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 .
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.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 7/13/2026 has been entered.
Claim Objections
Claims 1-38 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Regarding claims 1, 21, 28 and 35, “each respective time-domain variation” should be changed to “the respective time-domain variation” because these claims only recites “a respective time-domain variation” previously in each claim.
Also, numerous recitations of the phrase “sidelink resources” in the claims are unclear whether they are the same or different resources. Examiner suggests adding “the” before all subsequent recitations of this phrase if they are the same sidelink resources.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1, 8-12, 19-20, 28 and 31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 2020/0267025 (hereinafter Yu) in view of US 2024/0022375 (hereinafter Keating).
Regarding claims 1, 12, 28, and 31, Yu teaches a first user equipment (UE) for wireless communications, comprising: one or more memories; and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and configured to cause the first UE to: receive, at the first UE, a first indication of a periodic set of sidelink resources ([0038]-[0040]: details The SL SRS configuration is obtained by the remote/relay UE through receiving the SL SRS configuration from a network equipment such as eNB; The transmission/receiving of SRS from the relay/remote UE can be either periodic or aperiodic in which the transmission/receiving of SL SRS usually follows indication information indicating the SRS transmission/receiving; Additionally, the SRS may be… a set of SRS; The SL SRS is used for SL channel measurement hereinafter) for a reference signal measurement associated with a plurality of reference signals and a respective time-domain variation corresponding to each UE of a plurality of UEs ([0038]-[0040][0056][0030]: details Additionally, the SRS may be… a set of SRS; The SL SRS is used for SL channel measurement hereinafter; the frequency/time resource of subband SL SRS can follow legacy hopping rules; The SL SRS configuration is obtained by the remote/relay UE through… receiving the SL SRS configuration from the relay/remote unit; intended use of the resources so no patentable weight); transmit, from the first UE, a second indication of the periodic set of sidelink resources ([0038][0030]: details The SL SRS configuration is obtained by the remote/relay UE through… receiving the SL SRS configuration from the relay/remote unit) for the reference signal measurement and the respective time-domain variation for the each UE ([0056]: details the frequency/time resource of subband SL SRS can follow legacy hopping rules; intended use of the resources so no patentable weight); and communicate, at the first UE, the plurality of reference signals over the periodic set of sidelink resources according to each respective time-domain variation for the each UE ([0038]: details Disclosed herein are methods, apparatus, and systems that provide a mechanism of SL SRS transmission on a SL. As described herein, the SRS is based on a SL SRS configuration which configures location information of the SRS in the time-frequency domain.).
Yu does not explicitly teach wherein each respective time-domain variation is indicative of one or more offsets for sidelink resources corresponding to the each UE by which one or more reference signals of the plurality of reference signals are to be communicated with the each UE.
However, Keating teaches wherein each respective time-domain variation is indicative of one or more offsets ([0077][0086]: details the resource configuration comprises a set of resource offsets, where each resource offset indicates an offset from a second sidelink resource to one of the sidelink resources for transmitting RSs. The second sidelink resource used for transmitting a second reference signal from the first terminal device 110 to the plurality of positioning terminal devices 120. In some example embodiments, the resource configuration comprises a set of timing offsets, which indicates the time offset between a time point of receiving the second RS at the positioning terminal devices 120 and the time points of transmitting the RSs to the first terminal device 110 by the positioning terminal devices 120, respectively) for sidelink resources corresponding to the each UE by which one or more reference signals of the plurality of reference signals are to be communicated with the each UE ([0077][0086]: details In some example embodiments, the resource configuration comprises a set of timing offsets, which indicates the time offset between a time point of receiving the second RS at the positioning terminal devices 120 and the time points of transmitting the RSs to the first terminal device 110 by the positioning terminal devices 120, respectively; intended use for the offset so no patentable weight).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yu to incorporate the teachings of Keating and include wherein each respective time-domain variation is indicative of one or more offsets for sidelink resources corresponding to the each UE by which one or more reference signals of the plurality of reference signals are to be communicated with the each UE of Keating with Yu. Doing so would provide a solution for coordinated positioning via sidelink resource (Keating, at paragraph [0004]).
