DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This office action is in response to remarks filed 01/14/2026.
Claims 21-40 are pending and presented for examination. Claims 21-24 and 32-40 are amended. No claims are added or cancelled.
Response to Amendment
Objection to informalities is withdrawn.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 21-40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Freda et al (US 12185413 B2, hereinafter “Freda ‘413), in view of Lin (US 20230131882 A1, hereinafter “Lin”), in view of Freda et al (US 20220279537 A1, hereinafter “Freda ‘537”), in view of Li et al (US 20220086803 A1, hereinafter “Li”).
RE Claim 34, 21, and 38, Freda ‘413 discloses a wireless first device, a method, or a processing device:
comprising:
at least one transceiver (Col. 6 Ln. 51-60, Fig. 1B: 120);
at least one processor (Col. 6 Ln. 51-60, Fig. 1B: 118); and
at least one memory connected to the at least one processor and storing instructions that (Col. 6 Ln. 51-60, Fig. 1B: 130, 132), based on being executed (Col. 6 Ln. 60 – Col. 7 Ln. 10, Fig. 1B), cause the first device to perform operations comprising:
receiving, by a first device from a second device through a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) (First and second WTRUs in sidelink configuration. Col. 16 Ln. 36-47, Fig. 2), first sidelink control information (SCI) for scheduling of a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) and second SCI (WTRU receives first SCI which reserves a resource for data to be received via PSSCH. Col. 39 Ln. 1-3; WTRU monitors PSCCH. A PSCCH may consist of one or more SCIs. Two stage SCI used when PSCCH carries two SCIs, e.g. SCI-1 and SCI-2. Col. 23 Ln. 41-50);
receiving, by a first device from the second device through the PSSCH, data, and the second SCI including a source ID (SCI contains information of a destination or source ID. Col. 37 Ln. 44 – Col. 38 Ln. 5; WTRU may receive a reception activity behavior or change of such for a particular source and or destination ID from a peer WTRU in PC5-RRC signaling and in a MAC CE. Col. 27, Ln. 6-9),
(RX WTRU configured for first and second resource pools. Both pools may be used for PSCCH and PSSCH, allocation of at least one RB. Col. 43 Ln. 56-61);
determining, by the first device, an index of a physical sidelink feedback channel (PSFCH) resource for PSFCH transmission in response to the PSFCH, based on the source ID (Operation on different resource pools, resource blocks, with different configurations such as PSFCH configuration. Col. 25 Ln. 4-29; WTRU, wireless transmit receive unit, configuration aspects of resource pools for PSFCH include subchannel size, number of subchannels, numerology, starting resource block, and MCS. Col. 75 Ln.52 – Col. 76 Ln.9; WTRU determines its activity behavior based on information present in the SCI, an index of a resource pool, e.g. a TX resource pool. Col. 37 Ln. 44-54);
Freda ‘413 does not explicitly disclose:
wherein the first SCI or the second SCI includes a remaining packet delay budget (PDB) of the MAC PDU;
However, Lin discloses:
wherein the first SCI or the second SCI includes a remaining packet delay budget (PDB) of the MAC PDU (SCI transmitted from the second UE where the information contains a remaining packet delay budget, PDB, for the MAC PDU. ¶0037);
Freda ‘413 and Lin do not explicitly disclose:
based on (i) the remaining PDB being less than or equal to a threshold, and (ii) negative acknowledgement (NACK) related to the data being generated, determining, by the first device, a priority of the PSFCH transmission including the NACK as a highest priority; and
performing, by the first device to the second device, the PSFCH transmission including the NACK based on the PSFCH resource.
