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 .
Response to Arguments
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102/103
Applicant's arguments filed 04/29/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. The applicant alleges that the disclosure of Huang et al. (US 2021/0037468 A1) in view of Yang et al. (WO 2021/072662 A1) does not teach:
“absolute time units or physical time units meeting the fact that the Ath to the (A+B-1)th orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols are configured as uplink orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols”
The office respectfully disagrees. As the applicant noted par.[0520] recites, in part:
“ The second UE and/or the first UE could be (pre-) configured with a set of starting timing (e.g., slot). The start timing could be a first OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) symbol available for sidelink in a slot.”.
As can be seen, the granularity of a DRX cycle could be in terms of symbols or slots, as the starting timing could be a first symbol (A) or a slot. The DRX pattern would run from a first symbol ((A) + (B)-1)th symbols which could be encompass a slot or not. Thus, it is shown that a symbol granularity is described in the disclosure of Huang. Additionally, the DRX pattern may be aligned according to a symbol granularity as discussed in par.[514] which recites, in part, “In one embodiment, a DRX pattern from the list could be applied aligning starting symbol….. of the cycle”. By aligning a chosen DRX pattern to a number of symbols starting with a starting symbol, the DRX pattern is inherently defined by a symbol level granularity instead of a slot level granularity. Additional evidence supporting slot level granularity is explicitly disclosed in par.[0544], which recites, in part, “In one embodiment, parameters of the first DRX pattern may be in units of slot, or time domain resources or milliseconds. The slots or the time domain resources may contain PDCCH, control resource set (CORESET), search space, downlink symbol, or flexible symbol.”. As can be seen, the DRX parameter are defined in units of slot or time domain resources”. A time domain resource is described as a symbol(s). Thus, it is shown that the disclosure of Huang does indeed teach a slot or symbol level granularity for expressing the parameters of a DRX cycle, and the applicant arguments are overcome by the disclosure of Huang.
The applicants also argue that the disclosure of Huang does not teach:
“at least one of A or B is determined according to the control information sent by a network side device”
The office respectfully disagrees.
The applicant states that a sidelink resource pool comprising A or B does not necessarily mean that A or B is transmitted via control information. This is incorrect. As described above, the UE receives an indication of Sidelink resources via control information, and is capable of deriving a DRX pattern of a symbol level granularity using the resources (A) or (B) which are indicated in the control information concerning the Sidelink resource pool. The allegation that A or B is not disclosed in the control information when the control information comprises the symbol or symbols which concern A or B is incorrect. Additionally, the Sidelink parameter which determines the DRX configuration is transmitted via PSCCH from a first UE to a second UE as described throughout the disclosure of Huang. The DRX parameters/configuration certainly describe a start symbol as discussed above with reference to par.[0514, 0520, and 0544] as discussed above and the DRX parameters/configuration teach start symbol A plus the length B-1th symbols used to form the DRX configuration. Thus, the applicants assertion that A or B is not indicated in control information is incorrect, and the rejection of the claims in view of Huang are sustained.
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 04/29/2026 has been entered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-4, 10-11, 15, 18-19, and 21-22, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Huang et al. (US 2021/0037468 A1) in view of Yang et al. (WO 2021/072662 A1).