Regarding claim 8, Yu teaches wherein, to indicate the periodic set of sidelink resources for the reference signal measurement, the one or more processors are configured to cause the first UE to: broadcast, from the first UE, the second indication of the periodic set of sidelink resources including a periodicity for the periodic set of sidelink resources and the respective time-domain variation for the each UE ([0006]: details Both 3GPP Rel-12/Rel-13 D2D communication and 3GPP Rel-14 V2V communication are typical broadcast-based communications; see also claim 1).
Regarding claims 9 and 20, Yu teaches wherein, to communicate the plurality of reference signals, the one or more processors are configured to cause the first UE to: transmit, from the first UE, the plurality of reference signals over the periodic set of sidelink resources according to the respective time-domain variation for the each UE ([0038]-[0040][0056]: see claim 1).
Regarding claims 10 and 19, Yu teaches wherein, to communicate the plurality of reference signals, the one or more processors are configured to cause the first UE to: monitor, at the first UE, for the plurality of reference signals over the periodic set of sidelink resources according to the respective time-domain variation for the each UE ([0079]: details FIG. 8A is a call flow illustrating that a remote UE periodically transmits a SL SRS to a relay UE in the bidirectional case according to one embodiment).
Regarding claim 11, Yu teaches wherein the reference signal measurement is a sidelink channel state information (CSI) reference signal (CSI-RS) measurement, a sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS) measurement, a sounding reference signal (SRS) measurement, or any combination thereof ([0038]-[0040][0056]: See claim 1).
Claims 7, 18, 21, 27 and 35 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yu in view of Keating and US 2019/0090092 (hereinafter Hwang).
Regarding claims 21 and 35, Yu teaches a method / a network entity for wireless communications, comprising: one or more memories; and one or more processors coupled with the one or more memories and configured to cause the network entity to: output, from the network entity, a first indication of a periodic set of sidelink resources ([0038][0040]: details The SL SRS configuration is obtained by the remote/relay UE through receiving the SL SRS configuration from a network equipment such as eNB; The transmission/receiving of SRS from the relay/remote UE can be either periodic or aperiodic in which the transmission/receiving of SL SRS usually follows indication information indicating the SRS transmission/receiving; Additionally, the SRS may be… a set of SRS) for the reference signal measurement and a respective time-domain variation corresponding to each UE of the plurality of UEs ([0038]-[0040][0030][0056]: details Additionally, the SRS may be… a set of SRS; The SL SRS is used for SL channel measurement hereinafter; the frequency/time resource of subband SL SRS can follow legacy hopping rules); The SL SRS configuration is obtained by the remote/relay UE through… receiving the SL SRS configuration from the relay/remote unit; intended use of the resources so no patentable weight).
Yu does not explicitly teach obtain, at the network entity, a request for sidelink resources for a reference signal measurement associated with a plurality of reference signals for a plurality of user equipments (UEs); wherein each respective time-domain variation is indicative of one or more offsets for sidelink resources corresponding to the each UE by which one or more reference signals of the plurality of reference signals are to be communicated by the each UE.
However, Hwang teaches obtain, at the network entity, a request for sidelink resources for a reference signal measurement associated with a plurality of reference signals for a plurality of user equipments (UEs) ([0070][0094]: details In the description of embodiments of the present disclosure, an “anchor node” may be a fixed D2D UE pre-installed at a specific position by a network operator; Meanwhile, upon receipt of the Positioning Request message from the UE 401, the anchor nodes 403 request PRS scheduling to the eNB 405 in operation 523).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yu to incorporate the teachings of Hwang and include obtain, at the network entity, a request for sidelink resources for a reference signal measurement associated with a plurality of reference signals for a plurality of user equipments (UEs) of Hwang with Yu. Doing so would improve the accuracy of reference signal time difference estimation (Hwang, at paragraph [0009]).
