.) In view of the prior art of record, the claimed invention 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, for reasons of improving the use of direct V2X/D2D communication links.
10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the communication is attempted to be established or is established via at least one of multiple antenna panels or the antenna elements comprised by or connectable to the apparatus in accordance with the beam report information (Ganesan, paras. [0067], [0113], Id.)
11. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein if the beam report information is indicative of quality information of at least two beams, the communication is attempted to be established or established via at least one beam of the second set of SL-BMRS belonging to at least one of multiple antenna panels or antenna elements comprised by or connectable to the apparatus via which the at least one beam of the second set of SL-BMRS was received (Ganesan, paras. [0067], [0113], Id. cf. Claim 2).
12. The apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising: if the beam report information is indicative of quality information of one beam of the first set of SL-BMRS, the communication is attempted to be established or established via at least one beam of the first set of SL-BMRS belonging to at least one of multiple antenna panels or antenna elements via which the at least one beam of the first set of SL-BMRS was received (Ganesan, paras. [0067], [0113], Id. cf. Claim 3).
13. The apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising: if the beam report information is indicative is indicative of quality information of one beam of the second set of SL-BMRS, the communication is attempted to be established or established via at least one beam of the second set of SL-BMRS belonging to at least one of multiple antenna panels or antenna elements via which the at least one beam of the second set of SL-BMRS was received (Ganesan, paras. [0067], [0113], Id. cf. Claim 4).
15. A method (Ganesan, FIG. 4), comprising:
transmitting at least one beam of a first set of sidelink, SL, beam management reference signals, -BMRS, and at least one beam of a second set of SL-BMRS, wherein the first set corresponds to a wide beam group and the second set corresponds to a narrow beam group (Okvist, paras. [0111], [0116], Id.);
receiving a beam report information indicative of quality information about at least one of the at least one beam of the first set of SL-BMRS, or at least one beam of the second set of SL-BMRS (Ganesan, paras. [0067], [0072], Id.);
wherein the beam report information comprises an indicator that is suitable to identify such at least one beam of at least one of the first set of SL-BMRS, or the second set of SL-BMRS (Ganesan, paras. [0067], [0072], Id.);
determining whether the beam report information is indicative of quality information of at least one beam of the first set of SL-BMRS or of at least one beam of the second set of SL-BMRS, or a combination of at least two beams of the first set of SL-BMRS and the second set of SL-BMRS (Ganesan, paras. [0067], [0072], Id.); and
attempting to establish or establishing communication based on the beam report information (Ganesan, paras. [0067], [0072], Id. cf. Claim 1).
Ganesan et al. may not seem to describe the identical claimed invention, however in the same field of endeavor, Okvist et al. provides prior art disclosure for the claimed invention, such as transmitting at least one beam of a first set of sidelink, SL, beam management reference signals, -BMRS, and at least one beam of a second set of SL-BMRS, wherein the first set corresponds to a wide beam group and the second set corresponds to a narrow beam group (Okvist, paras. [0111], [0116], Id.) The prior art disclosure and suggestions of Okvist et al. are for reasons of improving the use of direct V2X/D2D communication links (Okvist, paras. [0010], [0116], Id.) In view of the prior art of record, the claimed invention 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, for reasons of improving the use of direct V2X/D2D communication links.
16. A method (Ganesan, FIG. 4, Id.), comprising:
receiving at least one beam of a first set of sidelink, SL, beam management reference signals, -BMRS, and at least one beam of a second set of SL-BMRS, wherein the first set corresponds to a wide beam group and the second set corresponds to a narrow beam group (Okvist, paras. [0111], [0116], Id.),
transmitting a beam report information indicative of a quality information about at least one of the at least one received beam of the first set of SL-BMRS, or at least one received beam of the second set of SL-BMRS (Ganesan, paras. [0067], [0072], Id.);
wherein the beam report information comprises an indicator that is suitable to identify such at least one beam of at least one of the first set of SL-BMRS, or the second set of SL-BMRS (Ganesan, paras. [0067], [0072], Id.); and
attempting to establish or establishing communication (Ganesan, paras. [0067], [0072], Id. cf. Claim 1).
Ganesan et al. may not seem to describe the identical claimed invention, however in the same field of endeavor, Okvist et al. provides prior art disclosure for the claimed invention, such as receiving at least one beam of a first set of sidelink, SL, beam management reference signals, -BMRS, and at least one beam of a second set of SL-BMRS, wherein the first set corresponds to a wide beam group and the second set corresponds to a narrow beam group (Okvist, paras. [0111], [0116], Id.) The prior art disclosure and suggestions of Okvist et al. are for reasons of improving the use of direct V2X/D2D communication links (Okvist, paras. [0010], [0116], Id.) In view of the prior art of record, the claimed invention 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, for reasons of improving the use of direct V2X/D2D communication links.
17. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause an apparatus (Ganesan, FIG. 2, Id.) to perform the method of claim 15.
18. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause an apparatus (Ganesan, FIG. 2, Id.) to perform the method of claim 16.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112 that forms the basis for all indefiniteness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 10 recites “the antenna elements” (l. 3) whereas there is insufficient antecedent basis for said limitation in the claim.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record (PTO-1449, PTO-892) and not relied upon is considered pertinent to the subject matter of the present U.S. non-provisional application.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. MPEP 706.07(a). 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Timothy J. Weidner whose telephone number is (571) 270-1825. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Eastern Standard Time.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ayaz R. Sheikh can be reached on (571) 272-3795. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/TIMOTHY J WEIDNER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2476
Prosecution Insights