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 .
General Remarks
Examiner acknowledges Applicants election of Group II (claims 10-14) for Examination on the merits and withdrawal of claims 1-9 and 15-20 from further consideration.
Examiner requires changing of label of non-elected claims from “Withdrawn” to “Cancelled”.
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 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.
Claim(s) 10-11,13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a)(2) as being unpatentable over ELAZZOUNI et al (US 20240049283 A1) hereinafter as ELAZZOUNI in view of Rastegardoost et al (US 20250227757 A1) hereinafter as Rastegardoost.
Regarding claim(s) 10, ELAZZOUNI discloses a method, comprising:
performing, by a processor of an apparatus, a channel access procedure to initiate a channel occupancy time (COT) for sidelink (SL) over unlicensed spectrum (SL-U) communications with a peer apparatus (See Fig(s). 1, 3, See ¶ 75, the first sidelink UE may perform an LBT procedure or other CCA to gain access to the COT 320 in an unlicensed (e.g., shared) frequency spectrum.);
retaining, by the processor, the initiated COT by filling a gap between two consecutive transmissions. (See Fig(s). 14, step 1450, See ¶ 99, 171, If a COT sharing UE does not have data to transmit in its respective allocated time, the COT sharing UE may transmit random data to retain the COT.).
ELAZZOUNI fails to disclose filling a gap in an event that the apparatus has the two consecutive transmissions to perform.
Rastegardoost discloses filling a gap in an event that the apparatus has the two consecutive transmissions to perform (See Fig(s). 31, See ¶ 439-441, a UE may perform/use CP extension (CPE) for NR sidelink operation in a shared channel, e.g., to fill a gap within a (shared) COT, and/or between the end of the LBT procedure and the start of the SL transmission to retain channel access.).
Gap filling within COT of sidelink communications ensures retaining of desired time slots for transmission between entities of interest without disruption and/or data loss.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the teachings of Rastegardoost within ELAZZOUNI, so as to enhance overall network performance between UEs.
Regarding claim(s) 11, ELAZZOUNI discloses wherein the filling of the gap between two consecutive transmissions comprises: transmitting, by the processor, a cyclic prefix extension (CPE) in one or more guard symbols (See ¶ 90, In some aspects, the COT sharing information may indicate the same cyclic prefix extension (CPE) length 412 allocated to the second sidelink UE).
Regarding claim(s) 13, ELAZZOUNI discloses wherein the filling of the gap between two consecutive transmissions comprises: transmitting, by the processor, data or a pre-defined sequence in symbols corresponding to a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) occasion where no acknowledgement (ACK) or non-acknowledgement (NACK) is to be transmitted (See Fig(s). 14, step 1450, See ¶ 99, 171, If a COT sharing UE does not have data to transmit in its respective allocated time, the COT sharing UE may transmit random data to retain the COT….no ack is initiated for COT retention).
Regarding claim(s) 14, ELAZZOUNI discloses wherein the data comprises physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) data (See ¶ 78,103), and wherein the pre-defined sequence comprises a PSFCH-like signal (See Fig(s). 1, See ¶ 114, the UE 115j may transmit the COT access request via a PSSCH, a PSCCH, a PSFCH, SCI, a MAC CE message, a unicast message, a groupcast message….. The UE 115i and the UE 115k may interpret the single bit PSFCH as a COT access request when there is no mapping of the PSFCH to a PSSCH.)
Claim(s) 12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over ELAZZOUNI et al (20240049283 A1) hereinafter as ELAZZOUNI in view of Rastegardoost et al (US 20250227757 A1) hereinafter as Rastegardoost further in view of Chien (20250386371 A1).
Regarding claim(s) 12, Chien discloses wherein the one or more guard symbols comprise at least one of a first guard symbol before an automatic gain control (AGC) symbol of a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) and a second guard symbol at the end of an SL slot (See Fig(s). 8, See ¶ 438-439, 452-453A guard symbol can be reused for PSSCH transmission if the guard symbol is not present. An AGC symbol at the first symbol of an SL slot can be reused for PSSCH transmission if the guard symbol at the end of the previous SL slot is not indicated.).
A guard period which allows Tx-Rx or Rx-Tx switching provides for proper synching between terminals of interest.
Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the teachings of Chien within ELAZZOUNI, so as to provide for proper synching between terminals of interest.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 10-14 have been considered but are moot based on new grounds of rejection.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See 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 date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAJ JAIN whose telephone number is (571)-272-3145. The examiner can normally be reached on M-Th 8-5.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Derrick Ferris can be reached 571-272-2123. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/RAJ JAIN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411
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