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 .
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 4/10/26 has been entered.
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) 1-4, 8-11, 13, 14, 16, 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (U.S. Pub No. 2021/0227602 A1) in view of LIN et al. (U.S. Pub No. 2023/0239793 A1).
1, Li teaches a method for selecting a transmission resource, applied to performed by a sending-end user equipment [par 0005, In one embodiment, the method includes the first device performing sidelink resource selection or reselection procedure for a sidelink transmission to a second device, wherein the sidelink resource selection or reselection procedure is performed to select at least one sidelink resource from candidate sidelink resources within a time duration of selection window],
comprising: determining a time-frequency transmission resource used for direct transmission sent to a receiving-end user equipment (UE) based on a discontinuous reception (DRX) DRX setting of the receiving-end user equipment [par 0073, 0081, 0321, the UE shall set the Time gap between initial transmission and retransmission field, the Frequency resource location of the initial transmission and retransmission field, and the Retransmission index field such that the set of time and frequency resources determined for PSSCH. The first device could select a first sidelink resource based on (sidelink) active or wake-up time of the second device. In one embodiment, the first device could select a first sidelink resource based on (sidelink) DRX operation of the second device. The first device could select the first sidelink resource from or within a set of candidate slots, wherein the set of candidate slots are determined or derived based on (sidelink) active or wake-up time of the second device. The first device could select the first sidelink resource from or within a set of candidate slots, wherein the set of candidate slots are determined or derived based on (sidelink) DRX operation of the second device]
Li fail to show wherein determining the time-frequency transmission resource used for direct transmission comprises: in response to the direct transmission adopting M repetitions, determining time-frequency transmission resources used for first K repetitions of the M repetitions to be within a time range indicated by the DRX setting; wherein the receiving-end UE is set to a state of receiving a Physical Sidelink Control
Channel (PSCCH) and/or a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSSCH) during a time period corresponding to the time-frequency transmission resource.
In an analogous art Lin show wherein determining the time-frequency transmission resource used for direct transmission comprises: in response to the direct transmission adopting M repetitions [par 0062, The transmission pattern may include information indicative of specific time-frequency radio resources that the UE uses to perform transmission to the peer UE. For example, the information may include a timing offset for SL DRX (also called an SL DRX offset, including an SL DRX start offset and/or an SL DRX slot offset), a transmission pattern per repetition cycle],
determining time-frequency transmission resources used for first K repetitions of the M repetitions to be within a time range indicated by the DRX setting [0064, 0071,The reception pattern may include information indicative of specific time-frequency radio resources that the UE uses to perform reception form the peer UE. For example, the information may include a timing offset for SL DRX (also called an SL DRX offset, including an SL DRX start offset and/or an SL DRX slot offset), a transmission pattern per repetition cycle (e.g., specified by a duration for transmission located in the beginning of each repetition cycle) (also called an SL DRX-ON duration), and a repetition cycle length (also called an SL DRX cycle). , a transmission pattern per repetition cycle, which is interpreted as K because it is a specified by a duration for transmission located in the beginning of each repetition cycle, each repetition is interpreted as M],
wherein the receiving-end UE is set to a state of receiving a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH) and/or a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSSCH) during a time period corresponding to the time-frequency transmission resource [par 0063, In other words, the transmitter UE determines when the receiver UE should keep awake to monitor SCI for possible traffic from the transmitter UE. Equivalently, we can say that the transmitter UE determines the SL DRX configuration for the receiver UE to determine its reception pattern, i.e., when the receiver UE should keep awake for monitoring SCI and corresponding PSSCH transmission from this transmitter UE].
Before the effective filing date it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Li and LIN because this would provide a robust and efficient power saving mechanism for NR-based V2X. [LIN par 0008]
2, Li and LIN describe the method of claim 1, wherein determining the time-frequency transmission resource used for the direct transmission sent to the receiving-end user equipment based on the discontinuous reception DRX setting of the receiving-end user equipment comprises: excluding, from a set of candidate time-frequency resources, a candidate time- frequency resource that is not within a time range indicated by the DRX setting [Li par 0321, More specifically, the (sidelink) active or wake-up time of the second device could be derived or determined based on (sidelink) DRX operation of the second device. It may mean that the first device assumes or expects that the set of candidate slots is comprised within the (sidelink) active or wake-up time of the second device. It may mean that for selecting the first sidelink resource, the first device may exclude candidate sidelink resources in slots out of the (assumed or expected) (sidelink) active or wake-up time of the second device].
