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 .
This Office action is in response to the Applicant's election without traverse of Group I (claims 1-13) in the reply filed on 02/11/2026. Claims 14-30 have been canceled, and new claims 31-43 have been added.
Claims 1-13 and 31-43 are presented for examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) submitted on 12/19/2024 and 06/05/2023 are compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statements are considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-13 and 31-43 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xia et al. (US 2023/0129257 A1), in view of SHIN et al. (US 2022/0399917 A1), SCHUBERT et al. (US 2020/0314828 A1).
As to claims 1 and 31, Xia discloses the invention as claimed, including a first user equipment (UE) (Fig. 1, 104), comprising:
one or more processors configured to execute instructions stored on one or more memories to cause the first UE to: (Fig. 6, 605; ¶0006, “an electronic device includes: a non-transitory memory storage comprising instructions; and one or more hardware processors in communication with the memory storage, where the one or more hardware processors execute the instructions to perform operations”):
transmit signaling to a first base station (Fig. 1, 102) (¶0005, “transmitting, by a first electronic device and to a base station, uplink sounding reference signals (UL-SRSs)”; ¶0006, “transmitting, to a base station, uplink sounding reference signals (UL-SRSs)”; ¶0008, “receiving, by a base station and from a first electronic device, uplink sounding reference signals (UL-SRSs)”; ¶0084, “The transmitting circuit 706 is configured to transmit an uplink sounding reference signal (UL-SRS)”) including:
an indication regarding a first SL transmission beam that the UE intends to use to transmit the one or more SL transmissions (¶0005, “receiving, by the first electronic device and from the base station, information associated with sidelink beam management (SL-BM), where the information associated with SL-BM indicates SL resources allocated to the first electronic device and beam pattern indices indicating transmit beam patterns for SL-BM”; ¶0034, “indicate to the UE 204 that if the UE 204 wants to perform sidelink beam management with the particular RxUE, the UE 204 should use transmit beams 211-215 to transmit SL-BMRS”);
receive a grant for the resources to transmit the one or more SL transmissions, wherein the grant provides an indication regarding a SL transmission beam to use for transmitting the one or more SL transmissions (¶0005, “receiving, by the first electronic device and from the base station, information associated with sidelink beam management (SL-BM), where the information associated with SL-BM indicates SL resources allocated to the first electronic device and beam pattern indices indicating transmit beam patterns for SL-B”; ¶0009; ¶0057, “the base station 402 can transmit configuration information indicating the SL-BMRS transmission resources to the UE 404. The SL-BMRS transmission resources can be scheduled based on the Q recommended transmit beams”; ¶0062, “the first electronic device receives from the base station information associated with sidelink beam management (SL-BM). The information associated with SL-BM can indicate SL resources allocated to the first electronic device and beam pattern indices indicating transmit beam patterns for SL-BM”); and
transmit the one or more SL transmissions on the granted resources using the SL transmission beam (¶0046, “transmit configuration information indicating the SL-BMRS transmission resources to the UE 304. The SL-BMRS transmission resources can be scheduled based on the Q recommended transmit beams”; ¶0057, “the base station 402 can transmit configuration information indicating the SL-BMRS transmission resources to the UE 404. The SL-BMRS transmission resources can be scheduled based on the Q recommended transmit beams”).
Although Xia discloses that the base station can schedule sidelink transmission resources for the UE (Figs. 3-4; ¶0033; ¶0042, “At 312, the UE 304 can choose up to N different transmit beams, and transmit SRS on the N UL-SRS resources to the base station 302”; ¶0046, “At 316, the base station 302 can schedule SL-BMRS transmission resources for the UE 304”; ¶0057, “At 416, the base station 402 can schedule SL-BMRS transmission resources for the UE 404. For example, the base station 402 can transmit configuration information indicating the SL-BMRS transmission resources to the UE 404”), Xia does not specifically disclose a request for resources to transmit one or more sidelink (SL) transmissions.
However, SHIN discloses a request for resources to transmit one or more sidelink (SL) transmissions (Fig. 4, 430; ¶0097, “The Tx UE 401 may request a transmission resource through which V2X communication with the Rx UE(s) 402 can be performed from the base station (indicated by reference numeral 430). In this case, the Tx UE 401 may request sidelink transmission resources from the gNB 403 by using a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), an RRC message, or a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE)”; ¶0237, “the UE needs to request a PSSCH resource from the base station in order to report the SL CSI (mode1) or the UE needs to select the PSSCH resource through direct sensing (mode2)”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Xia to include a request for resources to transmit one or more sidelink (SL) transmissions, as taught by SHIN because it would optimize resource utilization and improve the interference management, thereby enhancing link quality and communication range (SHIN; ¶0094; ¶0206).