Moreover, Keating teaches wherein each respective time-domain variation is indicative of one or more offsets ([0077][0086]: details the resource configuration comprises a set of resource offsets, where each resource offset indicates an offset from a second sidelink resource to one of the sidelink resources for transmitting RSs. The second sidelink resource used for transmitting a second reference signal from the first terminal device 110 to the plurality of positioning terminal devices 120. In some example embodiments, the resource configuration comprises a set of timing offsets, which indicates the time offset between a time point of receiving the second RS at the positioning terminal devices 120 and the time points of transmitting the RSs to the first terminal device 110 by the positioning terminal devices 120, respectively) for sidelink resources corresponding to the each UE by which one or more reference signals of the plurality of reference signals are to be communicated by the each UE ([0077][0086]: details the resource configuration comprises a set of timing offsets, which indicates the time offset between a time point of receiving the second RS at the positioning terminal devices 120 and the time points of transmitting the RSs to the first terminal device 110 by the positioning terminal devices 120, respectively; intended use for the offset so no patentable weight).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yu to incorporate the teachings of Keating and include wherein each respective time-domain variation is indicative of one or more offsets for sidelink resources corresponding to the each UE by which one or more reference signals of the plurality of reference signals are to be communicated by the each UE of Keating with Yu. Doing so would provide a solution for coordinated positioning via sidelink resource (Keating, at paragraph [0004]).
Regarding claims 7, 18 and 27, Yu does not explicitly teach wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the first UE to: receive, at the first UE, a reference signal resource request for the periodic set of sidelink resources for the reference signal measurement corresponding to a second UE of the plurality of UEs; and transmit, from the first UE, a request to a network entity for sidelink resources for the reference signal measurement for the plurality of UEs based at least in part on reception of the reference signal resource request from the second UE.
However, Hwang teaches wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the first UE to: receive, at the first UE, a reference signal resource request for the periodic set of sidelink resources for the reference signal measurement corresponding to a second UE of the plurality of UEs; and transmit, from the first UE, a request to a network entity for sidelink resources for the reference signal measurement for the plurality of UEs based at least in part on reception of the reference signal resource request from the second UE ([0070][0093][0094]: details In the description of embodiments of the present disclosure, an “anchor node” may be a fixed D2D UE; In <Option 1.2> 520, the UE 401 requests positioning to the neighboring anchor nodes 403 in operation 521. Meanwhile, upon receipt of the Positioning Request message from the UE 401, the anchor nodes 403 request PRS scheduling to the eNB 405 in operation 523).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Yu to incorporate the teachings of Hwang and include wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the first UE to: receive, at the first UE, a reference signal resource request for the periodic set of sidelink resources for the reference signal measurement corresponding to a second UE of the plurality of UEs; and transmit, from the first UE, a request to a network entity for sidelink resources for the reference signal measurement for the plurality of UEs based at least in part on reception of the reference signal resource request from the second UE of Hwang with Yu. Doing so would improve the accuracy of RSTD estimation (Hwang, at paragraph [0009]).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 7/13/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant alleges that the claims are allowable because Keating does not teach “one or more offsets for sidelink resources corresponding to the each UE” as amended because Keating makes no mention of a periodic set of sidelink resources or offsets configured for such a periodic set. Examiner respectfully disagrees.
First, paragraphs 38-40 of Yu teach the periodic set of sidelink resources as claimed as stated above in the rejection. Keating is used to teach the wherein clause and the wherein clause does not explicitly recite the periodic set of sidelink resources.
Second, the feature of “for sidelink resources corresponding to the each UE” has no patentable weight because it recites an intended use of the offsets. Examiner suggests explicitly reciting the functional relationships between the elements and not what the offsets and sidelink resources are used for.
Even if the feature has patentable weight, it merely recites elements such as sidelink resources and each UE. It does not explicitly recite that the offset is configured for a periodic set as alleged. For example, claim 1 merely recites that “one or more offsets for sidelink resources corresponding to the each UE” which is silent with respect to configuring the periodic set.
Conclusion
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/JASPER KWOH/Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2415
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