3, Li and LIN provide the method of claim 2, further comprising: excluding, from the set of candidate time-frequency resources, an occupied resource with a sidelink reference signal receiving power S-RSRP greater than or equal to a threshold [Li par 0304, The second excluding step is that if the UE receives or detects a control signaling in a TTI m, the UE may exclude the candidate resources according to the received control signaling. For instance, the second excluding step is shown as Step 2-2 in FIG. 9. More specifically, if the UE receives or detects a control signaling scheduling a transmission in a TTI m and the measurement result of the scheduled transmission and/or the control signal is over a threshold, the UE may exclude the candidate resources according to the received control signaling. The measurement result may be Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP). More specifically, the measurement result may be PSSCH-RSRP];
wherein, the threshold is determined based on a lower limit of a number of candidate time-frequency resources to be retained in the set of candidate time-frequency resources[par 0192, table 2 For frequency range 1 and 2, if receiver diversity is in use by the UE, the reported PSCCH-RSRP value shall not be lower than the corresponding PSCCH-RSRP of any of the individual receiver branches]
4, Li and LIN disclose the method of claim 3, wherein the lower limit of the number is determined based on at least one of: a number N of remaining candidate time-frequency resources that are obtained by excluding, from the set of candidate time-frequency resources, the candidate time-frequency resource that is not within the time range indicated by the DRX setting or a defined proportional coefficient X, where X is greater than zero and less than 1 [Li, par 0321, More specifically, the (sidelink) active or wake-up time of the second device could be derived or determined based on (sidelink) DRX operation of the second device. It may mean that the first device assumes or expects that the set of candidate slots is comprised within the (sidelink) active or wake-up time of the second device. It may mean that for selecting the first sidelink resource, the first device may exclude candidate sidelink resources in slots out of the (assumed or expected) (sidelink) active or wake-up time of the second device. For selecting the first sidelink resource, the first device may exclude candidate sidelink resources in slots comprised in the (assumed or expected) (sidelink) non-active or sleep time of the second device].
8, Li and LIN convey the method of claim 1, further comprising: sending control information carrying the DRX setting to the receiving-end user equipment [Li, par 0332, 0401, the first device may be configured with (sidelink) DRX operation, and the first device may not share, have, or configure the same (sidelink) DRX-related parameters) with the second device. Additionally or alternatively, the first device may be configured with (sidelink) DRX operation, the first device may share, have, or configure the same (sidelink) DRX-related parameters) with the second device]
9. Li and LIN provides the method of claim 8, wherein, the DRX setting carried by the control information is selected from a plurality of DRX settings, configured to indicate the receiving-end user equipment to adopt the DRX setting carried by the control information [Li par 0362, when the first sidelink resource is selected for delivering a new data packet (at first time), the first device may select the first sidelink resource based on (sidelink) DRX operation associated with any of DRX on-duration timer (for sidelink) [drx setting], a DRX slot offset (for sidelink) [Second drx setting], DRX Inactivity timer (for sidelink)[3rd DRX setting], and/or DRX retransmission timer (for sidelink) [4th DRX setting] of the second device].
10, Li and LIN convey the method of claim 1, wherein the DRX setting of the receiving-end user equipment is obtained by at least one of the following methods: the DRX setting being determined based on defined configuration information; the DRX setting being sent by a network device; the DRX setting being sent by the receiving-end user equipment; or the DRX setting being sent by a target user equipment [Li par 0331, The DRX-related parameters), PSCCH-monitoring-related parameters), or assisted timers) for sidelink resource (re)selection could be utilized for the first device to assume or expect the (sidelink) active or wake-up time of the second device. The first device may derive or determine the set of candidate slots based on DRX-related parameters), PSCCH-monitoring-related parameter(s), or assisted timer(s) for sidelink resource (re)selection. In one embodiment, the second device may transmit or deliver the DRX-related parameter(s), PSCCH-monitoring-related parameter(s), or assisted parameter(s) of the second device to the first device].
11. Li and LIN disclose the method of claim 1, Li fail to show further comprising: sending the direct transmission to the receiving-end user equipment through the time- frequency transmission resource; wherein, the direct transmission carries information indicating a future time-frequency resource, configured to indicate that the receiving-end user equipment is in a state of receiving at least one of a sidelink control channel or a sidelink shared channel during a time period corresponding to the future time-frequency resource.
In an analogous art LIN show further comprising: sending the direct transmission to the receiving-end user equipment through the time- frequency transmission resource [par 0062, The transmission pattern may include information indicative of specific time-frequency radio resources that the UE uses to perform transmission to the peer UE];
wherein, the direct transmission carries information indicating a future time-frequency resource [par 0071, To handle bursty data arrival, the transmission pattern and/or the reception pattern may be extended on demand. For example, a Tx UE may consider future transmission resource close to the latest new transmission (e.g., the duration to determine whether it is close enough can be determined by a timer or a configured time gap) as high-priority transmission resource],
configured to indicate that the receiving-end user equipment is in a state of receiving at least one of a sidelink control channel or a sidelink shared channel during a time period corresponding to the future time-frequency resource [par 0162, if the peer UE is a SL DRX capable UE as well, or if the interested groupcast/broadcast service is operating SL DRX, a SL DRX capable UE does not uses the shared resource pool for sidelink communication. In other words, a SL DRX capable UE may use the shared resource pool only when it wants to deactivate SL DRX operation to coexist with peer UE not supporting SL DRX or to support a groupcast/broadcast service not operating in SL DRX mode. If the SL DRX capable UE wants to perform SL DRX for its sidelink communication, it uses other resource pools dedicated for SL DRX operation].