Although Xia discloses receiving a grant for the resources to transmit the one or more SL transmissions, wherein the grant provides an indication regarding a SL transmission beam to use for transmitting the one or more SL transmissions (Xia discloses that the base station provides "information associated with Sidelink Beam Management (SL-BM)”, and the beam management is determined using beam patterns; ¶0005; ¶0009; ¶0057; ¶0062); and transmitting the one or more SL transmissions on the granted resources using the SL transmission beam (¶0046; ¶0057), Xia does not specifically disclose wherein the grant provides an indication regarding a second SL transmission beam to use for transmitting the one or more SL transmissions; and transmit the one or more SL transmissions on the granted resources using the second SL transmission beam.
However, SCHUBERT discloses receive a grant for the resources to transmit the one or more SL transmissions, wherein the grant provides an indication regarding a second SL transmission beam to use for transmitting the one or more SL transmissions
(¶0042, “beamforming, or switching on/off the sidelink beams. A UE can measure the beams of other UEs and send the interference matrix, including phase and amplitude for each strongest beam from other UEs in a cluster, back to the base station along with the beam indices. The base station then decides to switch on/off the corresponding sidelink transmit beams causing interference”; ¶0049, “the base stations may jointly decide to perform beamforming, switch off/on the sidelink beams or control the power of the beams in the cluster”; ¶0054, “The cloud server maintains the list of UEs in a cluster and manages interference both within and among clusters by switching off/on beams, or transmit power control”; ¶0058, “By coordinating between base stations to manage interference among UEs by dynamic beam configuration, sidelink reliability and system capacity are enhanced”); and transmit the one or more SL transmissions on the granted resources using the second SL transmission beam (¶0009, “controlling beamformed signals that are transmitted by a cluster of devices, the network controller being configured to allocate each device a beam index, which determines a respective beam reference signal structure, to use when transmitting beamformed signals over a sidelink between the devices”; ¶0012, “he network controller may be configured to control interference between the beamformed signals by allocating and deallocating beam indices. The network controller may be configured to control interference between the beamformed signals by associating a beam index with an acceptable transmit power”; ¶0042, “Interference may be reduced by adjusting the beam configuration. This may include beamforming, or switching on/off the sidelink beams…The base station then decides to switch on/off the corresponding sidelink transmit beams causing interference”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Xia to include wherein the grant provides an indication regarding a second SL transmission beam to use for transmitting the one or more SL transmissions; and transmit the one or more SL transmissions on the granted resources using the second SL transmission beam, as taught by SCHUBERT because it would optimize resource usage and reduce interference by precisely directing energy and enabling robust communication between UEs through efficient beam switching (SCHUBERT; ¶0041; ¶0057; ¶0058).
As to claims 2 and 4, they are rejected for the same reasons set forth in claim 1 above. In addition, SHIN discloses wherein the request comprises a buffer status report and the one or more SL transmissions comprise SL control and data transmissions (¶0097, “the MAC CE may be, for example, a buffer status report (BSR) MAC CE of a new format (at least including an indicator indicating a buffer status report for V2X communication and information on the size of data buffered for D2D communication)”; ¶0191, “information for beam management may be configured through PC5-RRC. Specifically, enabling/disabling of beam management, a transmission periodicity and start position of SL CSI-RS, and a transmission periodicity and start position of SL CSI reporting may be configured through PC5-RRC”; ¶0215, “indicate the best transmission beam to the receiving UE through PC5-MAC CE”); wherein, in order to transmit the indication regarding the first SL transmission beam, the one or more processors are configured to cause the first UE to transmit the indication regarding the first SL transmission beam in at least one of: a media access control control element (MAC CE) used for carrying a buffer status report; a media access control control element (MAC CE) that is separate from a MAC CE used for carrying a buffer status report; or radio resource control (RRC) signaling (¶0097, “the Tx UE 401 may request sidelink transmission resources from the gNB 403 by using a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), an RRC message, or a medium access control (MAC) control element (CE)”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Xia to include the limitation above as taught by SHIN because it would optimize resource utilization and improve the interference management, thereby enhancing link quality and communication range (SHIN; ¶0094; ¶0206).