Regarding claims 1, and 18-19, Huang discloses:
a discontinuous reception method (par.[0005] describes a discontinuous reception method, and a pattern which is based on the sidelink resource pool), performed by a user equipment (par.[0005] describes a first and second UE which communicate over a sidelink), comprising:
obtaining an absolute time cycle or a physical time cycle in direct communication discontinuous reception configuration parameters (par.[0508] which describes the a time duration of 50ms among a 200ms duration within a sidelink resource pool, fig.14, and par.[0450]);
converting the absolute time cycle or the physical time cycle into a logic time cycle, the logic time cycle being a first number of logic time units, the absolute time cycle comprises one or more absolute time units, and the physical time cycle comprises one or more physical time units (as discussed above, the granularity of the sidelink DRX is based on the resource pool, which comprises physical and absolute time, wherein the DRX time is 50ms of on/off duration (i.e. a sidelink DRX cycle), in the 200 ms sidelink resources in the resource pool. Par.[0508] “assuming a first UE and a second UE are (pre-) configured with a sidelink resource pool, the specific time duration could be 50 ms duration among a 200 ms duration. 50 ms and 200 ms could be in unit of slot of the sidelink resource pool. In one embodiment, the first UE in the specific time duration may need to wake up and/or perform monitoring or sensing the sidelink resource pool. Assuming the second UE (e.g., vehicle UE) transmits broadcast sidelink transmission every 100 ms in the sidelink resource pool, may need to or may be required to transmit an additional one in the specific time duration.”. That is, the slot of the resource pool is the granularity of the sidelink DRX configuration);
wherein the one or more absolute time units comprise seconds, milliseconds, microseconds, physical frames, or physical sub-frames the one or more physical time units comprise slots or orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, and the logic time units are time units in a set obtained after absolute time units or physical time units meeting a preset condition are arranged in a time sequence (par.[0508] which describes the 50ms or 200ms being in units of slots within the sidelink resource pool. That is, the number of slots amounting to 50ms or 200ms. Additionally, the UE receives the DRX pattern which has been configured and applies it on a next slot, par.[0522] thus, the slots of the resource pool are used to configure a DRX pattern, and the DRX pattern comprises an active time which are a number of slots, and a ) wherein the logic time units are time units in a set obtained after absolute time units or physical time units meeting a preset condition are arranged in a time sequence (fig(s).14-15 which depict the symbols being configured into slots which are used to define a periodicity or pattern of DRX, along with each of the paragraphs associated with these diagrams); and
determining, according to the logic time cycle, a moment at which discontinuous reception enters an active state (par.[0389] describes a DRX cycle is configured, and the Active time, and what it comprises. Par.[0495] which recites in part “The length of the DRX pattern in time domain may be in unit of resource in the sidelink resource pool.”. par.[0454] describes the first set of slots of the DRX pattern being the active time of the UE, thus, by determining the number of slots in a pattern for a DRX configuration, the UE is capable of determining the active time (e.g. the number of slots wherein the UE is in an active state for a number of slots, and in an inactive state for a number of slots during the periods of a DRX pattern). Also, fig.15 which depicts a 50ms time as active/OnDuration out of the 200ms Period P, wherein the OnDuration comprises the 50ms of the 200ms. Thus, in every Period P, the first 50ms is considered an OnDuration for the sidelink DRX cycle, wherein the granularity is millisecond of the sidelink resource pool converted into a logic time cycle of 200ms, and the first 50ms out of the different 200ms Period P, are set for an OnDuration of the of the Sidelink DRX).
wherein the absolute time units or the physical time units meeting the preset condition comprise:
absolute time units or physical time units meeting a fact that the Ath to the (A+B- 1)th orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols, wherein the parameter A represents a position of a first OFDM symbol among B consecutive OFDM symbols that are configured OFDM symbols, and the parameter B represents a number of OFDM symbols that are consecutively configured as the uplink OFDM symbols starting from A (fig.14 depicts a resource pool comprising a plurality of consecutive slots. A slot of a subframe comprises a contiguous set of symbols in time starting from a first symbol (A), which corresponds to a consecutive set of symbols in time, generally 0-7 in a specific subcarrier spacing, followed by an additional slot of an additional 7 symbols in time, section 4.3.2 and par.[0321] “There are N.sub.symb.sup.slot consecutive OFDM symbols in a slot where N.sub.symb.sup.slot depends on the cyclic prefix as given by Tables 4.3.2-1 and 4.3.2-2. The start of slot in a subframe is aligned in time with the start of OFDM symbol n.sub.s.sup.↑N.sub.symb.sup.slot in the same subframe.” Thus, the fig.14 teaches a A+B-1th OFDM symbols in time are configured into a DRX cycle. Par.[0514]).
While the disclosure of Huang teaches the above claim limitations, it does not explicitly disclose:
utilizing symbols configured for uplink transmission for sidelink transmission.
In an analogous art, the disclosure of Shin teaches:
utilizing symbols configured for uplink transmission for sidelink transmission (Scenario 4: “When the sidelink link shares the carrier with the Uu link, not all time slots on a carrier are used for sidelink link transmission, or not all symbols in a time slot are used for sidelink link Sent. Currently, flexible symbols and/or uplink symbols can be used for sidelink transmission.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teachings of Huang, with the disclosure of Yang. The motivation/suggestion would have been that when the sidelink and uplink utilize a same carrier it may be beneficial to utilize flexible or uplink time for transmission or reception of sidelink data to improve throughput and transmission reliability.