Before the effective filing date it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Li and LIN because this would provide a robust and efficient power saving mechanism for NR-based V2X. [LIN par 0008]
13. Li disclose a method for selecting a transmission resource[par 0005, In one embodiment, the method includes the first device performing sidelink resource selection or reselection procedure for a sidelink transmission to a second device, wherein the sidelink resource selection or reselection procedure is performed to select at least one sidelink resource from candidate sidelink resources within a time duration of selection window],
performed by applied to a receiving-end user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving direct transmission sent by a sending-end user equipment through a time- frequency transmission resource; wherein, the time-frequency transmission resource is determined based on a discontinuous reception (DRX) DRX setting of the receiving-end user equipment [par 0073, 0081, 0321, the UE shall set the Time gap between initial transmission and retransmission field, the Frequency resource location of the initial transmission and retransmission field, and the Retransmission index field such that the set of time and frequency resources determined for PSSCH. The first device could select a first sidelink resource based on (sidelink) active or wake-up time of the second device. In one embodiment, the first device could select a first sidelink resource based on (sidelink) DRX operation of the second device. The first device could select the first sidelink resource from or within a set of candidate slots, wherein the set of candidate slots are determined or derived based on (sidelink) active or wake-up time of the second device. The first device could select the first sidelink resource from or within a set of candidate slots, wherein the set of candidate slots are determined or derived based on (sidelink) DRX operation of the second device]
Li fail to show wherein in response to the direct transmission adopting M repetitions, determining time-frequency transmission resources used for first K repetitions of the M repetitions to be within a time range indicated by the DRX setting; wherein the receiving-end UE is set to a state of receiving a Physical Sidelink Control
Channel (PSCCH) and/or a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSSCH) during a time period corresponding to the time-frequency transmission resource.
In an analogous art Lin show wherein determining the time-frequency transmission resource used for direct transmission comprises: in response to the direct transmission adopting M repetitions, time-frequency transmission resources used for first K repetitions of the M repetitions to be within a time range indicated by the DRX setting [0064, 0071,The reception pattern may include information indicative of specific time-frequency radio resources that the UE uses to perform reception form the peer UE. For example, the information may include a timing offset for SL DRX (also called an SL DRX offset, including an SL DRX start offset and/or an SL DRX slot offset), a transmission pattern per repetition cycle (e.g., specified by a duration for transmission located in the beginning of each repetition cycle) (also called an SL DRX-ON duration), and a repetition cycle length (also called an SL DRX cycle). , a transmission pattern per repetition cycle, which is interpreted as K because it is a specified by a duration for transmission located in the beginning of each repetition cycle, each repetition is interpreted as M],
wherein the receiving-end UE is set to a state of receiving a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH) and/or a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSSCH) during a time period corresponding to the time-frequency transmission resource [par 0063, In other words, the transmitter UE determines when the receiver UE should keep awake to monitor SCI for possible traffic from the transmitter UE. Equivalently, we can say that the transmitter UE determines the SL DRX configuration for the receiver UE to determine its reception pattern, i.e., when the receiver UE should keep awake for monitoring SCI and corresponding PSSCH transmission from this transmitter UE].
Before the effective filing date it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Li and LIN because this would provide a robust and efficient power saving mechanism for NR-based V2X. [LIN par 0008]
14. Li and LIN disclose the method of claim 13, Li fail to show wherein the direct transmission carries information indicating a future time-frequency resource, the method further comprises: setting to a state of receiving at least one of a sidelink control channel or a sidelink shared channel during a time period corresponding to the future time-frequency resource.
In an analogous art LIN show wherein the direct transmission carries information indicating a future time-frequency resource, the method further comprises: setting to a state of receiving at least one of a sidelink control channel or a sidelink shared channel during a time period corresponding to the future time-frequency resource [par 0071, To handle bursty data arrival, the transmission pattern and/or the reception pattern may be extended on demand. For example, a Tx UE may consider future transmission resource close to the latest new transmission (e.g., the duration to determine whether it is close enough can be determined by a timer or a configured time gap) as high-priority transmission resource, and this means that as long as the Tx UE performs a new transmission with the duration since the latest new transmission, the Tx UE may extend the SL DRX active time beyond the transmission pattern for this repetition cycle]
Before the effective filing date it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Li and LIN because this would provide a robust and efficient power saving mechanism for NR-based V2X. [LIN par 0008]
16. Li and LIN demonstrate the method of claim 15, Li fail to show wherein, an interval between a switching time point of switching to the state and the starting time point is defined, or the interval is configured by a network device.
