DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
This office action is in response to applicant’s amendment filed, 20 October 2025, of application filed, with the above serial number, on 07 July 2023 in which claims 1, 7-8, 11, 13-14, 21 have been amended and claims 2, 4, 10, 12 have been cancelled. Claims 1, 3, 5-9, 11, 13-16, 21-24 are pending in the application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d):
(d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph:
Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers.
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. The claim does not further claim 1 as amended. Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1, 3, 5-9, 11, 13-16, 21-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. The independent claims each recite ‘determining, in response to the terminal not supporting synchronous transmission of the first wireless transmission mode and the second wireless transmission mode, that the second wireless resource is aligned with a first sub-resource of the first wireless resource in the time domain’ while also reciting ‘wherein the first sub-resource comprises a downlink (DL) resource’. It is not clear how the terminal (UE) can be in a transmission mode on a DL resource. In other words, the DL resource is associated with DL from a base station to terminal, the terminal is not transmitting or in transmission mode on DL, only on UE, thus it is indefinite.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-7, 10-13, 21-24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1 as being anticipated by Akkarakaran et al (hereinafter “Akkarakaran”, 2021/0014834).
As per Claim 1, Akkarakaran discloses a method for information processing, comprising:
determining, by a base station, according to a synchronous transmission capability of a terminal for a first wireless transmission mode and a second wireless transmission mode, a resource alignment mode in a time domain for a first wireless resource and a second wireless resource configured for the terminal (at least paragraph 84, 90-93; a UE may have particular capabilities associated with simultaneous and/or partially overlapped reception of streams from a BS (which may be referred to as downlink streams) and streams from other UEs (which may be referred to as sidelink streams); the receiver UE may transmit the indication of the one or more reception parameters to the BS and/or to the transmitter UEs. In this way, the BS and/or the transmitter UEs may coordinate the transmission of the downlink streams, the sidelink streams, and/or the corresponding DMRS transmissions based at least in part on the one or more reception parameters, such that the transmission of the downlink streams, the sidelink streams, and/or the corresponding DMRS transmissions are supported by the reception capabilities of the receiver UE; the one or more reception parameters of the receiver UE may include a time-frequency alignment parameter that identifies whether transmission time interval (TTI) durations of the sidelink streams are to at least partially or fully align in the time domain, whether TTI durations of the downlink streams are to at least partially or fully align in the time domain, and/or whether the TTI durations of the sidelink streams are to at least partially or fully align in the time domain with the TTI durations of the downlink streams), wherein, the first wireless transmission mode is new radio (NR) transmission on a NR authorized spectrum, the second wireless transmission mode is sidelink (SL) transmission on an NR SL (at least paragraph 78-83; NR DL streams and sidelink SL streams), the first wireless resource is a wireless resource used in the first wireless transmission mode, and the second wireless resource is a wireless resource used in the second wireless transmission mode (at least paragraph 79, 97; NR resource blocks may span 12 sub-carriers with a sub-carrier bandwidth of 60 or 120 kilohertz (kHz) over a 0.1 millisecond (ms) duration; transmissions associated with sidelink streams transmitted to the receiver UE are to align in the time domain and/or frequency domain (e.g., are to be transmitted in the same symbol and/or same resource elements, are to have the same TTI durations, and/or the like);
wherein determining, according to the synchronous transmission capability of the terminal for the first wireless transmission mode and the second wireless transmission mode, the resource alignment mode in a time domain for the first wireless resource and the second wireless resource configured for the terminal comprises: determining, in response to the terminal not supporting synchronous transmission of the first wireless transmission mode and the second wireless transmission mode, that the second wireless resource is aligned with a first sub-resource of the first wireless resource in the time domain (at least paragraph 83, 85, 90-97; UE may have particular capabilities associated with simultaneous and/or partially overlapped reception of streams from a BS (which may be referred to as downlink streams) and streams from other UEs (which may be referred to as sidelink streams); the BS and the other UEs are aware of the UE's reception capabilities and may schedule or coordinate the transmission of streams to the UE in a way that is supported by the UE's reception capabilities; reception capability of UE indicating no MU-MIMO capability: include a time-frequency alignment parameter that identifies whether transmission time interval (TTI) durations of the sidelink streams are to at least partially or fully align in the time domain, whether TTI durations of the downlink streams are to at least partially or fully align in the time domain, and/or whether the TTI durations of the sidelink streams are to at least partially or