Regarding claims 2, Huang discloses:
entering the active state through starting of a discontinuous reception duration timer (par.[0379] describes the DRX OnDuration Timer, and par.[0389] describes the DRX active time comprising the OnDuration, wherein the OnDuration timer is running).
Regarding claim 3, Huang discloses:
wherein converting the absolute time cycle or the physical time cycle into the logic time cycle comprises:
obtaining a number or an average value of the number of logic time units existing within a set absolute time interval or physical time interval; and determining the first number of the logic time units in the logic time cycle according to:
the number or the average value of the number of the logic time units existing within the set absolute time interval or physical time interval; and the absolute time cycle or the physical time cycle (fig.15 and par.[0452 – 0454] which describes the UEs being configured a sidelink resource pool being comprised of a plurality symbols, which make up a slot of a subframe of a radio frame. A first slot in a pattern of the DRX pattern is utilized for an OnDuration until a last slot of a pattern. As slots are time resources, the ms e.g. fig.15 are divided into slots, which are converted into a DRX periodicity or pattern which has an active time and inactive time as is known with DRX).
Regarding claim 4, Huang discloses:
wherein determining, according to the logic time cycle, the moment at which the discontinuous reception enters the active state comprises:
obtaining a moment at which the discontinuous reception enters the active state in a previous cycle; and
determining a moment at which the discontinuous reception enters the active state in a current cycle according to the moment at which the discontinuous reception enters the active state in the previous cycle and the logic time cycle (par.[0551] which recites, in part, “an active time for sidelink of the UE (according to the second DRX pattern) could be (partially) the same (in time domain) as the active time for Uu link of the UE (according to the first DRX pattern). Additionally or alternatively, the active time for sidelink could be within the active time (in time domain) for Uu link of the UE. Additionally or alternatively, the active time for Uu link could be within the active time (in time domain) for sidelink of the UE.”. As can be seen the active time for a sidelink DRX pattern may be the same as previous pattern on the sidelink or Uu link).
Regarding claims 6 and 13, Huang discloses:
wherein the absolute time units or the physical time units meeting the preset condition comprise:
absolute time units or physical time units configured with resources in a preset sidelink communication resource pool (fig(s).14-15 which depicts a sidelink resource pool comprising symbols, and slots which are used for monitoring in an active time of a DRX pattern. The DRX pattern comprising a number of slots to form a pattern wherein during the patter, the UE is in an active state and inactive state, fig.19).
Regarding claim 9, Huang discloses:
wherein at least one of A and/or B are determined according to pre-configuration information or control information sent by a network side device (the aforecited preconfigured resource pool comprising a the physical and absolute time resources along with frequency resources associated with said time resources).
Regarding claims 10 and 15, Huang discloses:
wherein the control information sent by the network side device comprises at least one of following information: physical layer control information, media access control layer control information and radio resource control layer information (par.[0197] which describes physical layer resources. Additionally, the resource pool can be transmitted via a layer-1 PDCCH/PSCCH, layer-2 MAC-CE, or higher-layer-3 RRC, par.[0470]).