In an analogous art LIN show wherein, an interval between a switching time point of switching to the state and the starting time point is defined, or the interval is configured by a network device [par 0079, the Tx UE may use a counter or timer to support fallback switching from short-latency SL DRX configuration to long-latency SL DRX configuration. When a UE decides to fallback to long-latency SL DRX configuration (e.g., does not transmit or receive data for latency-sensitive SLRB for a while), the UE sends the notification of SL DRX configuration change to its peer UE (via SCI, MAC CE, or PC5-RRC message). Upon receiving the message indicating SL DRX configuration change, the Rx UE accordingly switches its SL DRX configuration to align with Tx UE's selection of SL DRX configuration].
Before the effective filing date it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Li and LIN because this would provide a robust and efficient power saving mechanism for NR-based V2X. [LIN par 0008]
22. Li teaches a communication device, comprising: a transceiver; a memory; and a processor, respectively connected with the transceiver and the memory [Li, par 0500,
The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module (e.g., including executable instructions and related data) and other data may reside in a data memory such as RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of computer-readable storage medium known in the art. A sample storage medium may be coupled to a machine such as, for example, a computer/processor (which may be referred to herein, for convenience, as a “processor”) such the processor can read information (e.g., code) from and write information to the storage medium.],
and configured to control wireless signal sending and receiving of the transceiver and to implement the-a method for selecting a transmission resource by executing computer-executable instructions on the memory[par 0005, In one embodiment, the method includes the first device performing sidelink resource selection or reselection procedure for a sidelink transmission to a second device, wherein the sidelink resource selection or reselection procedure is performed to select at least one sidelink resource from candidate sidelink resources within a time duration of selection window],
the method comprising: determining a time-frequency transmission resource used for direct transmission sent to a receiving-end user equipment (UE) based on a discontinuous reception DRX setting of the receiving-end user equipment[par 0073, 0081, 0321, the UE shall set the Time gap between initial transmission and retransmission field, the Frequency resource location of the initial transmission and retransmission field, and the Retransmission index field such that the set of time and frequency resources determined for PSSCH. The first device could select a first sidelink resource based on (sidelink) active or wake-up time of the second device. In one embodiment, the first device could select a first sidelink resource based on (sidelink) DRX operation of the second device. The first device could select the first sidelink resource from or within a set of candidate slots, wherein the set of candidate slots are determined or derived based on (sidelink) active or wake-up time of the second device. The first device could select the first sidelink resource from or within a set of candidate slots, wherein the set of candidate slots are determined or derived based on (sidelink) DRX operation of the second device]
Claim(s) 6, 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (U.S. Pub No. 2021/0227602 A1) in view of LIN et al. (U.S. Pub No. 2023/0239793 A1) in further view of BAO et al (U.S. Pub No. 2022/0053461 A1).
6. Li and LIN describe he method of claim 1, Li and LIN fail to show time-frequency transmission resource. In an analogous art LIN show time-frequency transmission resource[par 0063, a UE may keep awake to monitor for possible transmission from the peer UE. In other words, the UE may keep awake to monitor all time-frequency radio resources indicated by any peer UE as part of transmission pattern],
Before the effective filing date it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Li and LIN because this would provide a robust and efficient power saving mechanism for NR-based V2X. [LIN par 0008]
Li and LIN fail to show wherein determining the time-frequency transmission resources used for the first K repetitions and time-frequency transmission resources used for subsequent (M-K) repetitions respectively; wherein, the time-frequency transmission resources used for the subsequent (M-K) repetitions are within the time range indicated by the DRX setting, or within a time period after the time range indicated by the DRX setting.
In an analogous art Bao show wherein determining the time-frequency transmission resources used for the first K repetitions and time-frequency transmission resources used for subsequent (M-K) repetitions respectively; wherein, the time-frequency transmission resources used for the subsequent (M-K) repetitions are within the time range indicated by the DRX setting, or within a time period after the time range indicated by the DRX setting[par 0141, 0142, 0145, For the second option (in the second row of Table 1), the UE can select a subset of PRS resources (e.g., DL-PRS resources 612, 614) within one DL-PRS occasion (e.g., DL-PRS occasion 610) based on the resource set and/or frequency layer and/or number of TRPs and PRS repetition factors, spatial-multiplexing, etc. Alternatively, the UE can select the subset of DL-PRS resources within one DL-PRS occasion that fall within the DRX ON duration and/or DRX active time. Referring to the positioning method constraint, a downlink and uplink PRS pair can be bundled together as one downlink and uplink PRS for a Rx-Tx time difference measurement that should be provided within one Rx-Tx time difference measurement report (also referred to as a PRS report)].