As to claim 3, Xia discloses the first UE of claim 1, wherein the indication regarding the first SL transmission beam comprises at least one of: a beam index of the first SL transmission beam; a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) state associated with the first SL transmission beam; or an indication of a quasi colocated (QCL) relationship between the first SL transmission beam and an uplink transmission beam used for uplink transmissions to the first base station, wherein the uplink transmission beam associated with a sounding reference signal resource index (SRI) (¶0025, “transmit a transmitter quasi co-located (Tx-QCL) relationship (or an Anti-Tx-QCL relationship) between the UL-SRS and a sidelink beam management reference signal (SL-BMRS) to the first electronic device”; ¶0033, “the reference signal can be an uplink sounding reference signal (UL-SRS) in an uplink transmission, and a sidelink sounding reference signal (SL-SRS) in a sidelink transmission”; ¶0034, “Tx-QCL relationship, the UE 204 can use the same transmit beamforming vector (or filter) to transmit SL-BMRS on sidelink resources and to transmit UL-SRS on uplink resources”; ¶0057).
As to claim 5, it is rejected for the same reasons set forth in claim 1 above. In addition, Xia discloses wherein the SL transmission beam to use for transmitting the one or more SL transmissions indicated by the received grant comprises the first SL transmission beam or an uplink transmission beam that has a quasi colocated (QCL) relationship with the first SL transmission beam (¶0025, “transmit a transmitter quasi co-located (Tx-QCL) relationship (or an Anti-Tx-QCL relationship) between the UL-SRS and a sidelink beam management reference signal (SL-BMRS) to the first electronic device”; ¶0034, “Tx-QCL relationship, the UE 204 can use the same transmit beamforming vector (or filter) to transmit SL-BMRS on sidelink resources and to transmit UL-SRS on uplink resources”; ¶0057).
As to claim 6, it is rejected for the same reasons set forth in claim 1 above. In addition, Xia discloses the SL transmission beam comprises the first SL transmission beam indicated by the first UE when the grant does not include an explicit indication of the SL transmission beam (It is noted that a default beam operation is well known in the art; ¶0028, “sidelink mode 1 is considered. In sidelink mode 1, a transmitting UE (TxUE), such as the UE 104, is under coverage of the base station 102. A receiving UE (RxUE), such as the UE 106, may or may not under coverage of the base station 102”; ¶0033, “perform measurements of the eight transmissions. In some implementations, scheduling of the eight transmissions and configuration of corresponding uplink time or frequency resources can be determined by the base station 202, and the eight directions (i.e., the eight transmit beams 211-218) can be determined by the UE 204”; ¶0046; ¶0057).
As to claim 7, Xia discloses the first UE of claim 1, wherein the one or more SL transmissions comprise at least one of SL demodulation reference signals (DMRSs) or SL channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs) (¶0033, “Each transmission can include a reference signal. For example, the reference signal can be an uplink sounding reference signal (UL-SRS) in an uplink transmission, and a sidelink sounding reference signal (SL-SRS) in a sidelink transmission”; ¶0040, “a sidelink channel state information reference signal (SL-CSIRS)”).
As to claim 8, Xia discloses the first UE of claim 1, wherein: wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the first UE to: receive additional signaling from the first BS; and prioritize, based on the received additional signaling, the one or more SL transmissions over other transmissions; or transmit, based the received additional signaling, an indication to the first BS when the first UE is not able to perform the one or more SL transmissions based on the requested resources (¶0028, “sidelink mode 1 is considered. In sidelink mode 1, a transmitting UE (TxUE), such as the UE 104, is under coverage of the base station 102. A receiving UE (RxUE), such as the UE 106, may or may not under coverage of the base station 102. In some implementations, other sidelink modes can be considered in FIG. 1”; ¶0031, “the base station 202 may prohibit the UE 204 from using transmit beams 216-218, that are toward the base station 202, to transmit SL-BMRS”; ¶0036, “the base station 202 can transmit to the UE 204 beam pattern (or direction) prohibitions for sidelink beam sweeping with a particular RxUE (e.g., RxUE-specific prohibitions)”; ¶0037, “the prohibitions can instruct the UE 204 not to use the prohibited transmit beams 216-218”). ¶0043, “the base station 302 can measure the N transmissions on the N UL-SRS resources, and transmit recommendations (or prohibitions) to the UE 304 for sidelink beam management with the UE 306 based on the measurements”).