Regarding claims 11, 21, and 22, Huang discloses:
an electronic device, comprising:
at least one processor; and a memory in communication with the at least one processor;
wherein the memory stores instructions capable of being executed by the at least one processor, and the instructions are executed by the at least one processor to cause the at least one processor to be capable of performing the method of:
a discontinuous reception (par.[0005] describes a discontinuous reception method, and a pattern which is based on the sidelink resource pool) method, performed by a network side device (fig.1 depicts an access network element 100, par.[0045] describes the access network as a base station), comprising:
determining direct communication discontinuous reception configuration parameters, wherein the direct communication discontinuous reception configuration parameters at least comprise an absolute time cycle or a physical time cycle in the direct communication discontinuous reception configuration parameters (par.[0508] which describes the a time duration of 50ms among a 200ms duration within a sidelink resource pool, fig.14, and par.[0450]);
the direct communication discontinuous reception configuration parameters are used for enabling a receiving end device to converting the absolute time cycle or the physical time cycle into a logic time cycle, (par.[0508] which describes the 50ms or 200ms being in units of slots within the sidelink resource pool. That is, the number of slots amounting to 50ms or 200ms. Additionally, the UE receives the DRX pattern which has been configured and applies it on a next slot, par.[0522] thus, the slots of the resource pool are used to configure a DRX pattern, and the DRX pattern comprises an active time which are a number of slots, and a ); for
determining, according to the logic time cycle, a moment at which discontinuous reception enters an active state, the logic time cycle being a first number of logic time units (par.[0389] describes a DRX cycle is configured, and the Active time, and what it comprises. Par.[0495] which recites in part “The length of the DRX pattern in time domain may be in unit of resource in the sidelink resource pool.”. par.[0454] describes the first set of slots of the DRX pattern being the active time of the UE, thus, by determining the number of slots in a pattern for a DRX configuration, the UE is capable of determining the active time (e.g. the number of slots wherein the UE is in an active state for a number of slots, and in an inactive state for a number of slots during the periods of a DRX pattern));
wherein the one or more absolute time units comprise seconds, milliseconds, microseconds, physical frames, or physical sub-frames the one or more physical time units comprise slots or orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, and the logic time units are time units in a set obtained after absolute time units or physical time units meeting a preset condition are arranged in a time sequence (par.[0508] which describes the 50ms or 200ms being in units of slots within the sidelink resource pool. That is, the number of slots amounting to 50ms or 200ms. Additionally, the UE receives the DRX pattern which has been configured and applies it on a next slot, par.[0522] thus, the slots of the resource pool are used to configure a DRX pattern, and the DRX pattern comprises an active time which are a number of slots, and a ) wherein the logic time units are time units in a set obtained after absolute time units or physical time units meeting a preset condition are arranged in a time sequence (fig(s).14-15 which depict the symbols being configured into slots which are used to define a periodicity or pattern of DRX, along with each of the paragraphs associated with these diagrams);
wherein the absolute time units or the physical time units meeting the preset condition comprise:
absolute time units or physical time units meeting a fact that the Ath to the (A+B- 1)th orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols, wherein the parameter A represents a position of a first OFDM symbol among B consecutive OFDM symbols that are configured OFDM symbols, and the parameter B represents a number of OFDM symbols that are consecutively configured as the uplink OFDM symbols starting from A (fig.14 depicts a resource pool comprising a plurality of consecutive slots. A slot of a subframe comprises a contiguous set of symbols in time starting from a first symbol (A), which corresponds to a consecutive set of symbols in time, generally 0-7 in a specific subcarrier spacing, followed by an additional slot of an additional 7 symbols in time, section 4.3.2 and par.[0321] “There are N.sub.symb.sup.slot consecutive OFDM symbols in a slot where N.sub.symb.sup.slot depends on the cyclic prefix as given by Tables 4.3.2-1 and 4.3.2-2. The start of slot in a subframe is aligned in time with the start of OFDM symbol n.sub.s.sup.↑N.sub.symb.sup.slot in the same subframe.” Thus, the fig.14 teaches a A+B-1th OFDM symbols in time are configured into a DRX cycle. Par.[0514]).
While the disclosure of Huang teaches the above claim limitations, it does not explicitly disclose:
utilizing symbols configured for uplink transmission for sidelink transmission.
In an analogous art, the disclosure of Shin teaches:
utilizing symbols configured for uplink transmission for sidelink transmission (Scenario 4: “When the sidelink link shares the carrier with the Uu link, not all time slots on a carrier are used for sidelink link transmission, or not all symbols in a time slot are used for sidelink link Sent. Currently, flexible symbols and/or uplink symbols can be used for sidelink transmission.”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the invention to combine the teachings of Huang, with the disclosure of Yang. The motivation/suggestion would have been that when the sidelink and uplink utilize a same carrier it may be beneficial to utilize flexible or uplink time for transmission or reception of sidelink data to improve throughput and transmission reliability.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Beale et al. (US 2023/0055108 A1) “Communications Devices and Methods”
Freda et al. (US 2021/0014791 A1) “Methods and Apparatus for Efficient Power Saving in Wireless Networks”
Liu et al. (US 2022/0361284 A1) “Communication Method and Apparatus”
Yi et al. (US 2021/0274535 A1) “Scheduling Wireless Communications”
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JAMAAL HENSON
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2411
/JAMAAL HENSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2411
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