However, Freda ‘537 discloses:
based on (i) the remaining PDB being less than or equal to a threshold, and (ii) negative acknowledgement (NACK) related to the data being generated, determining, by the first device, a priority of the PSFCH transmission including the NACK as a highest priority (WTRU prioritizes UL or SL transmissions based on the condition of time until the packet delay budget, PDB, of the packet expires. ¶0009; Prioritized transmission based on PDB remaining time and transmission of a SL/UL feedback as a combination, ¶0119. The priority of the HARQ feedback transmissions are based on priority of LCH and HARQ feedback corresponding to a retransmission, NACK, ¶¶0128, 0135, 0146); and
performing, by the first device to the second device, the PSFCH transmission including the NACK based on the PSFCH resource (WTRU provides ACK/NACK indication by PFSCH transmissions to a network. ¶0222).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Freda ‘413, receiving a first and second SCI with source IDs of a sidelink configuration, with the teachings of Lin, the SCI information includes a remaining packet delay budget, PDB, of the MAC PDU, and the teachings of Freda ‘537, determine NACK information priority based on PDB less than or equal to a threshold.
The motivation in doing so would be to support improvements to SL communications through optimizing transmissions by combining information of packet delay budget, DRX times, and prioritization rules for PDB to improve SL communication reliability and power saving. (Freda ‘413: Abstract, Col. 1 Ln . 50-58, Col. 58 Ln. 50 – Col. 59. Ln. 14; Col. 17 Ln. 53 – 62 Col. 61 Ln. 31-41; Lin: Abstract, ¶¶0026, 0037, 0049, 0079; Freda ‘537: Abstract, ¶¶0009, 0121, 0125, 0130, 0142, 0163)
RE Claim 35, 22, and 39, Freda ‘413, Lin, and Freda ‘537 do not explicitly disclose a wireless first device, a method, or a processing device:
wherein a resource for retransmission of the data is included in a second slot within the remaining PDB from a first slot in which the data is received
However, Li discloses:
wherein a resource for retransmission of the MAC PDU is included in a second slot within the remaining PDB from a first slot in which the MAC PDU is received (One or more HARQ retransmissions, a received MAC, first slot, is not decoded and NACK’d per HARQ. ¶0330; Select time and frequency resources for one or more transmission opportunities according to selected frequency resources, the selected number of HARQ retransmissions and the remaining PDB of SL data available. ¶0334. Select a set of periodic resources spaced by the resource reservation interval for transmissions of PSCCH and PSSCH corresponding to the number of retransmission opportunities, second slot, of the MAC PDUs determined in TS 38.214. ¶0335)
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Freda ‘413, receiving a first and second SCI with source IDs of a sidelink configuration, with the teachings of Lin, the SCI information includes a remaining packet delay budget, PDB, of the MAC PDU, and the teachings of Freda ‘537, determine NACK information priority based on PDB less than or equal to a threshold, and the teachings of Li, determination of retransmissions based on available PDB.
The motivation in doing so would be to support improvements to SL communications through optimizing transmissions by combining information of packet delay budget, DRX times, retransmission, and prioritization rules for available time of PDB to improve SL communication reliability and power saving. (Freda ‘413: Abstract, Col. 1 Ln . 50-58, Col. 58 Ln. 50 – Col. 59. Ln. 14; Col. 17 Ln. 53 – 62 Col. 61 Ln. 31-41; Lin: Abstract, ¶¶0026, 0037, 0049, 0079; Freda ‘537: Abstract, ¶¶0009, 0121, 0125, 0130, 0142, 0163; Li: Abstract, ¶¶0022, 0171, 0416-0417, 0470-0471)
RE Claim 36, 23, and 40, Freda ‘413 discloses a wireless first device, a method, or a processing device:
wherein information related to the resource for retransmission of the data is included in the first SCI (SCI requests an associated HARQ feedback, info for retransmission. Col. 19 Ln. 40-41; WTRU restricts transmission to active resources. WTRU determines all transmission and retransmission resources within active resources. Col. 57 Ln. 36 – Col. 58. Ln. 14).