Before the effective filing date it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Li, LIN, and Bao because this improving positioning performance due to the bundling of uplink and downlink PRS resources when operating in DRX mode. [Bao par 0168]
7. Li, LIN, and Bao demonstrate the method of claim 1, Li and LIN fail to show wherein a value of the K is obtained by at least one of the following methods: the value of the K being determined based on defined configuration information; the value of the K being configured by a network device through a high-level signaling; the value of the K being controlled by the network device through a downlink control signaling; or the value of the K being sent by a target user equipment.
In an analogous art Biao show wherein a value of the K is obtained by at least one of the following methods: the value of the K being determined based on defined configuration information; the value of the K being configured by a network device through a high-level signaling; the value of the K being controlled by the network device through a downlink control signaling; or the value of the K being sent by a target user equipment [par 0109, A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and is associated with a particular TRP (identified by a TRP ID). In addition, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set have the same periodicity, a common muting pattern configuration, and the same repetition factor (such as “PRS-ResourceRepetitionFactor”) across slots. The periodicity is the time from the first repetition of the first PRS resource of a first PRS instance to the same first repetition of the same first PRS resource of the next PRS instance. The paragraph show the repetition are determined based on defined configuration information]
Before the effective filing date it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Li, LIN, and Bao because this improving positioning performance due to the bundling of uplink and downlink PRS resources when operating in DRX mode. [Bao par 0168]
Claim(s) 12, 15, 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (U.S. Pub No. 2021/0227602 A1) in view of LIN et al. (U.S. Pub No. 2023/0239793 A1) in further view of Loehr et al (U.S. Pub No. 2024/0040593 A1).
12. Li, LIN, and Loehr provide the method of claim 11, Li and LIN fail to show further comprising: determining a reception time point of feedback information corresponding to the direct transmission; and switching to the state of receiving at least one of the sidelink control channel and/or the sidelink shared channel according to the reception time point.
In an analogous art Loehr show further comprising: determining a reception time point of feedback information corresponding to the direct transmission; and switching to the state of receiving at least one of the sidelink control channel and/or the sidelink shared channel according to the reception time point [par 0059, 0075, A TX UE doesn't perform a SL transmission on SL resources allocated by a gNB if the SL resources are not within the DRX ActiveTime of the TX UE. If the TX UE would perform the transmission of SL data outside its and the destination's ActiveTime, the corresponding peer receiving UEs may not be ready to receive this SL transmission (e.g., RX UEs are not monitoring for PSSCH and/or PSSCH in slots outside their ActiveTime). A TX UE signals to peer RX UEs whether the RX UEs may go to ActiveTime for the next “x” ms. According to one implementation of such embodiments, SCI may indicate whether the RX UEs shall move to ActiveTime. One field (e.g., a one-bit flag) within the SCI may request the RX UE to move to ActiveTime (e.g., flag set to ‘1’ requests the Rx UEs to go to ActiveTime). The ActiveTime may start a preconfigured offset to the SCI indicating the ActiveTime request and span over a predefined number of slots and/or ms. In some embodiments, SCI may indicate how many slots an ActiveTime period includes. In one implementation of such embodiments, the SCI is sent without an accompanying PSSCH (e.g., SCI-only transmission)].
Before the effective filing date it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Li, LIN, and Loehr because a TX UE reports information on channel conditions (e.g., SL CSI or SL reference signal received power (“RSRP”) measurement) to the gNB to allow the gNB to make efficient scheduling decisions [Loehr par 0074]
15. Li and LIN conveys the method of claim 14, Li and LIN fail to show wherein setting to the state of receiving at least one of the sidelink control channel or the sidelink shared channel during the time period corresponding to the future time-frequency resource comprises: switching to the state of receiving at least one of the sidelink control channel or the sidelink shared channel before a starting time point of the time period corresponding to the future time-frequency resource.
In an analogous art Loehr show wherein setting to the state of receiving at least one of the sidelink control channel or the sidelink shared channel during the time period corresponding to the future time-frequency resource comprises: switching to the state of receiving at least one of the sidelink control channel or the sidelink shared channel before a starting time point of the time period corresponding to the future time-frequency resource[par 0059, 0075, A TX UE doesn't perform a SL transmission on SL resources allocated by a gNB if the SL resources are not within the DRX ActiveTime of the TX UE. If the TX UE would perform the transmission of SL data outside its and the destination's ActiveTime, the corresponding peer receiving UEs may not be ready to receive this SL transmission (e.g., RX UEs are not monitoring for PSSCH and/or PSSCH in slots outside their ActiveTime). A TX UE signals to peer RX UEs whether the RX UEs may go to ActiveTime for the next “x” ms. According to one implementation of such embodiments, SCI may indicate whether the RX UEs shall move to ActiveTime. One field (e.g., a one-bit flag) within the SCI may request the RX UE to move to ActiveTime (e.g., flag set to ‘1’ requests the Rx UEs to go to ActiveTime). The ActiveTime may start a preconfigured offset to the SCI indicating the ActiveTime request and span over a predefined number of slots and/or ms. In some embodiments, SCI may indicate how many slots an ActiveTime period includes. In one implementation of such embodiments, the SCI is sent without an accompanying PSSCH (e.g., SCI-only transmission)].