fully align in the time domain with the TTI durations of the downlink streams); and determining, in response to the terminal supporting synchronous transmission of the first wireless transmission mode and the second wireless transmission mode, that the second wireless resource is aligned with a second sub-resource of the first wireless resource in the time domain (at least paragraph 83, 86, 90-97, 108, 112; a UE may have particular capabilities associated with simultaneous and/or partially overlapped transmission of streams to a BS (which may be referred to as uplink streams) and sidelink streams to other UEs; a UE may configure the transmission of one or more sidelink streams by coordinating the one or more sidelink streams with a BS and/or one or more other UEs based at least in part on one or more transmission parameters (e.g., one or more MU-MIMO transmission parameters) of the UE. The one or more transmission parameters may be based at least in part on the UE's reception capabilities. In this way, the BS and the other UEs are aware of the UE's transmission capabilities such that the BS may schedule or coordinate the transmission of uplink streams, and the UE may configure the transmission of sidelink streams, in a way that is supported by the UE's transmission capabilities; reception capability of UE indicating no MU-MIMO capability: include a time-frequency alignment parameter that identifies whether transmission time interval (TTI) durations of the sidelink streams are to at least partially or fully align in the time domain, whether TTI durations of the downlink streams are to at least partially or fully align in the time domain, and/or whether the TTI durations of the sidelink streams are to at least partially or fully align in the time domain with the TTI durations of the downlink streams), wherein the first sub-resource comprises a downlink (DL) resource, and the second sub-resource comprises an uplink (UL) resource (at least paragraph 105; BS and the transmitter UE may communicate via an access link, which may be configured with a frame structure (e.g., frame structure 400 and/or another frame structure), a slot format (e.g., slot format 510 and/or another slot format), and/or the like. The access link may include an uplink and a downlink).
As per Claim 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the resource alignment mode of the terminal comprises at least one of following: a first sub-resource of the first wireless resource and the second wireless resource are aligned in the time domain; or, a second sub-resource of the first wireless resource and the second wireless resource are aligned in the time domain (at least paragraph 93-95; DL (first sub-resource of first wireless resource NR being sub resources UL & DL) of the NR and SL time frequency alignment in time domain).
As per Claim 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining, according to a synchronous transmission capability of a terminal for a first wireless transmission mode and a second wireless transmission mode, a resource alignment mode in a time domain for a first wireless resource and a second wireless resource configured for the terminal comprises: determining, in response to the terminal supporting synchronous transmission of the first wireless transmission mode and the second wireless transmission mode, the resource alignment mode in the time domain for the first wireless resource and the second wireless resource configured for the terminal, according to a transmission requirement of the first wireless transmission mode and/or the second wireless transmission mode (at least paragraph 84-86, 90-97; reception capability of UE indicating MU-MIMO capability: simultaneous and/or partially overlapped transmission of streams to a BS (which may be referred to as uplink streams) and sidelink streams to other UEs).
As per Claim 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein determining the resource alignment mode in the time domain for the first wireless resource and the second wireless resource configured for the terminal according to a transmission requirement of the first wireless transmission mode and/or the second wireless transmission mode comprises at least one of following: determining, in response to the transmission requirement of the first wireless transmission mode and/or the second wireless transmission mode being a first requirement, that the second wireless resource is aligned with a downlink second sub-resource of the first wireless resource in the time domain; or, determining, in response to the transmission requirement of the first wireless transmission mode and/or the second wireless transmission mode being a second requirement, that the second wireless resource is aligned with a first sub-resource of the first wireless resource in the time domain (at least paragraph 83-91; coordinate the reception of downlink streams, sidelink streams, and/or corresponding DMRS transmissions, the receiver UE may transmit an indication of one or more reception parameters of the receiver UE. The one or more reception parameters may be one or more MU-MIMO reception parameters. The one or more reception parameters may be based at least in part on the reception capabilities of the receiver UE. In some aspects, the receiver UE may transmit the indication of the one or more reception parameters to the BS and/or to the transmitter UEs. In this way, the BS and/or the transmitter UEs may coordinate the transmission of the downlink streams, the sidelink streams, and/or the corresponding DMRS transmissions based at least in part on the one or more reception parameters, such that the transmission of the downlink streams, the sidelink streams, and/or the corresponding DMRS transmissions are supported by the reception capabilities of the receiver UE).