RE Claim 37 and 32, Freda ‘413 and Lin do not disclose a wireless first device, or a method:
wherein, based on that cast type information representing NACK-only feedback is included in the second SCI,
the first device determines the priority of the PSFCH transmission including the NACK as the highest priority
However, Li discloses:
wherein, based on that cast type information representing NACK-only feedback is included in the second SCI (SCI Format 2-A includes HARQ feedback enable disable, 1 bit as defined in clause 16.3 of [TS 38.213], and Cast Type indicator, 2 bits as defined in Table 8.4.1.1-1. Format 2-B includes NACK only indicator, 1 bit as defined in clause 16.3 of [TS 38.213]. ¶¶0144, 0150-0151, 0153, 0159) ,
Freda ‘413, Lin, and Li do not disclose a wireless first device, or a method:
the first device determines the priority of the PSFCH transmission including the NACK as the highest priority
However, Freda ‘537 disclose:
the first device determines the priority of the PSFCH transmission including the NACK as the highest priority (Prioritization of UL or SL HARQ feedback may be based on whether an acknowledgement (ACK)/NACK is reported. ¶0130; Prioritization of UL or SL HARQ feedback may be based on the cast associated with HARQ feedback. A WTRU may prioritize an SL HARQ transmission associated with a cast or a type of cast while the WTRU may not prioritize SL HARQ transmission associated with other cast(s) or other type(s) of cast. ¶0133; A WTRU may prioritize HARQ transmissions when one or more (e.g., a combination) of the conditions (e.g., as described herein) is satisfied. In examples, a WTRU may prioritize PSFCH transmissions over UL transmissions. ¶0135).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Freda ‘413, receiving a first and second SCI with source IDs of a sidelink configuration, with the teachings of Lin, the SCI information includes a remaining packet delay budget, PDB, of the MAC PDU, and the teachings of Freda ‘537, determine NACK information priority based on PSFCH, and the teachings of Li, NACK Only setting in the second SCI.
The motivation in doing so would be to support improvements to SL communications through optimizing transmissions by combining information of packet delay budget, DRX times, retransmission, and prioritization rules for available time of PDB to improve SL communication reliability and power saving. (Freda ‘413: Abstract, Col. 1 Ln . 50-58, Col. 58 Ln. 50 – Col. 59. Ln. 14; Col. 17 Ln. 53 – 62 Col. 61 Ln. 31-41; Lin: Abstract, ¶¶0026, 0037, 0049, 0079; Freda ‘537: Abstract, ¶¶0009, 0121, 0125, 0130, 0142, 0163; Li: Abstract, ¶¶0022, 0171, 0416-0417, 0470-0471)
RE Claim 24, Freda ‘413 discloses a method:
further comprising:
obtaining a sidelink (SL) discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration (Col. 17 Ln. 17-25);
starting a timer for active time (Whether a WTRU is considered active (e.g. is monitoring Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH) and/or PDCCH) at a given time; DRX cycle: The periodicity of wakeup when performing DRX; The value of and/or whether to use one or more timers associated with DRX behavior, and similar to Uu DRX timers, such as: The inactivity timer associated with sidelink transmission; The on-duration timer associated with sidelink transmissions; The slot offset; The retransmission timer; The HARQ Round-trip time (RTT) timer; and/or DRX short cycle timer. Col 18 Ln. 27-43),
wherein the first SCI, the second SCI, and the data are received while the timer for the active time is running (The WTRU may decode for a first set, SCI-1 and SCI-2) of SCI transmissions when active. Col. 21 Ln. 60-62; Reception of data on sidelink, active time, where PDU contains control information, e.g. MAC control element. Col. 20 Ln. 15-29).
RE Claim 25, Freda ‘413 discloses a method:
wherein the first device operates in an active state until the remaining PDB expires (Col. 91 Ln. 22-33); .
RE Claim 26, Freda ‘413 discloses a method:
wherein the first SCI or the second SCI includes information related to a recommended active time (WTRU determines value of an on-duration, active, timer based on the priority and/or other received QoS parameters. WTRU determines on-duration based on the priority of the last SCI scheduling data received. Col 30 Ln. 61 – Col. 31 Ln. 13).
RE Claim 27, Freda ‘413 discloses a method:
wherein the first device operates in an active state during the recommended active time (WTRU performs SCI-based DRX configured with a specific on-duration, active, time. Col. 50 Ln. 58 – Col. 51 Ln. 9).
