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 .
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 89, 93 and 101 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang et al (US 2020/0205166, hereinafter Huang), in view of Hong et al (US 2020/0236600, hereinafter Hong) and in view of Balasubramanian et al (US 2021/0314112, hereinafter Balasubramanian).
Regarding claim 89, Huang discloses an apparatus for wireless communication at a second user equipment (UE, Fig. 2), comprising: a processor and memory (processor and memory, Fig. 2) coupled with the processor; and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: transmit a first sidelink message to a first UE, the first sidelink message indicating a first set of candidate sidelink carriers of the second UE for a sidelink control connection (one UE indicates one or more candidate carriers to another UE via first message, Para [0298]); receive, from the first UE, a second sidelink message indicating or activating at least one sidelink carrier of the first set of candidate sidelink carriers for establishing the sidelink control connection (the other UE transmits second message indicating one or more carriers selected by that UE, Para [0298]); and establish the sidelink control connection between the first UE and the second UE using the at least one sidelink carrier based at least in part on the second sidelink message (transmitting sidelink control channel on the carrier, Para [0304] and sidelink connection establishment, Para [0298]); but does not disclose supporting carrier aggregation using multiple sidelink carriers. Hong discloses carrier aggregation in sidelink is supported, where a carrier is selected among aggregated carriers for sidelink communication, Para [0008] and initial carrier selection of one or more carriers is based on the carrier’s conditions, for example based on CBR level, Para [0086], measured CBR for carriers in order to select one, Para [0096]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to utilize the techniques taught by Hong in the system of Huang in order to avoid unnecessary carrier reselection and to apply benefits of carrier aggregations to sidelink communications; nor explicitly discloses the joint set of candidate sidelink carriers comprising one or more carriers common to the first set of candidate sidelink carriers of the second UE and a second set of candidate sidelink carriers of the first UE. Balasubramanian discloses there can be a first and second set of carriers, where they overlap completely or partially, meaning both sets have common carriers, Para [0017]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to utilize the techniques taught by Balasubramanian in the system of Huang in view of Hong in order to exchange useful channel usage statistics to enable more efficient usage of carriers.
Regarding claim 93, Haung discloses the apparatus of claim 89, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: configure the second UE with an initial sidelink carrier for sidelink control messaging between the first UE and the second UE, wherein the initial sidelink carrier comprises a configured sidelink carrier, a preconfigured sidelink carrier, or a default sidelink carrier (the first UE is configured and/or pre-configured to perform sidelink transmission on a plurality of carriers, Para [0298], in this case a pre-configured carrier).
Regarding claim 101, Huang discloses a method for wireless communication at a second user equipment (UE), comprising: transmitting a first sidelink message to a first UE, the first sidelink message indicating a first set of candidate sidelink carriers of the second UE for a sidelink control connection (one UE indicates one or more candidate carriers to another UE via first message, Para [0298]); receiving, from the first UE, a second sidelink message indicating or activating at least one sidelink carrier of the first set of candidate sidelink carriers for establishing the sidelink control connection (the other UE transmits second message indicating one or more carriers selected by that UE, Para [0298]); and establishing the sidelink control connection between the first UE and the second UE using the at least one sidelink carrier based at least in part on the second sidelink message (transmitting sidelink control channel on the carrier, Para [0304] and sidelink connection establishment, Para [0298]); but does not disclose supporting carrier aggregation using multiple sidelink carriers. Hong discloses carrier aggregation in sidelink is supported, where a carrier is selected among aggregated carriers for sidelink communication, Para [0008] and initial carrier selection of one or more carriers is based on the carrier’s conditions, for example based on CBR level, Para [0086], measured CBR for carriers in order to select one, Para [0096]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to utilize the techniques taught by Hong in the system of Huang in order to avoid unnecessary carrier reselection and to apply benefits of carrier aggregations to sidelink communications; nor explicitly discloses the joint set of candidate sidelink carriers comprising one or more carriers common to the first set of candidate sidelink carriers of the second UE and a second set of candidate sidelink carriers of the first UE. Balasubramanian discloses there can be a first and second set of carriers, where they overlap completely or partially, meaning both sets have common carriers, Para [0017]. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to utilize the techniques taught by Balasubramanian in the system of Huang in view of Hong in order to exchange useful channel usage statistics to enable more efficient usage of carriers.
Claims 95-99 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang, in view of Hong, in view of Balasubramanian and in view of Bao et al (US 2022/0141824, hereinafter Bao).
Regarding claim 97, Huang discloses the apparatus of claim 89, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: configure the at least one sidelink carrier as a sidelink anchor carrier for the sidelink control connection based at least in part on the second sidelink message; and communicate one or more additional sidelink control messages with the second UE using the sidelink anchor carrier (the selected carrier being the anchor carrier is obvious to one of ordinary skill in view of the references as is transmitting multiple control signals on it). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to utilize the techniques taught by Bao in the system of Huang in view of Hong and Balasubramanian in order to meet transmission requirements by using multiple sidelink carriers.
Regarding claim 95, Huang discloses the apparatus of claim 89, wherein the second sidelink message indicates the at least one sidelink carrier for establishing the sidelink control connection, the at least one sidelink carrier comprising a set of sidelink anchor carriers for establishing the sidelink control connection (the other UE transmits second message indicating one or more carriers selected by that UE, Para [0298], the selected carriers are “anchor” carriers).
Regarding claim 96, Huang discloses the apparatus of claim 95, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: receive the second sidelink message over a configured sidelink carrier, a preconfigured sidelink carrier, or a default sidelink carrier (the first UE is configured and/or pre-configured to perform sidelink transmission on a plurality of carriers, Para [0298], in this case a pre-configured carrier).