Before the effective filing date it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Li, LIN, and Loehr because a TX UE reports information on channel conditions (e.g., SL CSI or SL reference signal received power (“RSRP”) measurement) to the gNB to allow the gNB to make efficient scheduling decisions [Loehr par 0074]
19. Li and LIN provide the method of claim 13, further comprising: receiving control information carrying the DRX setting sent by the sending-end user equipment[Li, par 0332, 0401, the first device may be configured with (sidelink) DRX operation, and the first device may not share, have, or configure the same (sidelink) DRX-related parameters) with the second device. Additionally or alternatively, the first device may be configured with (sidelink) DRX operation, the first device may share, have, or configure the same (sidelink) DRX-related parameters) with the second device];
Li and LIN fail to show switching to a state of receiving at least one of a sidelink control channel and/or a sidelink shared channel according to a time range indicated by the DRX setting, wherein the receiving-end UE is in an activated state during the time range indicated by the DRX setting.
In an analogous art Loeher show switching to a state of receiving at least one of a sidelink control channel and/or a sidelink shared channel according to a time range indicated by the DRX setting, wherein the receiving-end UE is in an activated state during the time range indicated by the DRX setting [par 0059, 0075, A TX UE doesn't perform a SL transmission on SL resources allocated by a gNB if the SL resources are not within the DRX ActiveTime of the TX UE. If the TX UE would perform the transmission of SL data outside its and the destination's ActiveTime, the corresponding peer receiving UEs may not be ready to receive this SL transmission (e.g., RX UEs are not monitoring for PSSCH and/or PSSCH in slots outside their ActiveTime). A TX UE signals to peer RX UEs whether the RX UEs may go to ActiveTime for the next “x” ms. According to one implementation of such embodiments, SCI may indicate whether the RX UEs shall move to ActiveTime. One field (e.g., a one-bit flag) within the SCI may request the RX UE to move to ActiveTime (e.g., flag set to ‘1’ requests the Rx UEs to go to ActiveTime). The ActiveTime may start a preconfigured offset to the SCI indicating the ActiveTime request and span over a predefined number of slots and/or ms. In some embodiments, SCI may indicate how many slots an ActiveTime period includes. In one implementation of such embodiments, the SCI is sent without an accompanying PSSCH (e.g., SCI-only transmission)].
Before the effective filing date it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Li, LIN, and Loehr because a TX UE reports information on channel conditions (e.g., SL CSI or SL reference signal received power (“RSRP”) measurement) to the gNB to allow the gNB to make efficient scheduling decisions [Loehr par 0074]
Claim(s) 17, 18, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li et al. (U.S. Pub No. 2021/0227602 A1) in view of LIN et al. (U.S. Pub No. 2023/0239793 A1), WU et al. (U.S. Pub No. 2020/0252910 A1) in further view Loehr et al (U.S. Pub No. 2024/0040593 A1)
17. Li and LIN illustrate the method of claim 14, Li and LIN fail to show wherein, the future time-frequency resource is a non-periodic resource,
In an analogous art Wu show wherein, the future time-frequency resource is a non-periodic resource [par 0003, 0009, a User Equipment (UE) first sends a Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH) to indicate information such as time-frequency resources occupied by a data channel scheduled by the PSCCH and a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS), and the UE then transmits data on the data channel. The data of the UE may be non-periodic, in the resource assignment method autonomously performed by UE under a direct communication PC5 interface, the UE only uses the selected resource one time, and does not periodically reserve the resource at an interval]
Before the effective filing date it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teaching of Li, LIN, and Wu because UE, which may not only determine a target resource set for data transmission, but also determine the availability of the resources selected from the target resource set before transmitting data on the selected resources, thereby reducing the possibility of resource collision and improving the quality of data transmission. [Wu, par 0052]
Li, LIN, and Wu fail to show and setting to the state of receiving at least one of the sidelink control channel and/or the sidelink shared channel during the time period corresponding to the future time-frequency resource comprises: in response to not receiving a target transport block (TB) of the direct transmission before the time period corresponding to the future time-frequency resource, setting to the state of receiving at least one of the sidelink control channel and/or the sidelink shared channel during the time period corresponding to the future time-frequency resource of the target TB.