RE Claim 28, Freda ‘413 discloses a method:
wherein a value of the timer for the active time is determined based on priority information included in the first SCI (WTRU determines value of an on-duration, active, timer based on the priority and/or other received QoS parameters. WTRU determines on-duration based on the priority of the last SCI scheduling data received. Col 30 Ln. 61 – Col. 31 Ln. 13).
RE Claim 29, Freda ‘413 discloses a method:
wherein the smaller the value of the priority information included in the first SCI, the smaller the value of the timer for the active time is determined (a WTRU may determine the value of a timer (e.g. on-duration, inactivity timer, etc.) which determines whether it is active or not based on the priority. A WTRU may determine the DRX cycle and/or on-duration and/or periodicity of RX resource pool change based on the priority of the last SCI scheduling data received by the WTRU. Col. 30 Ln. 61 – Col. 31 Ln. 13).
RE Claim 30, Freda ‘413 discloses a method:
wherein a mapping relationship between the priority information included in the first SCI and the value of the timer for the active time is configured for the first device (A WTRU configured to perform both transmission activity behavior and reception activity behavior may determine its active time based on a combination of the transmission-based rules/activity behavior and reception-based rules/activity behavior, where each may be as defined herein. For example, a WTRU may be configured with a DRX configuration defining its rules for active time with respect to reception of SCI. Col. 52 Ln. 12-29).
RE Claim 31, Freda ‘413 discloses a method:
wherein the timer for the active time is a SL inactivity timer or a SL retransmission timer (Specifically, a WTRU may start an inactivity timer. Such timer may be reset by any event associated with either reception (e.g. reception of SCI) or transmission (e.g. transmission of data). The WTRU may set the timer value (e.g. the value of the timer after which the WTRU moves to DRX) the same, regardless of the event. Col. 52 Ln. 32-49; WTRU sets specific values for certain timers (e.g. HARQ RTT timer, retransmission timer). That is, whether the WTRU is expected to receive during a retransmission timer or not. Col. 19 Ln. 15-19).
RE Claim 33, Freda ‘413 and Lin do not disclose a method:
wherein, based on that the second SCI is a SCI format that does not require acknowledgement (ACK) feedback, the first device determines the priority of the PSFCH transmission including the NACK as the highest priority.
However, Li discloses:
wherein, based on that the second SCI is a SCI format that does not require acknowledgement (ACK) feedback (SCI Format 2-A includes HARQ feedback enable disable, 1 bit as defined in clause 16.3 of [TS 38.213], and Cast Type indicator, 2 bits as defined in Table 8.4.1.1-1. Format 2-B includes NACK only indicator, 1 bit as defined in clause 16.3 of [TS 38.213]. ¶¶0144, 0150-0151, 0153, 0159),
Freda ‘413, Lin, and Li do not disclose a method:
the first device determines the priority of the PSFCH transmission including the NACK as the highest priority
However, Freda ‘537 disclose:
the first device determines the priority of the PSFCH transmission including the NACK as the highest priority (Prioritization of UL or SL HARQ feedback may be based on whether an acknowledgement (ACK)/NACK is reported. ¶0130; Prioritization of UL or SL HARQ feedback may be based on the cast associated with HARQ feedback. A WTRU may prioritize an SL HARQ transmission associated with a cast or a type of cast while the WTRU may not prioritize SL HARQ transmission associated with other cast(s) or other type(s) of cast. ¶0133; A WTRU may prioritize HARQ transmissions when one or more (e.g., a combination) of the conditions (e.g., as described herein) is satisfied. In examples, a WTRU may prioritize PSFCH transmissions over UL transmissions. ¶0135).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Freda ‘413, receiving a first and second SCI with source IDs of a sidelink configuration, with the teachings of Lin, the SCI information includes a remaining packet delay budget, PDB, of the MAC PDU, and the teachings of Freda ‘537, determine NACK information priority based on PSFCH, and the teachings of Li, NACK Only setting in the second SCI.