As to claims 9 and 39, they are rejected for the same reasons set forth in claim 1 above. In addition, Xia discloses a first base station (BS) (Fig. 1, 102; ¶0009-¶0010)
one or more processors configured to execute instructions stored on one or more memories to cause the first BS to: (¶0009, “a base station includes: a non-transitory memory storage comprising instructions; and one or more hardware processors in communication with the memory storage, where the one or more hardware processors execute the instructions to perform operations”; ¶0010):
receive signaling from a first user equipment (UE) (¶0005, “transmitting, by a first electronic device and to a base station, uplink sounding reference signals (UL-SRSs)”; ¶0006, “transmitting, to a base station, uplink sounding reference signals (UL-SRSs)”; ¶0008, “receiving, by a base station and from a first electronic device, uplink sounding reference signals (UL-SRSs)”; ¶0084, “The transmitting circuit 706 is configured to transmit an uplink sounding reference signal (UL-SRS)”).
Xia does not specifically disclose transmitting signaling to a second BS indicating the resources for use by the first UE for transmitting the one or more SL transmissions.
However, SCHUBERT discloses transmitting signaling to a second BS indicating the resources for use by the first UE for transmitting the one or more SL transmissions (Fig. 1, 7; Fig. 2; Fig. 3; ¶0033, “FIG. 2 further illustrates the scenario where there are two base stations and three UEs and shows the signals exchanged between the base stations and the three UEs”; ¶0035; ¶0037, “In order to maintain unique beam indices for cooperative beam grouping in a cluster with the help of the base station, information regarding the sidelink beam indices for a particular device attached to a base station is forwarded to the neighboring base stations that share the same cluster via inter-base station interface 7”; ¶0047, “In the case of a cluster established among multiple base stations, information regarding the unique reference signals or beam indices is exchanged on the inter-base station interface to jointly select the unique beam index, shown at 31”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Xia to include transmitting signaling to a second BS indicating the resources for use by the first UE for transmitting the one or more SL transmissions, as taught by SCHUBERT because it would allow the beam indices to be adjusted in the neighboring base station, such that unique beam indices are maintained in the cluster of UEs connected among base stations (SCHUBERT; ¶0037).
As to claim 10, it is rejected for the same reasons set forth in claim 3 above.
As to claim 11, it is rejected for the same reasons set forth in claim 5 above.
As to claim 12, SCHUBERT discloses wherein the transceiver is further configured to receive signaling from the second base station indicating sidelink (SL) cross-link interference (CLI) measurements performed by a second UE associated with the second base station; and the first BS further comprises a processing system including at least one processor configured to adjust, based on the received SL CLI measurements, at least one of a time division duplexing (TDD) configuration associated with the first UE; or one or more uplink transmission beams of the first UE (¶0040, “Sidelink interference matrix measurements performed by the UEs in the cluster are then reported to the base stations along with the beam indices, so that the base stations know the beam indices that are responsible for creating the interference”; ¶0041, “In order to minimize interference and enhance the desired vehicle-to-vehicle links among the cluster or to other clusters, the base stations may jointly perform interference management, shown at 12 in FIG. 2”; ¶0042, “Interference may be reduced by adjusting the beam configuration. This may include beamforming, or switching on/off the sidelink beams. A UE can measure the beams of other UEs and send the interference matrix, including phase and amplitude for each strongest beam from other UEs in a cluster, back to the base station along with the beam indices. The base station then decides to switch on/off the corresponding sidelink transmit beams causing interference”; ¶0044; ¶0049; ¶0052; ¶0058). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Xia to include the limitations, as taught by SCHUBERT because it would optimize resource usage and reduce interference by precisely directing energy and enabling robust communication between UEs through efficient beam switching (SCHUBERT; ¶0041; ¶0057; ¶0058).
As to claim 13, it is rejected for the same reasons set forth in claim 8 above.
As to claims 32-38, they are rejected for the same reasons set forth in claims 2-8 above, respectively.
As to claims 40-43, they are rejected for the same reasons set forth in claims 10-13 above, respectively.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
YING et al. (US 2022/0116129 A1), VEJLGAARD et al. (US 2022/0030522 A1), Li et al. (US 12,432,695 B2), Belleschi et al. (US 2022/0039082 A1) disclose method and apparatus for sidelink resource allocation for enhanced mobility.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JUNGWON CHANG whose telephone number is (571)272-3960. The examiner can normally be reached 9AM-5:30PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, GLENTON BURGESS can be reached at (571)272-3949. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JUNGWON CHANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2454 March 5, 2026