In an analogous art Loehr show setting to the state of receiving at least one of the sidelink control channel and/or the sidelink shared channel during the time period corresponding to the future time-frequency resource comprises: in response to not receiving a target transport block (TB) of the direct transmission before the time period corresponding to the future time-frequency resource[par 0058, 0059, 0075, A TX UE doesn't perform a SL transmission on SL resources allocated by a gNB if the SL resources are not within the DRX ActiveTime of the TX UE. If the TX UE would perform the transmission of SL data outside its and the destination's ActiveTime, the corresponding peer receiving UEs may not be ready to receive this SL transmission (e.g., RX UEs are not monitoring for PSSCH and/or PSSCH in slots outside their ActiveTime). A TX UE signals to peer RX UEs whether the RX UEs may go to ActiveTime for the next “x” ms. According to one implementation of such embodiments, SCI may indicate whether the RX UEs shall move to ActiveTime. One field (e.g., a one-bit flag) within the SCI may request the RX UE to move to ActiveTime (e.g., flag set to ‘1’ requests the Rx UEs to go to ActiveTime). The ActiveTime may start a preconfigured offset to the SCI indicating the ActiveTime request and span over a predefined number of slots and/or ms. In some embodiments, SCI may indicate how many slots an ActiveTime period includes. In one implementation of such embodiments, the SCI is sent without an accompanying PSSCH (e.g., SCI-only transmission)],
setting to the state of receiving at least one of the sidelink control channel and/or the sidelink shared channel during the time period corresponding to the future time-frequency resource of the target TB[par 0067, In some embodiments, a TX UE and an Rx UE extend their current ActiveTime (e.g., starting a timer such as a SLdrx-inactivitytimer or drx_RetransmissionTimerDL) by x ms if a NACK is transmitted by the RX UE and/or received by the TX UE for a PSSCH transmission. Since the TB couldn't be decoded successfully by the RX UE, further retransmission are necessary (e.g., ActiveTime is dynamically extended to be ready and/or awake for transmitting and/or receiving further retransmissions. It should be noted that it may be possible to transmit during ActiveTime initial transmissions (e.g., new TB) as well as retransmissions].
Before the effective filing date it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Li, LIN, Wu, and Loehr because a TX UE reports information on channel conditions (e.g., SL CSI or SL reference signal received power (“RSRP”) measurement) to the gNB to allow the gNB to make efficient scheduling decisions [Loehr par 0074]
18. Li, LIN, Wu, and Loehr create the method of claim 17, Li, LIN, and Wu fail to show further comprising: in response to receiving the target TB of the direct transmission before the time period corresponding to the future time-frequency resource, performing state switching according to the DRX setting during the time period corresponding to the future time-frequency resource of the target TB.
In an analogous and Loehr to show further comprising: in response to receiving the target TB of the direct transmission before the time period corresponding to the future time-frequency resource, performing state switching according to the DRX setting during the time period corresponding to the future time-frequency resource of the target TB [par 0058, 0059, 0075, A TX UE doesn't perform a SL transmission on SL resources allocated by a gNB if the SL resources are not within the DRX ActiveTime of the TX UE. If the TX UE would perform the transmission of SL data outside its and the destination's ActiveTime, the corresponding peer receiving UEs may not be ready to receive this SL transmission (e.g., RX UEs are not monitoring for PSSCH and/or PSSCH in slots outside their ActiveTime). A TX UE signals to peer RX UEs whether the RX UEs may go to ActiveTime for the next “x” ms. According to one implementation of such embodiments, SCI may indicate whether the RX UEs shall move to ActiveTime. One field (e.g., a one-bit flag) within the SCI may request the RX UE to move to ActiveTime (e.g., flag set to ‘1’ requests the Rx UEs to go to ActiveTime). The ActiveTime may start a preconfigured offset to the SCI indicating the ActiveTime request and span over a predefined number of slots and/or ms. In some embodiments, SCI may indicate how many slots an ActiveTime period includes. In one implementation of such embodiments, the SCI is sent without an accompanying PSSCH (e.g., SCI-only transmission)],
Before the effective filing date it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the teachings of Li, LIN, Wu, and Loehr because a TX UE reports information on channel conditions (e.g., SL CSI or SL reference signal received power (“RSRP”) measurement) to the gNB to allow the gNB to make efficient scheduling decisions [Loehr par 0074]
Response to Arguments
In contrast, in amended claim 1, it is the sending-end UE that determines the time-frequency transmission resource based on the receiving-end UE's DRX setting - i.e., the sending-end UE actively selects resources that are compatible with the receiver's DRX active time. Lin does not disclose such a method. Lin's DRX coordination relies on exchanging DRX configurations, but it does not teach a resource selection procedure where the transmitter ensures that first K repetitions of a TB are within that duration.
Lin addresses periodic DRX cycles for power saving, whereas claim 1 addresses burst-type transmission of a TB with M repetitions and ensures that at least the initial K repetitions occur during the receiver's active time.