As per Claim 7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving capability information indicating the synchronous transmission capability (at least paragraph 83-91; the receiver UE may transmit an indication of one or more reception parameters of the receiver UE. The one or more reception parameters may be one or more MU-MIMO reception parameters. The one or more reception parameters may be based at least in part on the reception capabilities of the receiver UE. In some aspects, the receiver UE may transmit the indication of the one or more reception parameters to the BS); and
issuing configuration information of the resource alignment mode, wherein the configuration information is used for configuring the resource alignment mode (at least paragraph 93, 110; TTI durations of the downlink streams are to at least partially or fully align in the time domain, and/or whether the TTI durations of the sidelink streams are to at least partially or fully align in the time domain with the TTI durations of the downlink streams ; the BS and/or the transmitter UE may configure the transmission of simultaneous streams such that the combined transmit power of the simultaneous streams does not exceed the PAPR capability of the transmit chains of the transmitter UE).
As per Claim 13. The method according to claim 11, wherein the second sub-resource of the first wireless resource being aligned with the second wireless resource in the time domain, corresponds to that a transmission requirement of the first wireless transmission mode and/or the second wireless transmission mode is a first requirement; the first sub-resource of the first wireless resource and the second wireless resource being aligned in the time domain, corresponds to that the transmission requirement of the first wireless transmission mode and/or the second wireless transmission mode is a second requirement (at least paragraph 83-91; coordinate the reception of downlink streams, sidelink streams, and/or corresponding DMRS transmissions, the receiver UE may transmit an indication of one or more reception parameters of the receiver UE. The one or more reception parameters may be one or more MU-MIMO reception parameters. The one or more reception parameters may be based at least in part on the reception capabilities of the receiver UE. In some aspects, the receiver UE may transmit the indication of the one or more reception parameters to the BS and/or to the transmitter UEs. In this way, the BS and/or the transmitter UEs may coordinate the transmission of the downlink streams, the sidelink streams, and/or the corresponding DMRS transmissions based at least in part on the one or more reception parameters, such that the transmission of the downlink streams, the sidelink streams, and/or the corresponding DMRS transmissions are supported by the reception capabilities of the receiver UE).
Claims 11-12, 21-24 do not, in substance, add or define any additional limitations over claims 1-7, 10, 13 and therefore are rejected for similar reasons, supra.
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.
Claim(s) 8-9, 15-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Akkarakaran in view of Gulati et al (hereinafter “Gulati”, 2021/0084672).
As per Claim 8, 15. Akkarakaran fails to disclose wherein the configuration information of the resource alignment mode comprises: a first time advance (TA) value of a second sub-resource of the first wireless resource of the terminal relative to a first sub-resource; and a second TA value of the second wireless resource of the terminal relative to the first sub-resource. However, the use and advantages for using such a system was well known to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention as evidenced by the teachings of Gulati. Gulati discloses, in an analogous art, a base station and UE determining TA values associated with the uplink, downlink, and sidelink of a UE (at least Gulati paragraph 47-54). Therefore, 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 use of Gulati’s TA values with Akkarakaran as Gulati discloses when TA values of a sidelink communication and uplink transmission are misaligned communication errors can occur, thus using Gulati’s well known TA values incorporated with Akkarakaran would result in better QoS for communication timing, whether simultaneous or not, for the Akkarakaran system with fewer communication errors.
As per Claim 9, 16. Akkarakaran and Gulati disclose wherein the second TA value comprises at least one of following: in response to the resource alignment mode of the terminal being that the second wireless resource is aligned with the first sub-resource in the time domain, the second TA value is 0; or, in response to the resource alignment mode of the terminal being that the second wireless resource is aligned with the second sub-resource in the time domain, the second TA value is equal to the first TA value (at least Gulati paragraph 47-54; a TA value of zero for sidelink- no adjustment needed).
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Akkarakaran in view of Park et al (hereinafter “Park”, 2022/0417976).
Akkarakaran discloses wherein the method further comprises: transmitting, in response to the terminal not supporting synchronous transmission of the first wireless transmission mode and the second wireless transmission mode and having transmission requirements for both the first wireless transmission mode and the second wireless transmission mode (at least paragraph 90-97; reception capability of UE indicating no MU-MIMO capability: include a time-frequency alignment parameter that identifies whether transmission time interval (TTI) durations of the sidelink streams are to at least partially or fully align in the time domain, whether TTI durations of the downlink streams are to at least partially or fully align in the time domain, and/or whether the TTI durations of the sidelink streams are to at least partially or fully align in the time domain with the TTI durations of the downlink streams).