The motivation in doing so would be to support improvements to SL communications through optimizing transmissions by combining information of packet delay budget, DRX times, retransmission, and prioritization rules for available time of PDB to improve SL communication reliability and power saving. (Freda ‘413: Abstract, Col. 1 Ln . 50-58, Col. 58 Ln. 50 – Col. 59. Ln. 14; Col. 17 Ln. 53 – 62 Col. 61 Ln. 31-41; Lin: Abstract, ¶¶0026, 0037, 0049, 0079; Freda ‘537: Abstract, ¶¶0009, 0121, 0125, 0130, 0142, 0163; Li: Abstract, ¶¶0022, 0171, 0416-0417, 0470-0471)
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 01/14/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant’s first argument is directed to the claims 21, 34, 38 and the amended limitation which recites “based on (i) the remaining PDB being less than or equal to a threshold, and (ii) negative acknowledgement (NACK) related to the data being generated, determining, by the first device, a priority of the PSFCH transmission including the NACK as a highest priority”. Applicant submits that Freda ‘537 does not disclose the elements of the amended limitation in reference to ¶¶0009, 0121, 0125, and 0130. Examiner respectfully disagrees. Freda ‘537 discloses the subject matter. WTRU prioritizes UL or SL transmissions based on the condition of time until the packet delay budget, PDB, of the packet expires. ¶0009 Prioritized transmission based on PDB remaining time and transmission of a SL/UL feedback as a combination, ¶0119. The priority of the HARQ feedback transmissions are based on priority of LCH and HARQ feedback corresponding to a retransmission, NACK, ¶¶0128, 0135, 0146.
“A WTRU may prioritize a transmission (e.g., UL or SL), for example, based on one or more conditions. Conditions for prioritizing links (e.g., UL, SL) may be based on, for example, one or more (e.g., a combination) of the following: presence of an SL process/grant that is pending, time until the PDB of the packet expires, channel busy ratio (CBR), channel occupancy ratio (CR), pathloss of SL and/or DL, transmission of SL or UL HARQ feedback,”, ¶0119.
“A WTRU may prioritize a HARQ transmission, for example, based on the priority of an LCH for the data for which HARQ feedback is being transmitted. A WTRU may prioritize a HARQ transmission, for example, if the highest priority LCH for the data for which HARQ feedback is being transmitted is higher than the LCH priority of data on another link. A WTRU may prioritize a HARQ transmission, for example, if the highest priority LCH for the data for which HARQ feedback is being transmitted is higher than a threshold. The threshold may include a (pre)configured threshold.”, ¶0128.
“A WTRU may prioritize a PSFCH transmission over a UL transmission, for example, if the HARQ feedback transmission corresponds to a retransmission. In examples, a WTRU may prioritize PSFCH transmission over UL transmission, for example, if the HARQ feedback transmission corresponds to the Nth or larger retransmission, and/or the priority associated with the transmission is higher than the priority associated with the UL data transmission.”, ¶0135.
“Conditions for link prioritization may include blind vs HARQ-based retransmission. A WTRU may prioritize retransmissions on SL differently, for example, depending on whether the retransmissions are HARQ feedback-based retransmissions or blind retransmissions. A WTRU may prioritize SL retransmission over an UL (re)transmission, for example, when the SL retransmission is generated as a result of reception of a feedback-based indication, such as not acknowledged (NACK).”, ¶0146.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
US 20230097552 A1 Freda et al.
“In the figure below, the WTRU is configured with a retransmission timer ReTX1, which corresponds to a priority and/or PDB associated with the packet it selects for transmission on sidelink using that grant. The WTRU may start the retransmission timer some time (e.g. HARQ RTT) following transmission of NACK on PUCCH. For the second retransmission (in case NACK is reported following the second grant in the figure), the WTRU may set the retransmission timer for ReTX2 to be the remaining PDB. The WTRU may determine the value of retransmission timer ReTX2 in two ways: (1) by subtracting the elapsed time the remaining value of ReTX1 since ReTX1 was stopped or (2) by determining the remaining PDB for the packet (based on its priority) and setting ReTX2 to the value of the remaining PDB”, ¶0115, Fig. 3.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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.
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/PAUL A. LANGER/Examiner, Art Unit 2419
/Nishant Divecha/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2419
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