The examiner respectfully disagrees applicant claim does not state that the transmitter ensures that first K repetitions of a TB are within that duration. Therefore applicant’s argument is moot, the applicant claim states determining time-frequency transmission resources used for first K repetitions of the M repetitions is determined, according to the DRX setting, to be within a time range indicated by the DRX setting;
Paragraph 0064, 0071,The reception pattern may include information indicative of specific time-frequency radio resources that the UE uses to perform reception form the peer UE. For example, the information may include a timing offset for SL DRX (also called an SL DRX offset, including an SL DRX start offset and/or an SL DRX slot offset), a transmission pattern per repetition cycle (e.g., specified by a duration for transmission located in the beginning of each repetition cycle) (also called an SL DRX-ON duration), and a repetition cycle length (also called an SL DRX cycle). The paragraph shows the transmitting UE transmit information including information indicative of specific time-frequency radio resources that the UE uses to perform reception form the peer UE, a transmission pattern per repetition cycle, which is interpreted as K because it is a specified by a duration for transmission located in the beginning of each repetition cycle, each repetition is interpreted as M, and the specified duration is interpreted as the time range indicated by the DRX setting.
Para 0071, the Tx UE may extend the SL DRX active time beyond the transmission pattern for this repetition cycle. Specifically, the mentioned new transmission may be dedicated for TB new transmission or may refer to both TB new transmission and TB retransmission. The paragraph shows the duration can be extended and used for a dedicated TB.
The two concepts are fundamentally different. One of ordinary skill in the art would not derive from Lin's periodic DRX pattern the idea of selectively guaranteeing only the first K repetitions of a specific TB within a DRX active window while leaving the remaining repetitions to possibly fall outside that window. Lin is silent on any such selective treatment of repetitions of the same TB. Therefore, Lin fails to disclose limitation 1.2 of amended claim 1.
The examiner respectfully disagrees applicant claim does not state what the applicant’s arguing therefore the applicant’s argument is moot. In paragraph 0123 of Lin shows a Tx UE may ensure that its first TB transmission is within the transmission pattern. If a Rx UE receives the first TB transmission within the transmission pattern but fails to decode, the Rx UE may extend the DRX active time to enable reception for TB re-transmission. In other words, the Tx UE does not schedule all new transmission and re-transmission resources before the end of the transmission pattern in current repetition cycle. The paragraph shows guaranteeing only the first K repetitions of a specific TB within a DRX active.
Li mentions the "activation time" or "wake-up time" of the receiving end, however, Li does not limit this activation time to the specific act of "monitoring PSCCH and/or PSSCH". Moreover, Li does not associate this monitoring behavior with the selection of transmission resources for the first K repetitions of M repetitions. The sending end in Li only selects resources based on the activation time of the receiving end, but does not limit the receiving end to specifically monitor PSCCH/PSSCH within this time range, nor does it limit this monitoring to be set for the first K repetitions of M repetitions.
Although Lin mentions a "reception pattern" in paragraph [0061], Lin does not disclose - and could not disclose - the following combination: the sending-end UE determines resources for the first K repetitions based on the receiving-end UE's DRX setting, and during the time range indicated by that DRX setting, the receiving-end UE monitors the PSCCH/PSSCH. The DRX coordination described in Lin merely involves UEs exchanging configurations so that both sides know when to wake up. Lin does not teach how a sending-end UE actively and rule-based selects resources from a candidate resource set to match the receiving-end UE's DRX active time, let alone the special treatment of the first K repetitions in a multi-repetition transmission scenario. The combination of Li and Lin cannot cure this deficiency, because neither reference addresses burst transmission with multiple repetitions in the context of DRX.
In summary, Li, Lin, or their combination do not teach or suggest the above emphasized limitations of claim 1. Bao, Loehr, and Wu fail to remedy the deficiencies of Li and Lin, e.g., by failing to teach or suggest limitation 1.3. Accordingly, for at least the above reasons, Applicant respectfully requests reconsideration and withdrawal of the rejection of claim 1. Based on similar reasons, independent claims 13 and 22 are patentably distinct from the cited prior art. Reconsideration and withdrawal of the rejection of claims 13 and 22 is respectfully requested.
The examiner respectfully disagrees in paragraph 0063, In other words, the transmitter UE determines when the receiver UE should keep awake to monitor SCI for possible traffic from the transmitter UE. Equivalently, we can say that the transmitter UE determines the SL DRX configuration for the receiver UE to determine its reception pattern, i.e., when the receiver UE should keep awake for monitoring SCI and corresponding PSSCH transmission from this transmitter UE, the paragraph show transmitting device determines resources for the first K repetitions based on the receiving-end UE's DRX setting determining whether the receiving UE should monitor PSSCH transmission.
Conclusion
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/JASON A HARLEY/Examiner, Art Unit 2468
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