Akkarakaran fails to disclose then a transmission of a higher priority in the first wireless transmission mode and the second wireless transmission mode at a time domain position where the first wireless resource and the second wireless resource are configured simultaneously, according to priorities of the first wireless transmission mode and the second wireless transmission mode. However, the use and advantages for using such a system was well known to one skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention as evidenced by the teachings of Park. Park discloses, in an analogous 5G art, a base station configuring resources of a UE including for QoS that either an uplink or a sidelink may have a higher priority and that when they are both scheduled to be transmitted at the same time, the higher priority transmission is transmitted at that time (at least paragraph 359-362). Therefore, 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 use of Park’s link prioritization with Akkarakaran as Akkarakaran teaches that devices that may not have the capability of simultaneous transmission would need to allocate and schedule a transmission of both the sidelink and uplink if they cannot be sent in the same time slot, Park clearly discloses the QoS determination that in some instances a sidelink transmission would have a higher priority while other times the uplink is higher priority, such resource allocation and scheduling being well known as demonstrated by Park.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 20 October 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Examiner makes note of some of the remarks: on p. 10 the claim objections were 112b rejections; on p. 11 paragraph 40 is assumed to be paragraph 48; on p. 11 the remarks note that the Office Action used Chen, however, Chen is not a reference used in any of the rejections; similarly, remarks note that the Office Action used Kim, however, Kim is not a reference used in any of the rejections.
It is not clear what the Chen or Kim references are and if the response is responsive to the Non-Final Rejection mailed 7/25/25 or a different application’s office action? As such the response is not clearly responsive and further treated on the merits and the rejection is modified above according to the claim amendments.
Applicant argues that Akkarakaran has the resource alignment mode configured by the UE in contrast to claim 1 being determined by the base station.
However, Akkarakaran clearly discloses the UEs can operate in a scheduled mode or autonomous mode. Applicant is referring to the UEs operating in autonomous mode, as in a scheduled mode (e.g., the BS schedules sidelink transmissions for the transmitter UEs), the BS may coordinate the transmission of the downlink streams, the sidelink streams, and/or the corresponding DMRS transmissions for the BS and the transmitter UEs. The BS uses the reception parameters that are transmitted by the UE in order to determine the resource alignment and transmission and reception capabilities a UE or terminal can do including whether a UE may have particular capabilities associated with simultaneous and/or partially overlapped transmission of streams to a BS.
Applicant also argues that Akkarakaran does not disclose whether the terminal supports synchronous transmission and the SL resource being aligned with an UL resource.
However, par. 83 discloses downlink and sidelink capabilities ‘a UE may have particular capabilities associated with simultaneous and/or partially overlapped reception of streams from a BS (which may be referred to as downlink streams) and streams from other UEs’, par. 84 discloses ‘a UE may have particular capabilities associated with simultaneous and/or partially overlapped transmission of streams to a BS (which may be referred to as uplink streams) and sidelink streams to other UEs’. Par. 76 of the application offers that “the terminal does not have the synchronous transmission capability of performing NR transmission on the NR authorized spectrum and simultaneously performing SL transmission on the NR SL, it is determined that the SL resource of the NR SL is aligned with the DL resource on the NR authorized spectrum in the time domain”. Thus, the synchronous transmission capability is the capability to simultaneously perform SL transmission and the NR transmissions.
And Akkarakaran discloses in par. 108:
“…the transmitter UE may transmit an indication of the one or more transmission parameters of the transmitter UE. The one or more transmission parameters may be one or more MU-MIMO transmission parameters. The one or more transmission parameters may be based at least in part on the transmission capabilities of the transmitter UE. In some aspects, the transmitter UE may transmit the indication of the one or more transmission parameters to the BS and/or to the receiver UEs. In this way, the BS may coordinate the transmission of the uplink streams and corresponding DMRS transmissions, the transmitter UE, the BS, and/or the receiver UEs may coordinate and configure the transmission of the sidelink streams and corresponding DMRS transmissions, and/or the like based at least in part on the one or more transmission parameters. In this way, the transmission of the uplink streams, the sidelink streams, and/or the corresponding DMRS transmissions are supported by the transmission capabilities of the transmitter UE”
And in par. 97:
“the one or more reception parameters of the receiver UE may include a time-frequency alignment parameter that identifies whether respective DMRS transmissions associated with sidelink streams transmitted to the receiver UE are to align in the time domain”
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 mailing date of this final action.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY TODD whose telephone number is (303)297-4763. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30-5 MST.
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, Nicholas Taylor can be reached at 571-272-3889. 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.
/GREGORY TODD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2443
Prosecution Insights