Regarding claim 98, Huang discloses the apparatus of claim 89, but not wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: measure one or more channel parameters of at least one candidate sidelink carrier of the first set of candidate sidelink carriers of the second UE; select at least a second sidelink carrier for reconfiguring the sidelink control connection based at least in part on the one or more channel parameters satisfying a threshold; transmit, to the first UE, a third sidelink message indicating the at least the second sidelink carrier; and receive, from the first UE, a reconfiguration message for reconfiguring the sidelink control connection between the first UE and the second UE using the at least the second sidelink carrier as a second sidelink anchor carrier based at least in part on transmitting the third sidelink control message. Hong discloses initial carrier selection of one or more carriers is based on the carrier’s conditions, for example based on CBR level, Para [0086], measured CBR for carriers in order to select one, Para [0096] and there is a CBR threshold for initial carrier selection, Para [0112], further it is an obvious variation to one of ordinary skill, that a UE can select another carrier again and both UEs will transmit over the next selected carrier).. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to utilize the techniques taught by Hong in the system of Huang in order to avoid unnecessary carrier reselection and to apply benefits of carrier aggregations to sidelink communications.
Regarding claim 99, Huang discloses the apparatus of claim 98, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: communicate one or more additional sidelink control messages with the second UE using the second sidelink anchor carrier after reconfiguring the sidelink control connection (obvious to one of ordinary skill multiple messages can be transmitted over the carrier).
Claims 90-92 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang, in view of Hong, in view of Bao, in view of Balasubramanian, in view of Lee (US 2022/0104209, hereinafter Lee) and in view of Wang (US 2022/0039096, hereinafter Wang).
Regarding claim 90, Huang discloses the apparatus of claim 89, but not fully wherein the second sidelink message indicates a configuration of the at least one sidelink carrier for establishing the at least one sidelink carrier as a sidelink anchor carrier, the second sidelink message comprising a radio resource control (RRC) message or a media access control (MAC) control element (MAC-CE), the instructions further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: configure the at least one sidelink carrier as the sidelink anchor carrier for the sidelink control connection based at least in part on the second sidelink message. Wang discloses a UE can transmit a MAC CE or RRC message indicating the selected BWP, Para [0065], in view of combination of references, the UE can indicate the selected carrier(s) with a primary carrier using MAC CE or RRC. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to utilize the techniques taught by Wang in the system of Huang in view of Hong, Balasubramanian, Lee and Bao in order to prevent collisions and to improve load balancing and efficiently allocate spectrum.
Regarding claim 91, Huang discloses the apparatus of claim 90, but not wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: receive a sidelink control message using a logic channel for sidelink control messaging based at least in part on a mapping of the logic channel to the sidelink anchor carrier. Lee discloses a carrier is mapped to a logical channel for sidelink process, Para [0310], in view with Bao, a logical channel is mapped to a primary carrier and PSSCH is transmitted on that carrier. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to utilize the techniques taught by Lee in the system of Huang in view of Hong, Balasubramanian, Wang and Bao in order to prevent collisions and to prioritize either uplink or sidelink communication.
Regarding claim 92, Huang discloses the apparatus of claim 89, wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to: receive a sidelink control message using a logic channel for sidelink control messaging based at least in part on a mapping of the logic channel to the at least one sidelink carrier. Lee discloses a carrier is mapped to a logical channel for sidelink process, Para [0310], in view with Bao, a logical channel is mapped to a primary carrier and PSSCH is transmitted on that carrier. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to utilize the techniques taught by Lee in the system of Huang in view of Hong, Balasubramanian, Wang and Bao in order to prevent collisions and to prioritize either uplink or sidelink communication.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 71-85, 87, 88 and 100 are allowed.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 1/29/2026 have been fully considered but they are not fully persuasive. Applicant argues the references do not disclose the limitations in the claim. Applicant argues over independent claims 71 and 100. The argument is moot, as in view of the amendments the rejection has been withdrawn. Applicant argues over independent claims 89 and 101, where Applicant states the references do not disclose the amended limitations. Applicant cites portions of Balasubramanian and states the references does not disclose a join set of candidate carriers with one or more carriers common to first and second set of carriers. Applicant then argues Balasubramnian does not disclose activating the one sidelink carrier from the joint set of carriers. In response, the first and second set of carriers can completely overlap. Balasubramanian discloses there can be a first and second set of carriers, where they overlap completely or partially, meaning both sets have common carriers, Para [0017]. The first UE receives a first set of candidate carriers from the second UE (and it is unstated in the claim, that the first UE may have its own different set of candidate carriers). The first UE may be aware of a “joint” set of carriers but not the second UE. The limitation states the second UE “receives, from the first UE, a second sidelink message indicating or activating at least one sidelink carrier”. Therefore, it appears the second UE can receive a message indicating just a single sidelink carrier, the joint carrier set is not indicated to the second UE. Applicant also argues over Balasubramanian alone and not the combination of references. Huang is used to disclose the limitation of the first UE indicating a carrier to the second UE. In summary, the joint carrier set is not something the second UE knows about, as it can receive just a single selected carrier from the first UE. Secondly, the set of candidate carriers at the second UE can be the same set of candidates at the first UE, so the “joint” set is just the same set of candidate carriers.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN CUNNINGHAM whose telephone number is (571) 272-1765. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Thursday 7:30-18:00 (EST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Huy Vu can be reached on (571) 272-3155. The fax number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/KEVIN M CUNNINGHAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461